Forget all that controversy about whether Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was actually Spanish or Portuguese – he sailed into San Diego Bay either way – and celebrate both cultures at Cabrillo Festival on Sunday, Sept. 27. The festival, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ballast Point, Naval Base Point Loma (south end of Rosecrans Street) includes music, dancing, children’s activities and foods of Native Americans, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. There will be Kumeyaay basket-making, knot-tying and a 16th-century Spanish soldiers living history encampment. The highlight of the Cabrillo Festival is the re-enactment of the explorer’s landing on the shores of San Diego Bay at Ballast Point on Sept. 28, 1542. “Cabrillo,” his soldiers and a priest sail into the bay on the San Salvador (actually The Californian, as the San Salvador replica is not Coast Guard certified as of yet) and once again claim the land for Spain as the first European to land on the West Coast of what is now Point Loma. The re-enactment begins at 3:10 p.m.
The Cabrillo Festival is an event for the entire family, with educational activities, cultural demonstrations and exciting folkloric performances. Brightly colored clothing and dramatic music and dancing bring to life the traditions of the Native American, Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish cultures that are part of the Age of Exploration. Other events leading up to the Cabrillo Festival: – Thursday, Sept. 17, 10 a.m. – Cabrillo Festival in Ensenada, Baja California, commemorating Cabrillo’s arrival in Todos Santos Bay, 1542. – Saturday, Sept. 26, 3:30 p.m. – Commemorative ceremony and wreath-laying honoring Cabrillo at the Cabrillo National Monument. The keynote address speaker will be a dignitary from the United States.
– Saturday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m. – Cabrillo Discovery Celebration Dinner-Dance, S.E.S. Hall, 2818 Avenida de Portugal, Point Loma. No-host cocktails at 6 p.m.; dinner at 6:30 p.m., followed by dancing. The cost is $50 per person. The event is ponsored by Cabrillo Civic Club No. 16 of San Diego and Portuguese-American Social and Civic Club. To purchase tickets, call (619) 426-0769 or (619) 221-8084.
