I <3 Free Things.

Every Tuesday, they've got FREE ADMISSION on rotation at Balboa Park.  The only thing better than art...is FREE art! 

 

First Tuesday

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

Centro Cultural de la Raza

Model Railroad Museum 

Natural History Museum 

Second Tuesday  

Museum of Photographic Arts

Museum of San Diego History

Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center

Third Tuesday

San Diego Art Institute
Mingei International Museum

San Diego Museum of Art

San Diego Museum of Man

Japanese Friendship Garden 

Walk for Bluegrass

10.4.08
Hardly.Strictly.Bluegrass Festival @ Golden Gate Park
Admission: Free (just how i like it.)

After completing my first solo Macy's event, I reward myself with something that always makes me smile...free music. Now, I'm not a big bluegrass fan but I decide to head out to Golden Gate Park to check out the Hardly.Strictly.Bluegrass Festival because 1) it's free and 2) i've never really given bluegrass a chance, and what better way to educate myself on the genre than to completey envelope myself in it? I decide to walk it because google maps informs me the 4 mi. distance should only take about an hour (which is only 20 min. more than taking a bus) and its a gorgeous day, so i'm actually looking forward to walking. Yeah, thanks google for failing to mention its a steep incline both ways and its actually a 6 mi. hike, not 4.

here's the route i took:

So my pleasant walk becomes a half marathon. splendid. but, worth it. Several main stages are nestled in tree-lined meadows. The main walkway is lined with local bluegrass bands-elderly couples with a washboard and fiddle, teenagers with spoons...

2 bands, however, make my ridiculous journey worth it. The first, an SF street band called The Ferocious Few, rock out their little sidewalk corner. here's a little of taste:


as for the second band, the Global Drum Project, well...let me paint this picture for you: the stage is illuminated by hundreds, thousands of xmas lights, with the sun setting behind it, casting a rosy haze over the entire meadow. drum beats pound the air-african, indian, latin infusions with a distinct bluegrass sound. kettle corn. it's incredible. maybe it's the exhaustion, maybe it's the sugar rush-either way, it was an experience that'll resonate with me for a very long time. consider me a strictly bluegrass festival fan. who knew?

PS: global drum project is sick.