Holidays just around the corner

By Johnny McDonald

Yuletide frolickers will fill Balboa Park’s streets again for December Nights’ traditional holiday revelry, Dec. 5 – 6.

Actually, it will also serve as a kickoff to next year’s Centennial, a celebration of the 1915 Panama California Exposition. Transformed into a holiday wonderland, officials expect 350,000 attendees this year, which would make it San Diego’s largest free community festival. Along the way will be six stages, intermingling chortlers and light shows to brighten the sky. As a bonus, participating museums will host open houses.

Co-produced by the City and the Park’s Conservancy, it will feature multicultural music and dance performances; carolers, bell-ringers, choirs, bands and food. Highlights include:

The Del Cerro Baptist Church Christmas Story Tree; House of Scotland Piper’s Sun Harbor Chorus and others on the Organ Pavilion Stage; and musicians and dance troupes at the Botanical Building Stage and Palisades Stage; Cajun-Zydeco sounds on the Bon Temps Dance Pavilion; music and dance at the Junior Theater Stage; Civic Youth Ballet’s excerpts from “The Nutcracker” on the Casa del Prado Stage; music and dance from around the world at the International Cottages Stage; and the international cottages will feature food from around the world including empanadas, egg rolls, fried plantains, pierogi, baklava, paella and pie. Additionally, this will be the 33rd year for the Santa Lucia Procession at the California Quadrangle near the Museum of Man.

Enhanced lighting includes an energy-efficient holiday light canopy covering the center of Plaza de Panama, a light show across the lily pond and on Botanical building and the lighting of the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, the monsterous tree on the north side of the Natural History Museum.

This year the festivities begin earlier — 3 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday, with free shuttle service provided from additional parking locations at Petco Park, along Park Boulevard and City College. Service runs from 3 p.m. – midnight on Friday and 11:30 a.m. – midnight on Saturday.

Journey back in time

We got a sneak preview of the mysteries of ancient Egypt at the Natural History Museum at an exhibit called “The Discovery of King Tut.” In several rooms, ornate replicas depict the mysterious world of ancient Egypt, featuring King Tut’s throne and tomb.

An introduction displays on a video screen in a small theater. Then, with a remote in hand, you listen to narrations as you enter other rooms. It unmasks the discovery made in 1922 by Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and others. It presents the excavation itself, the story of King Tut and his legacy. The exhibit will run until April 30.

Elsewhere in the Park — In September, Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Frederick Schenk, 22nd district agricultural association president, co-announced the theme of the 2015 San Diego County Fair: “A Fair to Remember: A Celebration of World’s Fairs and Balboa Park.” This theme commemorates the centennial anniversary of the 1915 Panama – California Exposition and unites the fourth largest fair in North America with the nearby San Diego treasure known as Balboa Park. “The 2015 centennial celebration will bring our city together through events that celebrate, elevate and promote Balboa Park,” stated Faulconer in a press release. “This partnership with the San Diego County Fair is a perfect fit for the community.” … The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater’s Christmas offerings in December include the Merry Christmas Show with a snowman, gingerbreadmen dancing out of the oven and a frisky mouse, Dec. 10 – 14; Cindy, the youngest elf in Santa’s workshop, and the mystery of the missing Christmas, Dec. 17 – 21; Benito Bunny’s Great Christmas Adventure, Dec. 22 – 23; and Jack and the Beanstalk, Dec. 30 – Jan. 4 … To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War, the Veterans Museum is converting its office into a gallery dedicated to the men and women who served in the conflict. The project will exceed $20,000 and a fundraising campaign is underway. So far, $3,500 has been raised. The project will require a complete renovation and new display cases … San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory announces a relationship with XLNC1 Radio, 104.9FM of Chula Vista to broadcast four prior SDYS concerts. Concerts from recent SDYS seasons will air at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, two or three weeks before major 2014 – 15 concerts. … The San Diego Model Railroad Museum broke ground for its Centennial Railroad Garden. In G scale, the exhibit will utilize new technology, sustainable energy practices and sculptural art. This open-air model railroad will feature a miniature recreation of Balboa Park as it existed in 1915. It’s scheduled to open in March.

—After an award winning, 38-year sports-writing career with the San Diego Union and authoring three books, Johnny McDonald now considers writing a hobby. You can reach him at [email protected].