San Diego Weekend Guide: Sept. 9-11 Blues & Bites

By Editor, Times of San Diego

September 9, 2022

Note: Follow links for updated information should Hurricane Kay force event changes. One weekend event, the San Diego Festival of the Arts, has been canceled.

Unofficial fall is here – Labor Day’s over y’all – yet the fests keep coming in San Diego. Have the blues over the heat? It’s breaking this San Diego weekend, but you can let the music express your feels on the matter. Bites? Art? Comedy? Got those too.

But start with some flicks. FilmOut San Diego’s 22nd annual LGBTQ Film Festivalcontinues through Sunday at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. The shows, including entries from the U.S., France, Australia and Israel, start at 3 p.m. Friday and at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Screenings cost $12, with passes at $150.

Art San Diego at the San Diego Convention Center through Sunday, features 100 exhibitors from galleries in San Diego and around the world with a focus on modern and contemporary art. Full passes cost $30, with one-day passes set at $20. The fest opens at noon Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

There’s also a cross-section of music and comedy stars heading to San Diego for the weekend:

• Grammy-winning country star Keith Urban, North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 7 p.m. Friday, “Speed of Now World” tour, tickets start at $29.50.

• Tony winner Ben Platt, Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 7 p.m. Friday, “Reverie” tour, tickets start at $44.50.

• Multiple Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at San Diego State, 8 p.m. Friday, resale tickets available, starting at $128.

• Michelle Wolff, whose comedy specials have appeared on Netflix and HBO, Observatory North Park, 6 p.m. Sunday, “Not Nice Tour,” tickets starting at $29.

Escondido revives a long-time fave, the Grape Day Festival, at the park of the same name, at 10 a.m. Saturday. Enjoy live music, children’s activities, grape stomping, arts and crafts and more at the free event.

If the weather or anything else is giving you the blues, work them out at the San Diego Blues Festival at Embarcadero Marina Park North. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons headlines the fest, at 11 a.m. Saturday, joined by the Phantom Blues Band and Southern Avenue on the eight-act bill. Tickets cost $60 and proceeds benefit the San Diego Food Bank.

Barrio Logan, always home to good Mexican eats, has become a foodie destination. Try all it has to offer at Saturday’s Taste of Barrio Logan, which starts off from Attitude Brewery at 1 p.m. Passes cost $45, with an after-party at the distillery, Re-Bru Spirits.

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