San Diego is fortunate to have a nearly year-round festival season, with events taking place almost every weekend from March to November. The number of genre-specific festivals that take place annually also sets San Diego apart. Aficionados can find multi-day events devoted to folk, blues, Dixieland, bluegrass and more. The opening of the International Pop Overthrow Festival (IPO), a celebration of pop music from Feb. 20 to 22 at O’Connell’s, adds a new entry to the list. Founded in 1998 by Los Angeles teacher and journalist David Bash, the festival has championed pop music in all its forms. “I was inspired to start IPO because, having been a music writer for a few years, I had gotten to know bands from all over the world whose CDs I was reviewing,” Bash said. He soon realized that many of those bands would jump at the chance to play in Los Angeles. For the first edition of IPO he invited more than 100 bands. The festival now takes place in 15 cities around the world, including San Francisco, Vancouver, Canada and Liverpool, England. Despite the increase in activities, IPO remains a two-person operation with Rina Bardfield co-helming the events. IPO has changed since its 1998 Los Angeles debut. “As the years went on and we started doing events in a lot of different cities, each one became more regional, meaning that most of the bands playing in that city were actually from there,” Bash noted. San Diego’s line-up includes 23 artists over three nights, each playing a 30-minute set. Highlights include Four Eyes, The Shake Ups and Sven Erik Seaholm on Feb. 20; The Loons and Cindy Lee Berryhill on Feb. 21 and The Modlins and The Anna Troy Band on Feb. 22. Though Bash has long considered San Diego to have a vibrant music scene, he chalks up the 11 year wait for an IPO in San Diego to its proximity to Los Angeles. “I think it’s the old chestnut where if something is right under your nose, you miss it,” he said. “San Diego is so close in proximity to my home base of Los Angeles and I was always concentrating on cities which are much farther away, so I completely missed it.” He hopes to make up for lost time by expanding the event next year. The IPO line-up shows how many guises “pop” can take – from the quirky folk rock of Berryhill to the stomping garage music of The Shamey Jays – but there is common ground. “I am looking for bands who emphasize melody over anything else,” Bash remarked. “Whether it’s power pop, folk, indie, garage, mod, modern rock, et cetera, if the band has a good pop sensibility and good melodies, I am interested.” According to Loons frontman Mike Stax, the 30-minute sets are just long enough for a band to make its point. “We like playing short sets, as they’re easier to pace and you can keep the intensity level higher,” he said. “We’ll whittle it down to the stuff that’s sounding the best to us right now, which means a lot of new songs.” Seaholm concurs.  “I call these ‘handshake sets,” he laughed. “It’s a way for an artist to come onstage and say ‘Nice to meet you, here’s what we do,’ and then do it.” For Patrick O’Connor of The Shake Ups, IPO is a chance to showcase what he considers to be an occasionally maligned genre. “To me, it’s all about great songs and catchy melodies, but it seems some people are turned off by the description ‘pop,’ he said. “Too bad — just think of all the great tunes popular culture is missing out on. A festival like IPO gives us all the chance to right those misconceptions.” Seaholm considers the festival a gauge on the condition of the local music community, and he likes what he sees. “It’s always an honor to be invited to participate in any event where so many artists you respect and admire are performing,” he enthused. “But it’s really great to be able to show just how deep the talent pool is in our city’s music scene.” International Pop Overthrow takes place at O’Connell’s, 1310 Morena Blvd., on Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $8. For more information visit www.inter-nationalpopoverthrow.com