🎵 Music
Julieta Venegas: Norteña Tour
Tijuana-born indie rocker Julieta Venegas has had an incredible career, ranging from the Mexican ska band Tijuana No! to her own successful solo work, with influences including folk, punk and pop. In May, Venegas released a memoir, "Norteña: Memorias del comienzo," alongside her 10th full-length studio album, "Norteña." Vengas will play at the outdoor amphitheater on the SDSU campus Saturday night. Dámaris Bójor will support.
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 | Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 5500 Campanile Dr., SDSU | $49.50+ | MORE INFO
Payare Leads Strauss: 'A Hero's Life'
San Diego Symphony kicks off their Jacobs Music Center season with maestro Rafael Payare and pieces of music that explore the importance of the smallest and grandest of things. Composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s "Poema-Skazka" ("Fairy-Tale Poem") is about the secret, creative life of a tiny piece of chalk in a math classroom. It's a mysterious and suspenseful piece, moving through dissonance, propulsive pizzicato and meandering wind instrument solos. The piece was originally composed to accompany a children's radio play. Gubaidulina, a Russian and Soviet composer, died last spring at the age of 93.
Richard Strauss's "A Hero's Life" is a magnificent, cinematic, 45-minute-long orchestral tone poem. The Symphony will also perform Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor."
7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3-4 | Jacobs Music Center, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown | $43-$129 | MORE INFO
San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival
Since 2024, the San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival has celebrated cross-border jazz with free concerts in downtown Tijuana, San Diego and Escondido. This year, performances include Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band; Danilo Pérez with the SDSU Jazz Ensembles and Ensenada's La Covacha Big Band; and Mingus Dynasty.
The festival kicks off on Thursday with a free, all-ages concert at Quartyard downtown, featuring Jungle Fire, Colectivo Fronterizo with Femina Fatal and Young Lions Jazz Conservancy with Instituto Contemporáneo de Música de Baja California.
Friday and Sunday feature free concerts in Tijuana. Saturday is a ticketed dinner concert at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Performers on Saturday are Charlie Chavez y Su Afrotruko, Danilo Pérez with the SDSU Jazz Ensembles, Lucía and the Familia Gutiérrez, Mingus Dynasty and Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band. Tickets for Saturday's event begin at $54, including fees.
Oct. 1-4 | Multiple locations | Free-$90 | MORE INFO
🎨 Visual art
'disSent: Mail Art, Resistance, & Informal Networks'
In English, the word dissent implies an action, but for this new exhibition, curator Arzu Ozkal is drawing on the Latin root, dissentire, which means to think or understand differently. Ozkal was also inspired by the 1960s mail art movement; her book, "Cabaret Voltaire: Fluxus West, San Diego, and Southern California Mail Art," was published in 2023, chronicling a particular mail art project rooted locally. Mail art was often a format for artists to freely express political opinions. For "disSent," Ozkal has compiled a 200-piece collection of mail art from Frank Ferguson, or SirQ. Visitors can also be part of the exhibit by creating, decorating or writing — and mailing — an original 4-by-5-inch postcard to the gallery.
Reception: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026; through Jan. 14, 2027 | The Front Arte & Cultura, 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro | Free | MORE INFO
San Diego Watercolor Society: 46th International Exhibition
The San Diego Watercolor Society gallery, located in Liberty Station, recently opened its 46th annual International Exhibition, featuring 105 paintings by artists from around the world using watercolor and other mixed-media elements. This year's competition was judged by Mexico City-based artist Ana Laura Salazar, who won first prize in the San Diego Watercolor Society International Exhibition in both 2018 and 2019. The exhibit will be on view through Oct. 31, and a reception will coincide with Liberty Station's First Friday event, so pop into some of the other galleries in the area while you're there, including Visions Museum of Textile Arts on the same block.
Reception: 5-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily; through Oct. 31 | San Diego Watercolor Society, 2825 Dewey Rd. Bldg. 202, Liberty Station | Free | MORE INFO
🎭 Theater
'Topdog/Underdog'
The Old Globe presents an ambitious production of Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Topdog/Underdog." The dark comedy — pegged by the New York Times as one of the best American plays in recent history — traces the relationship between two adult brothers, curiously named Lincoln and Booth, as they live together after one brother's marriage crumbles. The play contends with themes of class, poverty, racism, sexism and family trauma. The Globe's production is directed by Steve H. Broadnax III (who recently directed 2025's "Appropriate" for the Globe) and stars Elijah Jones and Alano Miller.
Sept. 25 - Oct. 18 | The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park | $38+ | MORE INFO
'This Is Government'
Moxie Theatre just opened a production of Nina Kissinger's dark comedy, "This Is Government." It follows some congressional interns caught up in a series of absurd and terrifying twists, including a stalled vote and a bomb threat. Desireé Clarke Miller directs, with a cast including Katie MacNichol, Kailey Madoka Agpao, Ben McLaren and Becca Myers.
Through Oct. 25 | Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd., Rolando | $5-$59 | MORE INFO
📚 Books
North Park Book Fair
After the 2025 iteration of the North Park Book Fair was forced to pivot due to permit issues, it’s back and bigger than ever this year, with dozens of vendors, indie bookstores, presses, artists, makers, comic book artists and more. DJs, storytimes, food and drink and hands-on activities will fill the day, and the festivities will also include an all-ages costume contest (pets are welcome). The festival spans several blocks, centered at the intersection of 30th St. and University Ave., just outside Verbatim's front door.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 | 3793 30th St., North Park | Free | MORE INFO
🌳 Festivals
Multicultural Festival Day
Musicians, dancers, artists and performers will take over Market Creek Plaza and Amphitheater in Southeastern San Diego for a community-wide festival. Performers include Danza Azteca Kuauhkoatl, Junkyard Dance Crew, Naruwan Taiko Drummers, El Tesoro Del Folklor, Mariachi Orgullo Nacional, Errrverybodi Line Dancers and more. Family-friendly activities include artmaking and a petting zoo.
1-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 | Market Creek Plaza, 336 Euclid Ave., Southeastern San Diego | Free | MORE INFO
Oishii Japanese Food & Sake Festival
This tasting event at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park includes a variety of Japanese food and beverage vendors, including sake. A ticket is valid for five tastings or drinks and includes happy hour from 4-5 p.m. Tickets also provide access to the Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum. Currently on view at the museum is the Yōkai Community Art Exhibit. The art in the exhibit is inspired by yōkai, fantastical creatures from Japanese folklore.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 | Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Rd. E, Balboa Park | $45-$60 | MORE INFO
🚎 Bonus: Dance x Transit
Trolley Dances
San Diego Dance Theater's annual site-specific dance festival, Trolley Dances, sets contemporary choreography against local trolley routes. The performances are in public places along the MTS Blue Line, so audiences can try to catch a glimpse without a ticket. But to get the full multi-stop, multi-performance journey, get tour tickets.
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 3-4 | UTC Transit Center | Free-$47 | MORE INFO
For more arts events and ongoing happenings, visit our community calendar.
