DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: SEPT. 3-SEPT. 20

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

Photo: Julian Grape Stomp Festa

 

By Miriam Raftery

Autumn is in the air – and this week’s Destination East County activities reflect that.  This weekend you can enjoy apples, trains, grape stomping and a pow-wow! Plus we have a preview of coming attractions, from an attempt to break the world record for fireworks, to an end-of-summer music festival.

JULIAN APPLE DAYS: SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

September marks the start of Apple Days in Julian. The season runs for two months in September and October.  Visitors flock to Julian to savor apple pies, apple cider, candied apples, and you-pick apples directly at local orchards.  On weekends, the Julian Doves and Desperados perform  free melodramas. The season culminates in a festival October 4th and 5th and a pie-eating contest on October 3rd, but you can enjoy the delicious start of apple season right now.

RIDE THE RAILS SEPT. 6-7

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo is offering Golden State vintage passenger train journeys. The fall schedule begins with excursions on on Saturday and SundaySept. 6th & 7th. These leisurely 12-mile, one-hour trips down the mountain to  a tunnel and back will depart from the Campo depot at 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. each day. Reservations are not required. Limited opportunities are also available to ride in the vintage diesel locomotive with the engineer and help blow the engine's horn. Seats are limited and advance reservations are suggested for this activity. For more information, visit the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum website at www.psrm.org.   

SYCUAN POW-WOW SEPTEMBER 5-7

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation will host its 25th annual pow-wow on September 5-7 at the Sycuan reservation in El Cajon, located behind the Sycuan casino.

A pow-wow is a celebration and a time for people to join together, sing, dance, renew old friendships and make new ones.  Today, dancers and singers from tribes across the nation also come to compete for prize money. You’ll also find an array of vendors offering Native American crafts, from carved gourds and woven baskets to hand-carved flutes, blankets, hand-crafted silver and gemstone jewelry, and much more.

JULIAN GRAPE STOMP FESTA SEPT. 6

It’s harvest time in Julian, where you can jump in to the fun at the Julian Grape Stomp Festa this Satuday, September 6th at the  Menghini Winery.  Guests are invited to help stomp tons of grapes and of course, savor some wine tasting.  There are also activities for kids, including games and miniature golf. There is a fee for this event.  Tickets are available on site or through the Julian Merchants Association. (http://www.julianmerchants.org/#!grape-stomp-festa/c1ir5 )

Now for a preview of coming attractions….

 

VIEJAS FIREWORKS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT SEPT. 12

Viejas will attempt to launch the world’s longest chain of fireworks—more than 10,000 – to celebrates its 23rd anniversary on Friday, September 12th at 8 p.m. You’re invited to the festivities near the Viejas Hotel pool to witness the sky come alive with fireworks during this Guinness Book of World Records setting attempt.  Learn more at www.Viejas.com.

HARVEST OF STORIES STORTELLING CONCERT SEPT. 13

Mission Trails Regional Park invites you to take a seat in their Amphitheater on September 13th from 6-8 pm for the 3rd annual “Harvest of Stories.”  Storytellers of San Diego will delight and entertain the audience with nature tales at this family event, which this year also features a sing-a-long and some dancing!  There will be a nominal cost for this event ($7 adults, kids 12 and under $3). Opportunity drawings will also be held and refreshments will be served. For details you can visit www.MTRP.org.

BACKCOUNTRY LAND TRUST FRIENDRAISER SEPT. 13

The Back Country Land Trust will  hold its third annual Wine and Cheese Friend-Raiser on Saturday, September 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Wright’s Field in Alpine. Podunk Poets will provide live music. The event also features a hosted bar, hor d’oeuvres, silent auction and raffle.

Tickets for the Back Country Land Trust event are available online in advance at www.bclt.org.

JULIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL SEPT. 20

For the 45th year, Julian celebrates the end of summer with music.  The Julian Music Festival will be held at the Menghini Winery on September 20th from 1 to 8 p.m.  This year’s event features bluegrass to celebrate the festival’s roots, Western ballads to remember the past, as well as music by current songwriters and singers. Performers range from Cool Band Luke performing high energy favorites to Trails and Rails offering trains songs, cowboy tunes, pop, swing, vocal harmonies and whistling.

For tickets and more information, visit www.julianmusicfestival.com

That’s all for this week! You can find details on all of these events and more on our Calendar and in our Festivals and Events section online at http://www.eastcountymagazine.org.

If you have an event you’d like added to our calendar, or if you would like to sponsor the Destination East County show on KNSJ, you can contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org

We’ll be back next week with more festivals, events and attractions in San Diego’s East


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.