DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: TOP FESTIVALS AND EVENTS. SEPT. 29-OCT. 31

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East County News Service

September 26, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- This week’s Destination East County includes the La Mesa Oktoberfest, El Cajon’s summer concert season finale, opening weekend of El Cajon’s Oktoberfest, fall concerts at Cuyamaca College, and an art reception for Padre Johnson at Cuyamaca College.

Plus, we’ll have a preview of coming attractions including the Ramona Air Fair and Fly-In, the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous, Kids Care Fest in Lakeside, the Borrego Days celebration, El Cajon’s Haunt Fest on Main, a Haunted Elks Lodge, a Halloween Harvest Family Festival on Mt. Helix, a spooky sleepover at Lions Tigers and Bears in Alpine, and the Boulevard BOO Parade.

So scroll down for all of these events and many more!

THIS WEEK

EL CAJON SUMMERS END CONCERT SEPT. 29

El Cajon’s dinner and a concert series concludes this week with a season finale concert by the Mighty Untouchables.  The concert is from 6 to 8 p.m. in Prescott Promenade Park. 

For more information, you can visit, www.DowntownElCajon.com.

LA MESA OKTOBERFEST SEPT. 29-OCT. 1

Celebrating its 44th year, the popular La Mesa Oktoberfest will run from Friday, September 29th through Sunday, October 1st bringing three days of “Prost”, or cheer.

 In addition to live German music and other entertainment, many vendors and crafts, you can also enjoy a biergarten serving up German and craft beers, plus new this year, craft cocktails.

For more information, you can visit www.LaMesaOktoberfest.org.

OKTOBERFEST IN EL CAJON SEPT. 29-OCT.1 AND OCT. 6-8

The German America Club of San Diego hosts its annual Oktoberfest at its headquarters (1017 Mollison Ave.) in El Cajon over two weekends, September 29th through October 1st and again October 6th through 8th.

You can feast on authentic German fare, from roast ox on a spit to German pancakes, sauerkraut, and bratwurst. A German band flown in from Bavaria will perform German music ranging from polkas and waltzes to beer drinking songs. You’ll also find vendors selling a variety of crafts.

For details, you can visit http://www.germanclubsandiego.org/.

FALL CONCERTS AT CUYAMACA COLLEGE OCT. 2-6

The fall concert series at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego has three concerts lined up this week.

On Monday, October 2nd, Kembang Sunda will perform traditional music from West Java.  On Tuesday, October 3rd, the Camera Lucida Piano Trio will perform music by Mozart and Brahms. In addition, pianist Reiko Uchida will be joined by guest violinist and USC adjunct professor Che-Yen Chen for a sonata by Brahms.  Then on Thursday, October 5th, the Cuyamaca College Choir, directed by Paul Infantino, will perform contemporary and standard choral works.

For tickets and details, you can visit www.cuyamaca.edu/performingarts.

PADRE JOHNSON ART RECEPTION OCT. 6

Heritage of the Americas Museum invites you to a reception with artist Padre Johnson on Friday, October 6 from 3 to 5 p.m. Padre Johnson will make a special presentation, donating 25 paintings from his “Faces of the Global Human Family” to the museum for permanent display.

Johnson served as a Navy Special Forces medical chaplain during the Vietnam War and later earned a doctorate in cultural anthropology.  Research for his thesis led him to travel around the world, painting faces of humanity. 

He spent 14 years living with people in 159 countries and capturing the common humanity in their faces. Now he has put together an exhibition of his amazing works reflecting cultures around the world. His works have been exhibited at the United Nations and the Royal Palace in China’s Forbidden City. 

Johnson originally planned on gifting all of his paintings to the United Nations, but has since decided that they belong in Heritage of the Americans Museum on the campus of Cuyamaca College here in East County, where he held his very first exhibition years ago.

For more information, you can visit heritageoftheamericasmuseum.com/..

NOW FOR A PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS

RAMONA AIR FAIR AND FLY-IN OCT. 7

Cool airplanes, awesome cars, live country music, and a hot air balloon are all part of the Ramona Air Fair and Fly-In on Saturday, October 7th at the Ramona Airport (2926 Montecito Road, Ramona) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors will get the chance to get close-up looks at vintage aircraft and classic cars. Kids ages 8 to 17 can take free flights with the Young Eagles. There will be a tethered hot air balloon for people to ride in. Plus, country and Southern rock band “Del Rio,” and the KSON team will entertain.

There will also be games, free face-painting, balloons and piñatas for children, and a pancake breakfast, Mexican lunch, and food trucks. Visitors can also tour the Classic Rotors Helicopter Museum, the U.S. Forest Service’s helitack base and the CAL FIRE air attack base.

(For more information about the airport, go to the County Department of Public Works’ Ramona Airport web page.)

LAGUNA MOUNTAIN RENDEZVOUS OCTOBER 13-22

Step back in time to a fur trading and colonial camp from the 1700s to 1840s at the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous. This event takes place October 13 through 22 at the Mataguay Scout Reservation in Santa Ysabel.

You can see demonstrations of survival skills such as cooking, archery, tomahawk-throwing, black powder shooting and tool making. For more information, you can visit the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous page on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/Laguna-Mountain-Rendezvous-154665167884580/)

KIDS CARE FEST OCTOBER 14 IN LAKESIDE

Grossmont Healthcare District presents Kids Care Fest on Saturday, October 14 from 9 a.m.to 1 p.m. at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds.  This event will offer potentially life-saving healthcare screenings as well as dental and vision screenings at no cost as well as safety demonstrations, flu shots, blood pressure and cholesterol checks, health information, plus fun activities such as pony rides and a rock-climbing wall.

For details, visit kidscarefest.org

HAUNTFEST ON MAIN OCT. 20

The Sixth Annual “HauntFest on Main” will be held October 20th from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. in Downtown El Cajon. This fun, family-friendly Halloween-themed event features live music on the Promenade Stage including the Stand-Up Guys from 5 to 7:15 p.m. and the Amazing ‘80s All-Starz from 7:45 to 10 p.m.:

This event also features costume contests on the Main Street stage, carnival rides, crafts, games, car show, a candy trail, kids zone with outdoor movies, face painting, inflatables for kids, pumpkin patch, Ghostbusters and more.  This event is presented by the City of El Cajon and the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners. 

(Admission is free, but some rides will charge a nominal fee.) For more information, you can visit Hauntfest.org or call (619) 441-1754.

BORREGO DAYS OCT. 21-22

The 52nd Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival kicks off Saturday, October 21 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and continues through Sunday, October 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Borrego Days Parade steps off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 21st along Palm Canyon Drive and Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, complete with pre-parade flyover, floats, marching bands and trick-riding Western cowboys.

Borrego Days also includes arts and crafts and a carnival fun zone for kids both days, plus live music for dancing under the stars on Saturday night.

For more information, you can visit BorregoDays.com.  

HAUNTED LODGE OCT. 26-31

The El Cajon Elks Lodge 1812 is teaming up with a local Haunted House Production Company “Scareventures” to present a Haunted Lodge for the community in their parking lot from October 26th through 31st. This will be one of the only Haunted Houses in San Diego’s East Count.

The “Haunted Lodge” will feature a maze and four different key scare areas for guests to experience, plus activities and booths.

There will also be early evening hours set aside for children under 12 to experience a less scary version of the haunted lodge that is family friendly for youngsters where they will be treated to Halloween candy from nicer monsters they encounter as a part of their tour through the Lodge maze.

The Elks, who have been serving the community for 60 years, will donate 100% of proceeds from the event for children’s charities. The lodge is located at 1500 East Washington Avenue in EL Cajon. 

You can purchase advance tickets at elcajonelks.com.

HALLOWEEN HARVEST FAMILY FESTIVAL ATOP MT. HELIX OCT. 29

The Mt. Helix Park Foundation and Grossmont Mt Helix Improvement Association (GMIA) are joining together for a fun-filled Halloween Harvest Family Festival at the top of Mt Helix Park for neighborhood families on Sunday, October 29th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A costume parade for kids, live music by Lenny & the Lounge Lizards, plus booths from local businesses offering crafts, games and treats will all be part of this fall festival.

Park at the San Miguel Fire Station on Vivera to take a free shuttle to the top of Mt. Helix.

For more information on the event, visit MtHelixPark.org.

SPOOKY CAMPOVER AT LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS OCT. 27-28

Lions, Tigers and Bears in Alpine will host its annual Spooky Campover from 3 p.m. Friday October 27 until noon on. October 28. Bring your own pumpkin to carve, food, camping gear and best costume. This event promises "a wild and ghoulish night under the stars with the rescued animals." There will be pumpkin carving, s'mores, campfire songs, a costume contest and animal feedings.

For ticket prices and reservations, visit www.LionsTigersAndBears.org  (or see https://lionstigersandbears.org/upcoming-events/lions-tigers-bears-spooky-campover/ .) All proceeds benefit the nonprofit facility’s work to rescue exotic animals and provide a permanent home for them.

BOO! PARADE OCTOBER 28 IN COLLEGE AREA

Celebrating its 13th year, the Boulevard BOO! Parade will be held on Saturday, October 28th starting at 10 a.m. With over 70 entries of live entertainment marching on one mile of El Cajon Boulevard in the College area, the parade will entertain you with spooky ghouls, goblins, ghosts and witches to fill you with the Halloween spirit.

Grandstand seating is available for purchase, or arrive early to stake out space along the parade route.  The best viewing is along the south side of El Cajon Boulevard between Rolando Blvd. and 60th Street.

That’s all for this week!

If you have an event you’d like added to our calendar, or if you would like to sponsor the Destination East County column on our website, or the Destination East County show on KNSJ Radio, you can contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.  Destination East County is the most-read feature on our website.

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


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