North Park Book Fair
Literature
Story times, storytelling, music, poetry, local history and yes, books. Lots of books. Eight bookstores (by my count!), and tons of local small presses and local authors will all come together for the first annual North Park Book Fair, from the dream team of Verbatim Books, North Park Thursday Market and North Park Main Street.
It takes place Saturday in the heart of North Park. They're even shutting down the street for this (which is basically everything a bookworm ever wanted their books to do). There'll be performances on the main stage, but what I'm most excited about are the ways San Diego arts organizations and bookstores have rallied their own artist friends for scheduled appearances at their booths and tables — for example, Burn All Books has been teasing their booth schedule on Instagram, bringing in artists and other gallery spaces.
Plus, Greg Sestero, the actor who played Mark in "The Room" and author of "The Disaster Artist," his memoir about the making of the cult classic film will be making an appearance.
Details: Saturday, July 17, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. North Park Way and Ray Street. Free.
More artsy shopping festivals: Record Store Day also takes place Saturday. You can view the list of "drops" at the nationwide site here and search for participating stores near you. Vinyl Junkies in South Park will have DJs spinning all day, as will M Theory Records — including arts hero Nick Lesley.
'And We Will Sing In The Tall Grass Again' / Sidro Saturdays
Visual Art, Music, Food
If you haven't checked out the ambitious group show on view at The Front gallery in San Ysidro, now's your chance during the new, monthly Sidro Saturdays festival taking place this Saturday.
"And We Will Sing Again in the Tall Grass: Postcolonial Futurities at the End of Gender" opened at the beginning of July. The works — by thirteen Southern California and border artists — include film, painting, photography and video works, even seeds planted in a profound dirt graveyard.
I spoke to the curators last month, and it's a really thoughtful and off-the-beaten path option during Pride weekend.
There's also plenty more to hit up while in San Ysidro: music, more art and food.
Details: Sidro Saturdays runs July 17 from 5-10 p.m.; The Front is open from 5-8 p.m. 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. Free.
iPalpiti Festival
Music
The Los Angeles-based iPalpiti Artists International is dedicated to raising up future generations of advanced musicians, and the annual festival features a touring troupe of more than two dozen young professional performers from across the world. This year marks their 24th festival, and they're making a few appearances in the San Diego region this weekend.
The big event is Sunday afternoon's full orchestra performance indoors on the Baker-Baum Concert Hall stage at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. It features four works: Anton Arensky's "Variations on the Theme by Tchaikovsky, Opus 35," Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir D'un Lieu Cher Op. 42: Meditation," Fritz Kreisler's "Marche Miniature Viennoise, and contemporary composer Alexey Shor's 2014 work "Seascapes, a four movement violin concerto that will be a west coast premiere.
If smaller ensembles are more your thing, catch a string of soloist performances at the Encinitas Library, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Each evening features a handful of soloists and a wide range of works.
Details: Full festival information. Sunday at 3 p.m., 7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla. $39. Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., 540 Cornish Dr., Encinitas. $25.
San Diego Pride: Diversionary Theatre, The Studio Door
Visual Art, Theater Pride weekend is here. Hybrid programming is the name of the game this year, with plenty of virtual options as well as outdoor or smaller scale get togethers. You can read my feature on San Diego Pride's approach to the festival this year here.
Arts and culture highlights include Diversionary Theatre's Teen-Versionary production of "Dear ONE" at St. Paul's Cathedral Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. (read my feature here). It's a nonfiction work of collected letters sent into "ONE" magazine in the '50s and '60s.
The fourth annual "PROUD+" juried art exhibition is already underway at The Studio Door gallery in Hillcrest, but there's an artist reception Saturday evening from 6-9 p.m. You can also browse a digital catalog of the works online, too.
Details: San Diego Pride runs all weekend, and you can find the full event list here. Free.
Guillermo Galindo Studio Series With Art Of Elan
Visual Art, Music
The current artist in residence at Lux Art Institute is Guillermo Galindo, an experimental composer and sculptor who builds musical instruments out of objects found in areas of displacement and border crossings. The exhibition is powerful in part because many of the objects constructed into instruments are recognizable: chairs, bike frames, ammunition, toothbrushes, shoes.
While all of the works are recognizable as instruments, they're incredibly fragile so it's a no-touch exhibition. Only one is interactive for gallery visitors: a bicycle wheel theremin you can "play" by waving your hand near the spokes. Theremins are amazingly baffling and basically make anyone feel like a music prodigy with nary a (literal) flick of the wrist.
But you do have one chance to hear the other instruments played for you. On Friday, Galindo along with percussionists from Art of Elan will activate the other percussion instruments in the exhibition to perform a concert of sorts. Following that, there'll be an artist talk with Galindo.
Details: Friday, July 16, 2021 at 6 p.m. 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. $5-10.
For more arts events or to submit your own, visit the KPBS/Arts calendar here, and be sure to sign up for the weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter here.
