Little does anyone know, but this average kid had famous ancestors, and they’re destined to do great things. That’s an evergreen theme in stories for young adults: Heroes come from unlikely places, inheriting a history previously unknown even to themselves. A connection to the Force, to the Wizarding world—or even the Greek pantheon.
Rick Riordan’s 2005 novelThe Lightning Thieffound an irresistible angle on this theme: At summer camp, 12-year-old Percy Jackson learns he’s the long-lost son of Poseidon, his friend Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, and they embark on a quest that leads them to the underworld and back.
Jason Blitman has been working on this show for the better part of six years—as the casting director of its original off-Broadway run, on a one-act touring version, and as director of this full-length version. Some of the cast were already familiar with the books. (Ava, who plays Annabeth, recalls going through a Percy Jackson phase and reading them all “in, like, a week.”) Some had even seen the play.
This is a double-edged sword for up-and-coming actors, who might assume they should imitate the performance they’ve already seen. But Blitman encouraged everyone to find their own take on their characters. While casting, he looked for people with a strong sense of who they were as individuals, who wouldn’t be afraid to make bold choices.
The cast of The Lightning Thief at San Diego Junior Theatre
It seems his message has sunk in. Quincy, who plays Percy Jackson, says the play has taught him that when it comes to acting choices, it’s better “to be strong and wrong than to not try at all.”
Likewise, Ava says she’s learned that everything a character does must have a purpose. “Even little things, like crossing downstage or just getting to the spot you’re supposed to be in, have meanings behind them. It’s kind of like real life: You don’t just walk to the middle of the room randomly so you can start your conversation; everything you do, you do for a reason.”
Blitman specializes in teaching theater by and for young people, and he believes much of that discipline is about cultivating their sense of empathy—to fully imagine themselves in another person’s circumstances and adopt their perspective—as well as what it means to work as a team and take constructive feedback.
Taking on these roles in particular is a way of proving to themselves that they, too, can overcome monsters—the minotaurs and cyclopes are literal, yes, but they’re also “a not-so-secret metaphor for the monsters in the real world,” Blitman says. “The characters are 13 years old and dealing with problems that are bigger than themselves.”
That doesn’t meanThe Lightning Thiefis only for kids, he argues: “I think adults sometimes look at theater for young audiences and think, ‘Oh, this isn’t for me. But we were all young once; we can all relate to what it was like to be an outcast. Plus, it’s fun, contemporary, and has a really great pop-rock score.”
It may also inspire you to learn more about Greek mythology, as it did Quincy. “There are so many references in the script about things I didn’t know about,” he says. “It makes me curious. I was already a bigPercy Jacksonfan, but there’s always more to learn.”
The Lightning Thief runs April 29 through May 15 at Casa del Prado Theatre. Tickets are available at juniortheatre.com.
Dan Letchworth is the copy chief of San Diego Magazine. His print column Dansplaining explores San Diego trivia, and his theater review blog Everyone’s a Critic was a finalist for best online column in the 2019 National City & Regional Magazine Awards.
‘In Every Generation’ Traces Four Millennia of Family History in One Dinner
Local Ali Viterbi’s world premiere play is a highlight of the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival
Rich Soublet
By Dan Letchworth
Judith Scarpone, Rebecca Futterman, Ron Orbach, Sabrina Liu, and Lisa Robins in San Diego Repertory Theatre’s In Every Generation
Rich Soublet
French poet Paul Valéry said that art “is never truly completed…but abandoned.” That seems especially true of theater, since no two audiences ever see the exact same play.
San Diegan playwright Ali Viterbi believes the audience is an essential part of her work. “Plays are never really finished, because they demand the audience back-and-forth,” she says. “That part is always changing and evolving.”
Her latest,In Every Generation, follows the Levi-Katz family across four time periods—1416 BCE, 1954, 2019, and 2050—by way of their Passover seders. The idea came when she observed how theatrical the holiday is. “It asks us to imagine ourselves into the story of Exodus from Egypt,” she says. “We retell this story every year. It’s tradition, but it’s also time travel. It connects you, kind of magically, to both the past and the future.”
She began writing in 2017, in the wake of the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. “I had all these questions about what the future of American Jewish identity would look like, and about what happened to the Israelites after they escaped, when they were no longer enslaved but weren’t quite free, either.”
Tragically, we’re living in a time when speculative fiction writers are often quickly overtaken by reality. The next two years saw back-to-back mass shootings targeting the Jewish community, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and closer to home, at the Chabad of Poway. “The future that I’d imagined speculatively started to feel more real,” Viterbi says.
Still, she completed the play’s first draft and staged readings of it, with San Diego Repertory Theatre and other venues, revising as she went. For over ten years she has served as associate artistic director of the Rep’sLipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival. She describes this work as a celebration of diverse new Jewish voices in the community, with a goal of developing works that go on to have a life in theaters across America.
Alongside those new voices, this year’s festival will hostIn Every Generationas a “rolling world premiere.” The National New Play Network adopted the play to debut three times in close succession, first at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater, then here, finally in Washington, DC. This format allows each production to take notes and build from the previous, and for the playwright to continue revising based on the feedback it receives.
Its director in San Diego, Todd Salovey, says this method has paid off—that at first, Viterbi was reluctant to write about what Jewish life would be like 40 years from now. “But things have changed in our world,” he says. “She’s now exploring ‘How do you take a stand for your own ethnic identity at a time it might be dangerous to do so?”
Ali Viterbi, playwright of In Every Generation
What most impresses him aboutIn Every Generation, though, is Viterbi’s ability to present different perspectives on an idea, spoken from multiple characters who disagree with each other, and have each side of the argument sound equally compelling. “In this case, you’re getting to see a family whose love language is disagreeing with each other.”
Viterbi acknowledges that, even once her revisions are complete, if her play continues to be performed over the years, its reception will keep evolving as well. And that’s by design. She likens it to the Jewish study practice of havruta, which begins with one person reading a line from the Torah and asking a question, then someone else answers it and poses another question, and so on. “There is no answer,” she says. “It’s only in the asking of questions that you find some kind of resolution. It’s often very easy to tie a bow around our own narrative, but then we keep living.”
She hopes that San Diego audiences will feel invited to the Levi-Katz family’s seder, “celebrating this triumph of community in a time when that’s been hard to find”—not just to passively watch a finished product, but to be an active part of an ongoing conversation.
The Talmud itself precipitated Valéry’s sentiment by a few dozen generations, with a caveat. (It was speaking on the work of living, rather than making art—though for many there’s no difference.) “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
In Every Generation is now playing at the Lyceum Theatre through June 19. Tickets are available at sdrep.org.
Shakespeare is challenging even for seasoned adult actors. The language is so unfamiliar that if you don’t thoroughly understand what you’re saying, know where the emphases and punchlines and connotations lie, and how to hit them with the appropriate expression and body language, you can memorize your lines perfectly and they’ll still buzz right over the audience’s heads like the fine print in a pharmaceutical ad.
Given this, you’d be forgiven for feeling hesitant about a high- and middle-school-age production of Twelfth Night. But these aren’t just any young actors—they are San Diego Junior Theatre, the oldest continuously operating youth theater organization in the country. Now in its 72nd season, the company’s founding predates La Jolla Playhouse by 11 years, San Diego Rep by 28. They’re so OG their website is just juniortheatre.com. So it’s safe to say they’re no lightweights.
I’d only read Twelfth Night once, back in college, and had never seen it, so I figure I’m a good test audience for effectively communicating Early Modern English. And the lead actors here not only get it, they make it their own. After being separated from her twin brother in a shipwreck, Viola (Fiona Byrne) disguises herself as a man named “Cesario” to enter the service of Duke Orsino (Seth Holt), whom she quickly falls in love with. Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia (Genevieve Foster), but when he sends “Cesario” to deliver word of his affection, Olivia falls in love with “Cesario” instead.
Have a Gay Ol’ Time with ‘Twelfth Night’
Genevieve Foster, Hunter Mackay, Fiona Byrne, and Seth Holt in Twelfth Night by San Diego Junior Theatre | Photo by Ken Jacques
It’s a classic romantic comedy love triangle. There actually isn’t much to Orsino’s character besides “is a lord,” but Holt breathes life and charisma into it. Byrne delivers a nuanced performance of the inner conflict and social dexterity that comes with being the center of all this attention. Foster’s transition from stoic mourning to besotted seducer lets her deploy some great physical comedy—one perfectly timed fan deployment gets the biggest laughs of the play.
Director Justin Lang leans into the story’s inherent queer themes in a fun, effervescent way that adults and teens alike will enjoy, aided by gender-fluid casting and some truly fabulous costumes from Bertha Tulagan and lighting by David Romero. Drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch (Gaia Micciancio) and his cohorts, aspirant suitor Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Marc Berger) and court jester Feste (Amaya Gray) are a natural fit for partying in Pride regalia and other assorted silliness. Micciancio is one of the most capable actors in the show, and Berger is a great foil; their timing together is sharp. Gray is very well cast for her skill in mime and song—her musical interludes, both in beautiful vocal solo and almost-convincing rubber-chicken-violin, are standout moments—but I fear that some of the jester’s intended wit and wordplay is lost to rushed line delivery.
Keep your eye on Caleb Haberman’s Malvolio. The play’s B-plot finds Sir Belch and Co. playing a mean trick on Olivia’s persnickety servant, convincing him by way of forged handwriting that Olivia is not only in love with him, but prefers a truly garish fashion style. Malvolio’s enthusiastic debutant-like entrance in said fashion and attempt at answering Olivia’s love brings down the house as Haberman elevates his unassuming secondary character to audience favorite.
I can’t express how pleased I am at getting to see these talented young people put on such a lively, entertaining production. Some of the minor characters don’t quite have the command over their cues and dialogue to keep a Shakespearean novice’s comprehension at 100 percent, but it never detracts long enough to drag the momentum down. If you want a glimpse of what’s to come in San Diego’s theater talent, come down to Casa del Prado—but be quick! There are just three performances left.
Dan Letchworth is the copy chief of San Diego Magazine. His print column Dansplaining explores San Diego trivia, and his theater review blog Everyone’s a Critic was a finalist for best online column in the 2019 National City & Regional Magazine Awards.
There are two types of San Diegans in July: those who have their Pride Festival tickets, and those who wish they’d bought them sooner. Summer in San Diego already feels like a fever dream of sunshine and saltwater, and with Balboa Park turning it up to a level best described as joyfully unhinged, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
That’s right: San Diego Pride 2026 is bigger, louder, and more necessary than ever. From July 18–19, expect a full, unapologetic, flags-everywhere kind of weekend where the city opens its arms and means it. Here’s everything you need to know about San Diego Pride 2026.
When and where is the 2026 San Diego Pride Festival?
The San Diego Pride Festival takes over Marston Point in Balboa Park (6th Ave. & Laurel St.) on Saturday, July 18 (12 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sunday, July 19 (12 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
How much are San Diego Pride Festival tickets?
Buy tickets early because prices go up closer to the weekend. Regular GA is priced at $45 for a single day or $75 for the full weekend. Once Pride Weekend pricing kicks in, that bumps to $48 for one day and $85 for two days. VIP Weekend starts at $269, and if you want a Meet & Greet with Hailie Sahar on July 18 at 2 p.m., tickets are $106.
Seniors 65 years and older can grab a ticket at the box office for $15, and high schoolers and younger get in free, though they still need to stop by the box office for a ticket before entering. Regular pricing is available through July 17, so don’t wait until the last minute.
What to expect at the festival?
The San Diego Pride Festival isn’t just a typical party. Expect Balboa Park at maximum capacity and maximum heart with five stages, hundreds of vendors, and more joy per square foot than anywhere else in the city that weekend.
At the heart of it all is the Stonewall Stage, the main event where legends and newcomers alike make their San Diego Pride debut. The Mundo Latino Stage brings Rock en Español, DJs, drag shows, and multicultural performers to the mix. The Movement Stage offers a full celebration of Black LGBTQIA+ arts, music, and culture through hip hop, urban contemporary, and local DJs, plus a Queer Locals Marketplace full of LGBTQ-owned small businesses selling handmade art, wellness goods, literature, community resources, and more.
For the people who came to actually dance, the Euphoria Stage delivers electronic music and groundbreaking talent. Prism For All is where art, libraries, and history collide, with workshops, performances, and a makerspace hosted by Art of Pride, the San Diego Public Library, and Lambda Archives. And the Youth Zone gives LGBTQIA+ young people their own dedicated area to meet, get creative, play, and find support.
Who is featured on the 2026 San Diego Pride Festival lineup?
The San Diego Pride Festival 2026 runs on the energy of over 2,000 volunteers every year. With more than 30 departments to choose from, whether you’re a people person, a behind-the-scenes organizer, or just someone who wants to do something good in a great outfit, there’s a spot with your name on it. Head to the San Diego Pride website to sign up.
When and where is the San Diego Pride Parade?
San Diego’s Pride Parade calls the parade “the region’s largest single-day civic event,” drawing more than 250,000 attendees annually. This year it takes place on Saturday, July 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and starts at University Avenue and Normal Street. Then it travels west on University Avenue, south on Sixth Avenue, and ends near Balboa Park/Quince Drive.
When and where is the San Diego Pride 5K and Walk?
The Pride 5K Run & Walk is one of the highlights of Pride Week, drawing as many as 1,700 runners and walkers from around the world and raising approximately $40,000 for charity partners San Diego Pride and The LGBT Center’s Youth Housing Project. This year it also takes place on July 18, just a bit earlier at 8 a.m., at the corner of Centre and University Ave in Hillcrest.
Of course, buying a ticket is a guaranteed good time, but it’s also funding something real. San Diego Pride is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and proceeds go toward supporting organizations that host community events, programs, and fundraisers advancing pride, equality, and respect for LGBTQ+ communities locally, nationally, and globally.
That includes virtual youth programming like Pride’s Youth Leadership Academy, which reaches more than 4,000 LGBTQ children and young adults, as well as coalitions like the QAPIMEDA Coalition, Black LGBTQ Coalition, and Latinx Coalition, and more than 30 LGBTQ programs and events throughout the year.
What items are prohibited at the San Diego Pride Festival?
The prohibited items list is lengthy (no balloons, no selfie sticks, no bubble-making devices, trust us they’ll make up for it elsewhere), but the big ones to keep in mind: clear bags only (max 12″x6″x12″), no outside food, no alcoholic beverages, no glass, no large umbrellas, and no knives or weapons of any kind. Leave the drone at home too. For the full list, head to sdpride.org/entry-policies.
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.
Stake Chophouse & Bar isn’t your average steakhouse. Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Coronado outpost is a modern interpretation of a big-city steakhouse nestled in the heart of the small coastal community. The team at Stake has reimagined the whole steakhouse experience. By prioritizing a seasonal farm-to-table sourcing philosophy, a personalized guest experience, and unique service touches, like a formal steak presentation and a bespoke knife selection process, Stake distinguishes itself in a sea of steakhouses.
Exceptional steaks, including Wagyu from Japan, Australia, and the U.S., and fresh seafood flown in daily form the core of Stake’s culinary identity. The menu features a five-course omakase-style steak experience highlighting house favorites, plus an array of cuts, and classic steakhouse staples—think a wedge salad, baked potato, or pasta carbonara—refined for a contemporary palate without losing their traditional appeal. Stake focuses on seasonal sourcing from the region’s best family farms and specialty purveyors, and incorporates intentionally unexpected touches to create something truly unique.
“I challenge our chefs and myself to take it a step further in sourcing,” says Chef Ronnie Schwandt. “It’s important to us to highlight different farms, unique one-off farms—whether it’s cattle, strawberries, a local fisherman or from anywhere in the United States, we’re always trying to find that niche.”
Beyond the menu, Stake emphasizes outstanding service, says Vinny Spatafore, Director of Hospitality Operations. Staff maintains detailed notes, allowing them to remember guests by name, recall previous orders such as a favorite martini (also memorable for the customer since it’s served in an extra tall, distinctly-shaped glass), and celebrate special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
“When you have those points of topic that you remember about a guest, they appreciate that,” he says. “Our servers are really good with that—we have a couple servers who have been here since the beginning and they’ll remember somebody from years ago, their name, their kids’ names, where they live. I’m really thankful to have a great front of house staff.”
Award-winning wines, rare whiskeys, special events, and a complementary black car service that provides transportation for guests throughout Coronado add to Stake’s appeal.
Schwandt stresses that Stake offers more than a meal; they aim to give patrons something unforgettable.
“It starts when you walk up the stairs and are greeted by the hostess—that sets the tone for the night. Then you’re greeted by a server, who may know you by name, and can guide you through the menu and curate as they get to know you,” says Schwandt. “Most people leave kind of blown away; they leave feeling like they just had an experience. That’s the goal, right? Whether you’re serving smash burgers or high-end steak, you want somebody to leave thinking, Wow, that was awesome.”
Summertime in San Diego may bring about blue skies and sun-drenched days, but it doesn’t stop there. There’s also the top-notch concerts, tasting events and wallet-friendly fixtures that make this season feel extra special. Fans of contemporary and classical music can check out performances by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Beach Boys and Kool & The Gang at The Rady Shell or the annual Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival in La Jolla. Local gourmands can sign up for a spot at our Omakase Open, indulge in cold desserts at Scoop San Diego or journey across a two-mile stretch of good eats during the Taste of Adams Avenue. As for free events, there’s a new edition of San Diego Made: LIVE at San Diego Made Factory, the Pride Party at Museum of Us and the return of the Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off.
Japanese omakase dining is an artform built on trust, in patrons allowing their chef to entirely curate their meal. That’s why, this Thursday from 6-9 p.m., San Diego Magazine is gathering the city’s finest sushi and omakase chefs to showcase their skills during the21-plus Omakase Open at JULEP. Guests can enjoy live music, all you can eat food and drink, plus the chance to converse with local culinary masterminds and decide on the night’s best bites, all while supporting the Convoy Pan Asian Cultural and Businesses Innovation District. General admission ($85) is full up, but join the waitlist in case more tickets become available.
1735 Hancock Street, Mission Hills
Taste of Adams Avenue
June 28
From University Heights to Kensington and the unique neighborhoods in between, Adams Avenue is home to a host of must-try flavors. During the 25th annual Taste of Adams Avenue, happening this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 45 spots along Adams Avenue will offer samples, with brunch-inspired bites, refreshing ales, world-class gelato on the menu. Attendees can make the most of their self-guided tasting tours by walking, biking or riding from end-to-end on a complimentary trolley. Tickets are $55 online and $65 the day of.
Adams Avenue
Scoop San Diego Ice Cream Festival
June 28
It’s a scientific fact (source: trust me) that a little sweet treat, like say ice cream, paletas or shaved ice, has the power to make any day instantly better. Meaning, it’s only right to treat yourself to a dessert-filled afternoon during the 8th annual Scoop San Diego Ice Cream Festival, where three dozen local vendors will serve up their finest specialties this Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. in North Park. General admission ($49) comes with 10 shareable two-ounce samples; all net proceeds will go towards Feeding San Diego.
30th Street & North Park Way, North Park
Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Weekend
Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival
Through June 27
Week two of the 38th Annual Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival begins Tuesday (7 p.m.) with a performance of Mozart’s “Jenamy” and pieces by Lully and Strauss, followed by Mozart’s “Jupiter,” and works by with Schumann and Pärt on Thursday (7 p.m.), both at The Conrad; tickets range from $71 to $163 for each concert. The festival will then conclude Saturday (7 p.m.) with Mozart, Brahms and a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at Epstein Family Amphitheater; tickets range from $26 to $263. And if that’s not enough Mozart for you, pianist Anton Nel will lead a prelude concert in the JAI prior to Tuesday and Thursday’s shows.
The Conrad: 7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla | Epstein Family Amphitheater: 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla
Opening Weekend at The Rady Shell
June 26–28
A star-studded opening weekend is in store to kick off The Rady Shell’s summer season. On Friday (7:30 p.m.), Rafael Payare will conduct the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in an effusive Opening Night program featuring violin soloist Stefan Jackiw; tickets range from $57 to $124. The following night at 7:30 p.m., the orchestra will pair up with The Beach Boys, plus special guest John Stamos, for a rousing tribute to Pet Sounds; tickets range from $78 to $268. Then, on Sunday (7:30 p.m.), audiences can boogie their way to Monday with Kool & the Gang and hip-hop pioneers the Sugarhill Gang; tickets range from $68 to $152.
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.
Walking into a room full of strangers isn’t high on the fun index for most. It’s inherently awkward: Everyone’s standing in closed-loop clusters, deep in conversation, and, depending on your social aptitude, the feeling is somewhere between light apprehension and burning alive from the inside out. The pull to retreat or reflexively look busy on your phone is stronger than the drink you now deeply crave. Having friends is nice, but making friends can be brutal.
There’s plenty of commentary on the loneliness epidemic. Last year, the American Psychiatric Association reported that one in three adults feel lonely at least once a week; those aged 18 to 34 are more likely to feel isolated and even more likely to turn to social media as a result. Dr. Vivek Murthy’s “My Parting Prescription for America” cautioned that “being socially disconnected increases our risk of heart disease, dementia, depression, anxiety, and premature death.” So it’s not just an emotional need; it’s nearly nutritional—chit-chat and the occasional wine-fueled, emotional deep-dive are just as important as Pilates and a reasonable amount of kale.
Finding social connections in any city is hard, but San Diego has very specific challenges. This is largely a transient population that acts as a temporary hotspot for many and a permanent home for few. Pick your reason: high rent, surreal gas prices, housing shortage, meh job opportunities (ranked 71st in the country in 2025), or the fact that active military is a sizable chunk of us (110,000-ish)—stationed here for a stretch, then gone. This constant flow of departees sucks out the potential for deeply established families and friend groups, leaving a good share of nomads, searchers, and plenty of people feeling socially awkward.
“There’s an underlying loneliness in all of us,” says Ramel Wallace, the host of monthly meetup CreativeMornings. “There are not a lot of San Diegans who are born and raised here, so [even those] San Diegans end up being just as lonely as the person who just got here.”
Photo Credit: Blair Kirby
Every month, in local libraries, breweries, and small businesses, there are ambitious social architects who have made a career out of undoing social sads. Extroverted champions of the awkward and searching, they’ve struck gold on in-person connection.
The first moments in a social situation are crucial. Sets the tone and cools the nerves.
At Pitch-A-Friend, singles recruit their close friends to present a slideshow of their dating green flags. The entry points for connection at Pitch-A-Friend are simple, old tech: stickers. Each colored sticker indicates if the wearer is single or taken, queer or straight, or practicing ethical non-monogamy (in a partnership but open to others under a mutual understanding).
At the helm of each showcase is Arielle Fuller, aka Chief Wingwoman, who is making dating hopeful again. As Fuller explains, this takes some of the fear of rejection out of a first interaction. “Putting a sticker on immediately means, ‘I wanted to leave my house and talk to someone, and I am a safe space to come and speak to me,’” she says.
Of course, not all of San Diego’s events designed to make connections are romantic. On the last Friday of every month, hundreds gather at San Diego Central Library for the local chapter of CreativeMornings—an org formed to unite creatives in various cities across the world (designers, artists, writers, producers, performers, architects, etc.).
Photo Credit: Gina Ribando
These aren’t your standard business card swaps, though. Coming from a hip-hop background, host Wallace uses call-and-response to break the fourth wall. “This is not my stage at all, this is our stage,” he says.
In your standard lecture-based meetup, the crowd silently faces the host and acknowledges nobody except those they came with. At CreativeMornings, everyone is encouraged to look around, pay attention to the strangers in the audience—not just the host. Wallace will pull volunteers to read the CM manifesto aloud, and he passes the mic to creatives, who make 30-second pitches to the community about projects they’re working on—and there’s always an invitation to connect and collaborate with the presenters whose ideas struck a chord.
The U.S. Chamber of Connection (yes it exists) says people experience life transitions nearly every year, and in these stretches are more open to forming new habits, relationships, and communities. In a revolving-door city like ours, the transition often comes when someone moves away. In 2023, the Census Bureau reported San Diego had the ninth-highest rates of domestic out-migration in the US.
This poses an issue for friendships that IRL SD addresses in monthly friend-making events called 619 Night.
“San Diego isn’t a place a lot of people stay forever,” says Alex Hunter, the creator of IRL SD. “They leave, and people [who stay] lose that community, so they’re hungry for community again.”
Their website describes the vibe as “backyard party meets college fair meets networking event meets happy hour.” Each follows a theme—wellness, sports, refresh and reset, etc.—with related community groups joining as well.
“The people I encounter are trying to get a fresh start in some capacity, so they’re more open, receptive, and ready to meet new friends,” Hunter says. “They need the circle.”
Photo Credit: Elysian Visions by Deaune Boyd LLC
Another way adults can break out of this disconnection is to revert in unison, says artist Elisa Summiel-Bey. The 2015-ish adult coloring book moment in the US was based on some real science, with multiple studies finding coloring has a noticeable meditative and stress-release effect by taking the brain away from anxieties and mental inventories, and focusing it on a simple, easy art. Summiel-Bey’s company Illustrated Melanin throws “Color & Chill” events, turning that trend into a group exercise, along with live DJ sets, wellness experts doing sound baths, and food and drink from BIPOC-owned local businesses. “I tend to think of coloring as your way to tap back into your childlike play,” she says. “As adults, I think we’re almost scared to let loose and have that unabashed joy.”
All of these social meetups attract crowds of likeminded connection-seekers, but high attendance is not the only thing that matters. Metrics nuts can track RSVPs, but spreadsheets can’t capture intangible wins: friendships made, innovative ideas sparked, collaborations kicked off. At CreativeMornings, Wallace redefines ROI as Return On Imagination. Resounding success means thoughtful inquiries over coffee, curiosity about the monthly meeting themes, and requests to take the microphone.
A simple, observable ROI is an increased number of window shoppers to the experience—on the periphery, watching from afar, looking for the right way in. Hunter from IRL SD sees the anxiety in her DMs. “The scariest part for you right now is not meeting new friends: It’s the unknown,” she says. “It’s the gap between ‘I’m here’ and ‘That’s where I need to be.’ If I can help you understand, or get a little bit of a shape around that unknown, it’s much more approachable.”
Courtesy of IRL SD
Being able to bridge that gap, however, depends on your ability to step out of your own mind. “It’s not a connection crisis; it’s a courage and confidence crisis,” says Fuller. The first hello could be as easy as, “Hey, cool shirt.” These are the types of things she includes in her confidence lab reels on Instagram and weekly newsletters.
Ever left a social event and shot straight into a spiral? Was I being weird? Why did I tell that story? I hope that person moves to another state very soon.
The experts say that post-event self-interrogation is a standard-issue part of being alive.
“I love awkward people, and I love being awkward myself,” says Wallace. “It’s humbling to experience: ‘I’m not alone. Finally someone is not put together.’ So give yourself that grace.”
Jeannine Boisse (she/her) is a freelance writer and professional creative with a background in Radio & Television. Based in sunny San Diego, Jeannine spends her time exploring the city's vibrant brewery scene, cooking up new recipes in the kitchen, and connecting with new people.
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
