Culture of San Diego, California

The culture of San Diego, California, is influenced heavily by American and Mexican cultures due to its position as a border town.

Tourism

Tourism has affected the city's culture, as San Diego houses many tourist attractions, such as Seaworld, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, and nearby Legoland. San Diego's Spanish influence can be seen in the many historic sites across the city, such as the Spanish missions and Balboa Park. Cuisine is San Diego is diverse, but there is an abundance of wood fired California-style pizzas, and Mexican and East Asian cuisine. Annual events in San Diego include Comic-Con, [http://www.sdfair.com/ San Diego/Del Mar Fair] , and Street Scene Music Festival.

Arts

San Diego has a small, but growing art scene. "Kettner Nights" at the Art and Design District in Little Italy has art and design exhibitions throughout many retail design stores and galleries on selected Friday nights. "Ray at Night" at North Park host a variety of small scale art galleries on the second Saturday evening of each month. La Jolla and nearby Solana Beach also have a variety of art galleries.

Many popular museums, such as the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Museum of Man, and the Museum of Photographic Arts are located Balboa Park. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is located in an ocean front building in La Jolla and has a branch located at the Santa Fe Depot downtown. The Colombia district downtown is home to historic ship exhibits as well as the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum featuring the USS Midway aircraft carrier.

The San Diego Symphony at Symphony Towers performs on a regular basis and is directed by Jahja Ling. The San Diego Opera at Civic Center Plaza was ranked by Opera America as one of the top 10 opera companies in the United States. Old Globe Theatre at Balboa Park produces about 15 plays and musicals annually. The La Jolla Playhouse at UCSD is directed by a two-time Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff. The Joan B. Kroc Theatre at Kroc Center's Performing Arts Centeris is a 600-seat state-of-the-art theatre that hosts music, dance and theatre performances. The San Diego Repertory Theatre at the Lyceum Theatres in Horton Plaza produces a variety of plays and musicals. Serving the northeastern part of San Diego is the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, a 400-seat performing arts theater.

San Diego also boasts one of the most eclectic local music scenes in California. Once dubbed the "Next Seattle" during the independent rock craze of the early - mid 1990's, San Diego's clubs and cafe's have produced such pioneering rock acts as Three Mile Pilot, Rocket From the Crypt, Pinback, Thingy, Drive Like Jehu, Clikitat Ickatowi, Unbroken, Swing Kids, Creedle, Battalion of Saints, Manual Scan, Beat Farmers, The Paladins, Morlocks, Crash Worship, Greyboy Allstars, Boilermaker, Physics (and Aspects of Physics), Blackheart Procession, The Album Leaf, Tristeza, and Pitchfork, among countless others.

Annual events

* [http://www.normalheights.org/events/rootsfestival/ Adams Avenue Roots Festival] in Normal Heights
* [http://adamsaveonline.com/StreetFair/default.htm Adams Avenue Street Fair] in Normal Heights
* [http://www.artwalksandiego.org/index.htm Art Walk] , the largest art event in the San Diego/Tijuana region in Little Italy
* [http://www.artwalkonthebay.org/ Art Walk] on the bay in the Marina district
*Asian Film Festival
*Carnevale, a Venetian mask and costume competition in Little Italy
*ConDor - San Diego's Oldest SF&Fantasy Convention
*Comic-Con
*2007 Corso degli Artisti Street Painting Festival in Little Italy
* [http://www.sicilianfesta.com/Festivale Siciliano] in Little Italy
* [http://www.sandiegofestival.com/ Gator by the Bay Zydeco & Blues Festival]
*Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in East Mission Valley
*San Diego Asian Film Festival
*Jewish Film Festival
* [http://www.sdlatinofilm.com/ Latino Film Festival]
*Italian Motorsport Show in Little Italy
* [http://www.sdbookfair.com/ Open Air Book Fair] in Hillcrest
*Over-the-line at Fiesta Island
*Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in East Mission Valley
* [http://www.upses.com/08festa.html Portuguese U.P.S.E.S. Festa] and Parade throughout neighborhoods of Point Loma.
* [http://www.littleitalysd.com/festa/index.asp Precious Festa] , the largest Italian festival in the Western U.S. in Little Italy
* [http://www.sdfair.com/ San Diego/Del Mar Fair] in the nearby city of Del Mar.
* [http://sandiegopride.org/ San Diego Pride Parade] in Hillcrest
*Street Scene Music Festival

ites of interest

*Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
*Black's Beach (nude beach) at Torrey Pines State Park in La Jolla
*Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma
*Casa de Estudillo, in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park *
*Legoland in near-by Carlsbad
*MCAS Miramar Marine Corps Air Station (Miramar Airshow)
*Mission Beach Roller Coaster at Belmont Park in Mission Beach
*Mission San Diego de Alcalá *
*Mount Soledad at La Jolla
*Old Globe Theatre at Balboa Park
*Old Mission Dam in Mission Trails Regional Park *
*Presidio of San Diego *
*San Diego Wild Animal Park in near-by Escondido
*San Diego Zoo at Balboa Park
*Seaport Village in the Marina District downtown
*SeaWorld at Mission Bay
*"Star of India" (barque sailing ship) in the Colombia district downtown *(* An asterisk designates National Historic Landmarks)

Cuisine

Owing to its privileged position on the Pacific Ocean and its warm Mediterranean-like climate, San Diego enjoys an abundance of quality produce and dining. The renowned Chino Farms in nearby Rancho Santa Fe provides fresh organic produce both to local restaurants and restaurants in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, California, and San Francisco. There is also a wine growing industry in nearby San Pasqual Valley and Temecula.

Given its ethnic and cultural mix, it is not surprising that San Diego has a wide range of cuisines. One can find Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese, Greek, Latin, German, Indian, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. In addition, there are numerous seafood restaurants and steakhouses. The city's long history and close proximity to Mexico has endowed the area with an extensive variety of authentic Mexican restaurants. Regional homemade specialties, border fare and haute cuisine are all readily available.

San Diego's warm, dry climate and access to the ocean have also made it a center for fishing and for growing fruits and vegetables. Long a center of the tuna industry, San Diego benefits from an abundant supply of seafood.

Many of the most popular restaurants can be found in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, La Jolla, Hillcrest and Old Town.

Local specialties include:
* Mexican (carne asada, street tacos, California burritos, fish tacos, enchiladas, carne asada fries, and ceviche)
* Wood-fired, California-style pizza
* Southeast Asian specialties of all kinds.
* Local Wines (San Pasqual Valley, Rancho Bernardo)
* A vibrant craft brewing community featuring 22 brewpubs and/or microbreweries. San Diego brewers have become famous for pioneering several specialty beer styles, most notably the American Double India Pale Ale. Three San Diego County breweries are consistently rated in the Top 10 breweries in the world by RateBeer.com (AleSmith Brewing Company, Pizza Port/Port Brewing, and Stone Brewing Co.). Unfortunately, none of San Diego's old breweries (such as Aztec Brewing Company) survived the spread of big national brewing companies.
* Locally produced (from the mountains near Julian) hard and sweet apple cider
* Various fruits and vegetables (including avocados, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, eggplant, oranges, lemons, limes, strawberries, grapefruit, grapes, apples, pomegranates, persimmons, and melons)

Several chain restaurants made their start in San Diego. These include Jack in the Box, Pat & Oscar's, Souplantation (March 1978), Rubio's (1980s), Filippi's Pizza Grotto, Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, Roberto's, Alberto's, and Anthony's Fish Grotto (1950s). Rubio's fish tacos were also featured at the 1996 Republican National Convention which was held in San Diego.

ee also

*List of museums in San Diego

References