I have never seen so many children in one place, and I used to teach elementary school. Clutching toy monster trucks, they wait in line to meet leather-jacketed drivers and scribble drawings of trucks on the asphalt in chalk. Their parents snap photos of them in front of animal-themed vehicles named Monster Mutt and Megalodon and shell out $30 for them to chug along in motorized, Rottweiler-sized vehicles or build their own wooden mouse-sized ones.
I’m at the Pit Party at Snapdragon Stadium, the dazzling pregame to the San Diego iteration of Monster Jam, a touring exhibition-slash-competition promising rip-roaring monster truck action. Though the trucks have previously appeared at Petco Park, this is Monster Jam’s first event at the new stadium.
But, right now, it kind of just looks like a car show, if all the gearheads were under five feet tall.
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
This interactive extravaganza and the main event combine for the greatest toy commercial I have ever seen, a methanol-fueled triumph of American marketing.
I queue alongside seven-year-olds to try and interview a few drivers, who look politely bemused when a lone adult woman approaches them wielding an iPhone. Mostly I want to know how they ended up here. Sure, “monster-truck driver” may be a common third-grade ambition. But how does one go from wheeling toy trucks around a playmat to rambling around America in the real deal?
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
“I got into Monster Jam through ATV motocross, and I would simply just compete at Monster Jam intermissions,” says Kayla Blood, who helms camo-wrapped truck Soldier Fortune as the only woman driver on the circuit. “So I did that at an event, and about a week later, I got a phone call from Monster Jam wanting to put me in a truck and test me, and I was like, ‘Absolutely!’ I’ve been doing this for about eight years now.”
David Olfert, who drives a 10-foot-tall truck covered in a metal shell shaped like a toothy-grinned velociraptor, answers my query with the same well-worn cadence of any media-trained athlete. “I was a fan of monster trucks and Monster Jam since I was a kid, and worked my way up, worked on the trucks, and finally got to drive,” he says.
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
For others, it’s a family business. Adam Anderson stepped behind the wheel of the legendary Grave Digger in 2016, taking over for his father, Dennis, who created the truck. There’s no Monster Jam without Grave Digger—it’s so famous even I, a motorsports agnostic, have heard of it. In fact, there are seven different Grave Diggers active at any given time (meaning that Adam isn’t always the driver) so that it can appear at every event. When I mentioned Monster Jam to a colleague, she told me Grave Digger had won the one time she attended. “Grave Digger always wins,” she added. Adam’s younger brother Ryan is also part of the dynasty, driving the less-cool offshoot Son-uva Digger.
As it turns out, attending runs in families, too. Six-year-old Gianna has been going to Monster Jam since before she can remember—today is her sixth time.
“I did it as a kid, so I figured I’d continue with her,” her mom, Jaden, tells me. (Monster Jam has been running since 1992, so its original fans are right at the age to pass the passion along to a second generation.)
A few minutes later, a cheery voice announces that the pit party is ending, as the drivers have to get “suited and booted” for the event. We follow the throng to the gates.
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
From Snapdragon’s Presidential Suite, I have a birds-eye view of the track: mounds of dirt arranged into ramps; painted red, gray, and black; and seeded with skeletal sedans that will be crushed over the course of the evening. At 7 p.m., the monster trucks roar out onto the track. It’s LOUD. Suddenly, I understand why so many kids’ ears are safely cocooned in headphones.
I expect trucks slamming into one another and grinding Mitsubishis into dust, but there are actual, skill-driven events—first, a race in which trucks compete head-to-head in bracketed rounds. Then, each driver shows off their skill for tipping their truck forward or backward into a wheelie or whipping it around in dizzying donuts.
Finally, there’s the freestyle round, in which every driver gets two minutes to fling themselves off the ramps, moonwalk their cars on two tires, and attempt backflips. Audience members vote on their phones to determine the winners of the latter two events, and the driver with the most cumulative points takes the crown.
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
Winning is cool, obviously. But as the drivers themselves will tell you, the mark of a true Monster Jam champ is a willingness to “drive the car into the ground.”
During its race against Megalodon, Bakugan Dragonoid—a dragon-themed truck inspired by a character from the kids’ anime franchise—flips on its back and can’t recover. The crowd roars as a Cat truck arrives to haul it back over.
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
When Bakugan Dragonoid finally turns rightside up, I sort of expect everyone to cheer, like in a movie about an underdog boxer who hauls himself back into the ring with blood streaming from his nostrils. Instead, the truck limps off, pouring fluids, to a bored silence.
As the show goes on, though, I sense my own bloodlust igniting. Monster Jam, much like American football or navigating an airport, is stop-and-start: 20 seconds to two minutes of brutal action punctuated by long periods of waiting. Can I be blamed for feeling the urge to join in with the audience’s hungry whoops as more and more trucks crash, roll, and catch fire?
But if I’m a little bored for most of the evening, it’s probably because Monster Jam isn’t for me—it is, at its heart, all about the kids. The usual replays and sponsor shoutouts on the jumbotron are interspersed with actual toy commercials promoting miniature versions of popular trucks and plastic ramps to shoot them off of. At the start of the action, a call-and-response theme song plays (“When I say monster, you say jam!”), like we’re all about to watch a cartoon.
Whenever it’s Zombie’s time to perform, its driver, Bari Musawwir, takes a minute to do a lap, prompting hundreds of children and adults to waggle stiff zombie arms in the truck’s direction. It’s like “the wave” for the undead. A spectacle that only exists at Monster Jam.
The show is stitched together with familiar platitudes. “This is Monster Jam, and we go by one thing: Expect the unexpected,” one announcer declares.
Later, when Kayla Blood makes her triumphant, tearful return (Soldier Fortune was waylaid, briefly, by “gremlins,” the announcer shares), Blood admits, “I know there’s no crying in Monster Jam, but these are happy tears.”
Photo Credit: Mateo Hoke
Blood almost wins the skills challenge, but she’s edged out by a recovered Bakugan Dragonoid. In the end, after all the jumps have been jumped and the flips flipped, three trucks are tied, each with 28 points: Grave Digger, Bakugan Dragonoid, and Megalodon.
When the cheery announcer steps up to the mic to laud the winner, however, only one name is on her lips—Grave Digger. The crowd goes wild. Adam Anderson’s mustache twitches over his wide grin. The other two 28-point drivers smile and wave and don’t say a thing, perhaps because they know, gazing out at the sea of size-4T Grave Digger t-shirts in the stands, that this was always how it was going to be.
Amelia Rodriguez is a writer and journalist and winner of the San Diego Press Club's 2023 Rising Star Award and 2024 Best of Show Award, she’s also covered music, food, arts and culture, fashion, and design for Rolling Stone, Palm Springs Life, and other national and regional publications. After work, you can find her hunting down San Diego’s best pastries and maintaining her five-year Duolingo streak.
Charitable gatherings, downtown music festivals and theater premieres—of both the heartwarming and thought-provoking variety—are among San Diego’s standout events this weekend. You can’t spell fundraising without ‘fun,’ and both elements are central at Poway OnStage’s Taste of the Towne and the Switchfoot Bro-Am. Listeners of blues, reggae rock and silky smooth jazz can check out the East Village Blues Fest, Field of Dreamz and the San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival, respectively. As for the city’s thespian community, new shows include Cygnet Theatre’s production of Broadway favorite The Spongebob Musical and the world premiere of the OnWord Theatre show Marti Gobel’s Adult Storytime: A Caregiver’s Guide To The Blues.
The tasteful appetizer to Switchfoot Bro-Am’s annual Beach Fest is the laid-back Benefit Party, returning this Thursday from 6-10 p.m. at Viasat. Guests will be treated to a curated dining menu, a performance by Switchfoot with special guests, and the chance to bid on live and silent auction items, including local excursions, apparel packages, and deluxe arts experiences. Individual ticket options include general admission ($300) and reserved seating ($450); the money raised will go towards youth-centered programming at six local nonprofits.
6155 El Camino Real, Carlsbad
Taste of Our Towne at Poway Center for the Performing Arts
June 13
Patrons of Poway OnStage are invited to Taste of Our Towne, the organization’s annual culinary fundraiser, this Saturday at 5 p.m. at Poway Center for the Performing Arts. The evening will begin with auctions, plus bites and libations from over a dozen local vendors before magician Chris Funk, aka The Wonderist, takes the stage for an interactive comedy show.General admission is $115 for Taste of Our Towne; proceeds from this event will benefit Poway OnStage’s Professional Performance Series and Arts in Education Initiative.
Rod Stewart at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 12
Before (potentially) riding off into the sunset, British rocker Rod Stewart is strutting his stuff stateside with the unconventional voice and unquestionable verve that’s propelled his nearly six decade-long solo career. Though the “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” artist’s days on the road may be dwindling, that’s even more reason to give him his flowers in the present. Stewart’s upcoming show this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre will feature prolific singer-songwriter Richard Marx as the opening act. Tickets start at $40.
2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista
Switchfoot Bro-Am Beach Fest
June 13
Following Thursday’s Benefit Party, the 22nd annual Switchfoot Bro-Am will switch (get it?) from its fundraiser to a free day at Moonlight Beach for Saturday’s all-day Beach Fest. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be surf competitions—including surf jousting—and from noon to 5 p.m., Sun Room, Telephone Friends, Kimiko, a handful of special guests and, of course, Switchfoot will perform for attendees. Additionally, throughout the day, there will be a variety of vendors and brand activations to explore. Admission is free with RSVP, while VIP pit tickets are $195.
As the mysterious saying goes, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ but instead of Iowa cornfields, this time the message is coming from inside SD’s home ballpark. This Saturday, Ocean Beach natives Slightly Stoopid will headline the first-ever Field of Dreamz Festival, and they’ve brought along a handful of ska, reggae and island-inspired rock acts for the ride. Doors will open at 3 p.m., and fans can see sets by Stephen Marley, Pepper, Sublime—whose first album with frontman Jakob Nowell drops Friday—and more. Ticket options include standard admission ($125), floor tickets ($188), plus All-Star VIP ($244) and Hall of Fame VIP ($610) passes.
Ryan Hardison is a freelance arts and entertainment writer and recent graduate of San Diego State. When he's not staring at his laptop, he's likely eating an adobada burrito or getting sunburnt at the beach.
Maybe it was when Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul drank mezcal with chefs from San Diego and Food Network on the cliffs over Blacks Beach. Or the dinner outside under lights with Alex Morgan, celebrating some of the country’s most badass women chefs. Or the celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees, where the star of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia made thwacking sounds with locals. Or when Iron Chef winner Beau MacMillan commandeered (some say “stole”) a golf cart and delivered drinks and ice to chefs.
Whatever it is, Del Mar Wine & Food seems to have become the food and wine festival for people who don’t usually like food and wine festivals. The most San Diego thing.
Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival
Two years ago, Thrillist named it one of the best food festivals in the country. Last year, 10,000 people came out to experience it, including Guy Fieri. Afterward, the founders spent a couple days trying to put their finger on why it felt so special. They had to name it, lean into whatever that was.
“It all came back to play,” says one of those founders, SDM co-owner Troy Johnson, a longtime San Diego food writer and Food Network judge. “Making world-class bread is serious, but breaking bread shouldn’t be. We gather all these incredibly talented people who take their craft very, very seriously—work their butts off all year to make some of the best food and drink in the country—and then we all just kinda play in the grass. We believe it’s possible to create something of incredible value and make the experience of that thing a laidback, easygoing, unpretentious experience. That’s what this is, and who we are in San Diego. The whole reason we did this was to shine a national spotlight on the people who make our food and drink culture hum.”
Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival
The festival dropped its 2026 lineup today.
Headlining the fest are Food Network chefs Jet Tila, Maneet Chauhan, and Aarti Sequeira; Top Chef winner and Michelin-starred Buddha Lo; Iron Chef alum Beau MacMillan; MasterChef winner Kelsey Murphy; MasterChef Latinos winner Michelle Mathelin, chef and Guy’s Grocery Games judge Catherine McCord, chef and former Masterchef Mexico judge Benito Molina, Top Chef alum Jackson Kalb, Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman, Michelin-starred chef Javier Plascencia, James Beard award-winning chef Brady Ishiwata Williams, and James Beard-nominated chef Mawa McQueen.
The party kicks off on Wednesday, September 30 at Monarch Ocean Pub with Signature San Diego, a walk-around tasting of the city’s greatest bites, from Baja seafood to bold Mexican flavors. From there, the energy carries into a celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by Drew Brees at Barnes Tennis Center on October 2, pairing friendly competition with an all-inclusive tasting experience in support of Feeding San Diego.
The main event is the two-day Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park on Oct. 3 and 4. The city’s top chefs, food people from TV lands, and local tastemakers gather on the weirdly perfect grass to serve up everything from juicy Wagyu burgers and beef tallow fries to yellowtail tuna tostadas and veggies dressed up in their Sunday best. Wine and cocktail pairings are designed to round out the whole experience, including activations from Aperol Spritz, Hendrick’s Gin, Tequila Ocho, Mezcal Vago, Rioja wines, and Temecula producers.
Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival
A VIP lounge offers exclusive access to curated small plates from Michelin-level chefs and pour from some of SoCal and Napa’s finest wineries and drink makers. The Official After Party at Guesthouse La Valle on October 3, a spirited walk-around tasting just steps from the Grand Tasting, where cocktails take center stage through imaginative bites inspired by the smoky, citrus-forward, and bittersweet flavors of classic drinks.
Zones return with activations including the Big Queer Food Fest celebrating queer chefs and queer-owned businesses; the Wellness Zone led by Novo Dia offering a built-in reset with non-alcoholic mocktails, movement-driven activations, and wellness-forward moments. Coastal lifestyle and locally made brands are also integrated throughout the festival.
“We are excited for the fourth edition of the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival this fall, which has quickly become one of the largest food and wine experiences on the West Coast,” says co-founder Chris Finn. “As the festival continues to grow, we are constantly looking to add events, experiences, and partners that will resonate with our San Diego community, and embody the Southern California way of life.”
Returning as the festival’s partner is local nonprofit Feeding San Diego. To date, Del Mar Wine & Food has raised $100,000 to support their ongoing fight against hunger across the region.
Stay tuned for additional events hosted by festival partners including Rob Machado, San Diego Wave, San Diego FC, Town & Country, and San Diego Mojo.
Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival
Del Mar Wine & Food Fest: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When is the 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?
The 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival will take place September 30–October 4 throughout San Diego County.
Where is the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?
The week culminates with the Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park (formerly the Del Mar Polo Fields) at 14989 Via De La Valle, Del Mar.
A wide variety of exclusive dinners, drink tastings, and other lifestyle events will be announced soon and available for purchase individually on Del Mar Wine & Food Festival’s website. These festivities include chef-curated dining experiences across San Diego’s hottest restaurants, a celebrity pickleball tournament, wine tastings, and more.
When is the 2026 Grand Tasting?
The Grand Tasting takes place this year on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4.
How much are tickets?
General admission for the single-day Grand Tasting starts at $185. An Early Access option is also available at $235, which includes an extra four hours before general admission to meet, mingle, and feast. For a two-day pass, General Admission starts at $275, while Early Access is $375.
VIP tickets begin at $425 for a single day, offering access to pre-festival experiences, exclusive food vendors, a dedicated VIP area, and more. For the full weekend in VIP, passes are priced at $765.
Where can I buy tickets for the 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?
Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.
There’s a creative inertia that resides in San Diego, producing a near-constant stream of cool events. Fortunately, this weekend is no different. Those with an artistic inkling can search for inspiration at MCASD’s EXPO Design Market or admire the mixture of live performance and neighborhood charm during the North Park Music Fest. Foodies can dine (with wine) at Stake Chophouse & Bar during its ZD Wines Dinner or explore Barrio Logan’s standout eats at the Sabor Del Barrio. Plus, Pride Month is already in full swing in SD with the return of DISCO RIOT’s Queer Mvmnt Fest and the two-day Out & Abt Music Festival.
Stake Chophouse & Bar is collaborating with Napa Valley’s ZD Wines—a family-run winemaking institution that’s been around since 1969—on an intimate four-course dinner this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Throughout the meal, each dish will be paired with a curated pour from ZD Wines, with patrons set to receive a chardonnay, pinot noir, and pair of cabernet sauvignons. Dinner guests will also be treated to insight on the night’s wine pairings from ZD Wines’ senior winemaker Chris Pisani. Reservations are $210 pre-paid through OpenTable.
Take advantage of all the dynamic attractions that the Barrio Logan Cultural District has to offer—and eat very well while you’re at it—during the third annual Sabor Del Barrio. This Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. attendees can devour their way through 35 neighborhood staples and traverse the tasting stops on foot, by bike, via a free trolley shuttle, or a combination of the three. Tickets are $40 online ($55 day of) and come with complimentary admission to Quint Gallery, the Athenaeum Art Center, and the Chicano Park Museum & Cultural Center, plus a free tour of Tao of Clay.
Sam Hinton Folk Heritage Festival at Old Poway Park
June 6
Survey the depth of oral storytelling during the free annual Sam Hinton Folk Heritage Festival this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old Poway Park. Named for harmonica virtuoso, marine biologist, and longtime San Diegan Sam Hinton, this event highlights folk artists who specialize in time-honored traditions. Throughout the day, attendees can see performances by musicians with roots in Americana, Cajun, and Appalachian rhythms on the main stage, dance in the Templars Hall, and hear historical tales from the Storytellers of San Diego in the Porter House.
14134 Midland Road, Poway
North Park Music Fest
June 6
Psychedelic rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers will headline an eclectic lineup at the North Park Music Fest. This Saturday, enjoy sets from noon to 1:45 a.m. from over thirty performers—including DJs, bands, and local acts—across a dozen North Park venues. Ticket options include general admission ($25 online, $35 day of) and VIP passes ($65) which come with lounge access at Granada House, line-skipping privileges and more; festival proceeds will go towards the North Park Business & Neighborhood Foundation. Plus, performances at Pure Pawsh, Visual Art + Supply, Overland, and Playground Art + Coffee will be open to the public.
North Park
Out & Abt Music Festival
June 6 & 7
The calendar has just flipped to Pride Month, and Out & Abt is celebrating in style. The two-day Out & Abt Music Festival begins Saturday from 3-10 p.m. at The Soap Factory with drag shows, circus acts, a manic pixie dream market, two stages of live music, and last but not least, a mechanical bull. The festivities will continue with an after party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Gossip Grill and conclude with an afternoon pool party at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego on Sunday from 1-7 p.m. Ticket options include weekend general admission passes ($70), and entry to the music festival ($30), after party ($17) and pool party ($27).
Citywide
Photo Credit: Kevin Berne
Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Weekend
The Monsters at La Jolla Playhouse
June 2-28
Fresh off its Drama Desk Award-winning run in the Big Apple this past winter, The Monsters will have its first West Coast production beginning Tuesday in the Mandall Weiss Forum at La Jolla Playhouse. Written by and co-starring Ngozi Anyanwu, The Monsters finds its reconciliatory narrative in a young woman yearning to repair her relationship with her estranged older brother in the brutal and unforgiving world of mixed martial arts. The Monsters will have preview performances this Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 & 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 & 7 p.m., with tickets ranging from $30-$74.
Ryan Hardison is a freelance arts and entertainment writer and recent graduate of San Diego State. When he's not staring at his laptop, he's likely eating an adobada burrito or getting sunburnt at the beach.
Kelly H. Harfouche, founder of KQ Aesthetic Society, knows firsthand that cosmetic treatments like fillers, neurotoxins, and microneedling, can not only enhance a person’s appearance and restore confidence, they have the power to truly change a person’s life. An expert injector has the ability to tailor treatments to each individual patient’s anatomy and goals for personalized results. Harfouche, a board-certified nurse practitioner, has spent nearly a decade perfecting her craft as an aesthetic injector and integrating her multifaceted artistic skills with precision patient care. Her commitment to continual education and training, plus a passion for helping people look—and feel—their best, set KQ Aesthetic Society apart in a sea of local medspas.
For many people considering nonsurgical treatments, the intent is to look refreshed and refined. KQ Aesthetic Society’s philosophy eschews a cookie cutter approach that bases treatments around units, instead working to understand each person’s unique goals, then curating a treatment plan to fit that vision. Harfouche focuses on “inclusive luxury,” the belief that everyone deserves access to aesthetic treatments, respective of budget restrictions. She develops long-standing trusted relationships with her patients, and works with each one to achieve their aesthetic objectives and address the underlying causes of their concerns.
“For me, forming an honest and open relationship with every patient who walks through the door is essential. This means understanding them on a deeper level and meeting them where they are to define and achieve their individual goals,” she says.
Drawing on her artistic background, which inspired her transition into medical aesthetics, Harfouche sees each client as a “unique canvas.” Rather than relying on standardized procedures, the practitioner’s distinctive approach combines her profound understanding of the physiological and anatomical changes associated with aging with an unwavering commitment to ongoing education about the newest products and their mechanisms of action. Her goal is to make each patient feel beautiful in their own skin and to embrace their individuality.
She has also pioneered a way to combine her talent for aesthetic artistry with her philanthropic nature. Harfouche is one of only a handful of providers using dermal fillers to treat patients with lip asymmetry and scarring resulting from cleft lip surgery. Patients travel from around the country for this transformative treatment, noting increased confidence and a restored identity. She hopes to eventually launch a training program to help fill the void in this space.
“My passion has always been connecting with people and giving back in any capacity that I can,” she says. In the rapidly advancing landscape of aesthetic medicine, you can place your confidence in Harfouche and KQ Aesthetic Society to deliver exceptional care. To learn more or book a consultation, please visit kqaestheticsociety.com.
June Gloom isn’t stopping San Diegans from making the most out of the month. There’s something for every music lover, from swaying to smooth jazz at The Rady Shell to rocking out at Slightly Stoopid’s Field of Dreamz Festival. Art enthusiasts can visit the Mingei for an exhibit showcasing Native American and Pacific Rim heritage, while foodies can try the latest fried fad at the San Diego County Fair. Whatever your interests, it’s time to text the group chat and make some plans. Here are all the best things to do in San Diego this month:
Khalid is headlining his first tour since 2019—this time for the R&B and pop showstopper After the Sun Goes Down—and he’s ready to dance through Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre.
Photo Credit: Angela Babby / Courtesy of Angela Babby
Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Month
6/5–7/19
With a beat that can’t be stopped, New Village Arts will revive the joyful musical Hairspray, a fusion of teen pop stardom and racial integration in Civil Rights–era Baltimore.
6/13–9/13
Cat Gunn poignantly examines the impact of forced separation from ancestral lineage through If Only by the Light of a New Moon, their solo museum debut at ICA Central.
Proceed to Pride Month with the Out & Abt Festival, featuring a carnival-themed playground at The Soap Factory, an afterparty hosted by Gossip Grill, and the next day, a sapphic poolside bash at the Hard Rock Hotel.
6/10–7/5
Imagine and experience your favorite fairytale ending during the San Diego County Fair, which returns this summer with a new theme: Once Upon a Fair.
11 & 13
The return of the Switchfoot Bro-Am means two things: an elegant seaside fundraiser in North County and a free bash at Moonlight Beach full of sun, surf competitions, and live music.
For the first time, NASCAR will start its engines in San Diego. Naval Base Coronado will host this one-of-a-kind racing spectacle to commemorate the U.S. Navy’s semiquincentennial.
25
Itadakimasu! In other words: Let’s eat! Sample, then rank, the best Pan-Asian dishes from local eateries at Julep Venue during SD Mag’s 21+ Omakase Open, done to support the Convoy District.
28
If you ever needed a reason to eat ice cream and gelato, here’s a charitable one. Raise money—one waffle cone at a time—for Feeding San Diego during this year’s Scoop San Diego festival.
Ryan Hardison is a freelance arts and entertainment writer and recent graduate of San Diego State. When he's not staring at his laptop, he's likely eating an adobada burrito or getting sunburnt at the beach.
San Diego is just out here minding its own business. It’s long been cast as Los Angeles’s less ambitious sibling—the chill one, the one who shows up late for dinner reservations in flip-flops with a few provocative opinions. Architecturally it’s often cast the same: secondary, derivative, a footnote to California modernism that seems to begin and end with the Stahl House (Case Study House #22). LA has Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, John Lautner. San Diego has the original fish taco.
But this version of the story is redacted, metaphorically speaking.
While the jazz hands of Hollywood and its hills cast a spell on historians and architecture buffs, San Diego had, and has, its own quiet evolution: It invented and reinvented itself through homegrown modernism, beginning with The Allen House (1907) in Bonita by Irving J. Gill.
“The biggest misconception is that San Diego was following Los Angeles,” says Keith York of Modern San Diego, one of the city’s top guides to modernist architecture. “Those who consider Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra as the fathers of Southern California Modernism often fail to recognize the outsize influence Gill and his buildings had on their work.”
Courtesy of Keith York
A new book, The Distinct Modernism of San Diego—written by Mark Hargreaves and Hallie Swenson, published by York—focuses on eight architects who were born, raised, or built their careers in San Diego. It illustrates how the city wasn’t hosting weekend warrior architects on side quests. It was a staging ground for a less look-at-me modernism from luminaries like Gill, Lilian J. Rice, Richard Requa, Lloyd Ruocco, Frederick Liebhardt, Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, Sim Bruce Richards, and Cliff May.
“Absent the backstabbing competition for projects, a collegial group of architectural peers collaborated and maintained lasting friendships with one another as they designed in response to the temperate climate and slower economy,” York says.
Largely unknown until the mid-1960s, Gill is a marquee name today. He arrived here from the East Coast at a moment when San Diego was still defining itself, which gave him the freedom to invent something new, experiment, rebel.
Instead of imposing the flourishes and frills of the time, he considered San Diego’s climate, light, landscape, history—the joie de vivre—and designed for this place. “[Architects of the west] must have the courage to fling aside every device that distracts the eye from structural beauty, must break through convention and get down to fundamental truths,” he once said, a sentiment that nails the un-ornate, total lack of pretension that’s defined San Diego people and culture.
And, lo, did Gill fling: His flat roofs, clean lines, and almost no ornamentation—though not necessarily modernism in the Eames or Eichler sense—foreshadowed what would later be called minimalism. Gill eventually became synonymous with the Los Angeles narrative, but broader architectural histories overlook the fact that his most progressive designs happened here.
Courtesy of Keith York
Another key to San Diego’s architectural movement was Lilian J. Rice, who often worked behind the scenes with little credit. She was one of only about 10 women in America licensed as architects at the time. Even though she died from cancer at 43, she somehow managed to complete an estimated 170 projects in the region, many in Rancho Santa Fe.
Born and raised in National City, Rice also wasn’t importing ideas. She shaped her own based on her understanding of this region and her commitment to protect the natural environment. Her work has been categorized as Spanish Colonial Revival, but she wasn’t reviving as much as she was refining a style suited to our border region—serene, mirroring nature, beautiful.
Like Sim Bruce Richards, who was his own way of life. While Gill stripped away ornamentation and Rice focused on the peace of open spaces, Richards came along several decades later and went full emo. By then, modernism had grown deep roots; its steel-and-glass structures took themselves very seriously. Richards came to party.
Photo Credit: Ollie Patterson
An eccentric, unpredictable man with half a face (part of his jaw was removed following a bone infection when he was a child), his life was a jalopy of adventures. He was opinionated and passionate about design, music, texture—and he created what he called a “sensuous environment.” He wanted his clients and their guests to feel the spaces as much as to be in them, appealing to the visual, tactile, nasal (“a cedar house smells good”), auditory (“acoustically superior”), even taste. “Though, I‘ve never had a client lick my houses,” he once wrote.
Organic, woodsy, textured, aromatic—if you ever find yourself in a Sim Bruce Richards house, a licking impulse might not seem so outrageous.
Gill, Rice, Richards and the other architects in Distinct Modernism built a legacy in San Diego that resonates nationally. And the work of these heavy hitters isn’t stuck in an inaccessible collectors realm: This October, homes by Kellogg and Liebhardt will open to the public as part of the La Jolla Modernism Home Tour—an opportunity to experience it not as a museum relic or magazine image (ahem), but as something alive.
Modernism in San Diego was never about glamour or an intention to be iconic. What transpired here is more nuanced, more ingrained with a less shouty aesthetic. A very San Diego aesthetic.
AVRP Studios’ tradition for Design Excellence and Innovation began in 1976 with Doug Austin, FAIA, in Solana Beach, California. The firm has since grown to complete major projects throughout the United States and Canada. We think of ourselves as a family and we care deeply about people. We want to inspire, help make their lives richer and more complete through our efforts. We believe that architecture is one of the most important art forms because of the impact it can have on the lives of those it touches. We’re delighted to have been recognized with over 150 awards for design excellence.
703 16th Street, Suite 200, San Diego, California 92101 | 619-704-2700 | avrpstudios.com
