San Diego Festivals – 2023
While you’ll certainly have no problem finding fun things to do in San Diego, you can also check out the list below to see if there’s a festival or event happening during your visit. It’s a perfect way to enjoy some tasty treats and libations, oftentimes in a gorgeous outdoor setting and accompanied by music. What’s not to love about that?
As you might guess given this wonderful city’s inclinations, tacos and beer are often the stars of the show. It’s one of the best places in California to enjoy them, after all.
Another cool thing about San Diego is that they celebrate Restaurant Week two times each year, once in the Spring and another in the Fall, when you’ll also find lighter crowds to go along with the beautiful weather. Talk about a win-win-win situation!
This San Diego area festival list is arranged by month, and you can easily determine what’s happening there during your visit. For each entry on the list, you’ll find the date(s) it’s scheduled to occur, the hosting city, plus a link to a website that provides additional details.
The list shows the 2022 festival schedule. When added, 2023 dates will be ***noted with a triple asterisk*** to avoid any confusion. Many of these events are held annually and often scheduled to occur around the same time every year, so if a 2022 event looks interesting you may want to click through to see if the organizer’s website now provides the new date. Also, if you plan to attend an event, we strongly recommend that you make note of the website and recheck it closer to the actual date.
If your travel dates are already set, here are some handy jump links that you can use to advance to a specific month’s events quickly:
January ### February ### March ### April ###
May ### June ### July ### August ###
September ### October ### November ### December
January
San Diego Brew Fest
January 7, 2023***
Sea World Mardi Gras
January 21 through February 26, 2023*** (select dates)
San Diego Tết Festival
January 27-29, 2023***
Pure Project Brewery 7th Anniversary, Miramar
January 28, 2023*** – Tickets on sale December 28, 2022!
February
Taste of Barrio Logan
February 4, 2023***
San Diego Chinese New Year Fair
February 4 & 5, 2023***
Escondido Chocolate Festival
February 11, 2023***
San Diego Magazine Cocktail Kickoff
February 18, 2023***
March
Sea World Seven Seas Food Festival
March 3 through April 30, 2023*** (select dates)
San Diego Cherry Blossom Festival
March 10-12, 2023***
San Diego St. Patrick’s
Day Parade & Irish Festival
March 11, 2023***
Sabor Latino Food, Beer & Wine Fest
Westfield Mission Valley Mall
March 11, 2023***
Taste of Third, Chula Vista
March 23, 2023***
Brunch Bash, Carmel Mountain Ranch Estate
March 26, 2023***
San Diego Restaurant Week – Spring
March 26 through April 2, 2023***
April
North Park Festival of Beers
April 1, 2023***
Plantopia Plant-Based Tasting Festival,
Downtown San Diego
April 1, 2023***
626 Night Market Mini Downtown San Diego
April 1 & 2, 2023***
West Coast Taco & Beer Festival,
Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier
April 8, 2023***
Uncorked Wine Festival, Spanish Landing Park
April 8, 2023***
Taste of Hillcrest
April 8, 2023***
Padres CocktailFest
Gallagher Square, Petco Park
April 14, 2023***
San Diego Vegan Festival
April 15, 2023***
626 Night Market Mini Downtown San Diego
April 15 & 16, 2023***
Celebrate the Craft Culinary Festival,
Lodge at Torrey Pines
April 16, 2023***
Field to Vase Dinner, Carlsbad
April 20, 2023***
Tequila & Taco Music Festival
April 22 & 23, 2023***
Fallbrook Avocado Festival
April 23, 2023***
SoCal Margarita Crawl
April 23-29, 2023***
SoCal Taco Fest, Waterfront Park
April 29, 2023***
Encinitas Spring Street Fair
April 29 & 30, 2023***
626 Night Market Mini Downtown San Diego
April 29 & 30, 2023***
Liquid City Cheese Expo, BRICK
April 30, 2023***
Olivehain Beer & Bratwurst Festival
April 30, 2023***
May
Taste of Cardiff, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
May 4, 2023***
Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, Old Town
May 5-7, 2023***
Foodie Land Night Market, Del Mar
May 5-7, 2023***
Reader Tacos vs. Burgers, Golden Hill Park (within Balboa Park)
May 6, 2023***
Carlsbad Village Street Faire
May 7, 2023***
Gator by the Bay Mardi Gras in May
May 11-14, 2023***
626 Night Market Mini Downtown San Diego
May 13 & 14, 2023***
Heart of Pacific Beach Restaurant Walk
May 17, 2023***
Taste of the Pacific
May 17, 2023***
Taste of Ramona
May 20, 2023***
World’s Largest Crawfish Boil, Waterfront Park
May 20, 2023***
Vines and Vittles Western Family
Festival, Rancho Bernardo
May 21, 2023***
Escondido Street Festival
May 21, 2023***
626 Night Market Mini Downtown San Diego
May 27 & 28, 2023***
June
Encinitas Wine & Food Festival
June 3, 2023***
San Diego County Fair, Del Mar Fairgrounds
June 7 through July 4, 2023***
San Diego Beer Weekend
June 9-11, 2023***
Taste of Julian
June 10, 2023***
San Diego Greek Festival
June 10 & 11, 2023***
Stone Brewing Sour Fest, Escondido
June 11, 2023***
West Coast Hot Sauce Experience, Broadway Pier
June 17 & 18, 2023***
Taste of Little Italy
June 20 & 21, 2023***
Best of North County, Carlsbad Flower Fields
June 23, 2023***
California Wine Festival, Carlsbad
June 23 & 24, 2023***
Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-off
June 24, 2023***
Scoop San Diego Ice Cream Festival
June 25, 2023***
July
NatDiego Natural Wine Festival
July 7 & 8, 2023***
Oceanside Sunflower & Watermelon
Festival, Mellano Farm Stand
July 15 & 16, 2023***
Ramona County Fair
July 28-30, 2023***
Fallbrook Summertime Wine Trail
(at participating Fallbrook wineries)
July 1 through August 14, 2022
Sip of Julian
July 30, 2022
August
Tiki Oasis, Town & Country Resort
August 2-6, 2023***
San Diego Soul Food Festival
August 5, 2023***
Art Walk @ Liberty Station
August 5 & 6, 2023***
San Diego Craft Beer Con
August 8, 2023***
Uncorked Wine & Vine, Carlsbad
August 12, 2023***
Chula Vista Lemon Festival
August 12, 2023***
Best of San Diego
Liberty Station, Legacy Plaza
August 18, 2023***
Sea World Craft Beer Festival
August 18 through September 10, 2023*** (select dates)
San Diego Distillers Guild Fest
August 27, 2022
Chula Vista Harbor Fest
Postponed for 2022 (usually held in August)
September
Julian Grape Stomp Festa, Menghini Winery
September 2, 2023***
Escondido Grape Day Festival
September 9, 2023***
Negroni Week
September 18-24, 2023***
Taste of Encinitas
September 19, 2023***
Foodie Land Night Market, Del Mar
September 22-24, 2023***
San Diego Zoo Food,
Wine and Brew Celebration
September 23, 2023***
Pacific Islander Festival
September 23 & 24, 2023***
Encinitas Oktoberfest
September 24, 2023***
Reader Burgers & Beer
Festival, Golden Hill Park
September 10, 2022
San Diego Festival of the Arts, Del Mar
September 10 & 11, 2022 – CANCELLED
Taste of One Paseo, Carmel Valley
September 15, 2022
Burgeon Beer Oktoberfest, All Locations
(Little Italy, Carlsbad & Escondido)
September 17, 2022
Taste of Gaslamp
September 17, 2022
Beer by the Bay, Coronado
September 17, 2022
Oceanside Harbor Days Festival
September 17 & 18, 2022
The Grass Skirt Tiki Luau, Pacific Beach
September 18, 2022
Oktoberfest at Societe
Brewing, San Diego
September 24, 2022
San Marcos Serb Fest
September 24 & 25, 2022
San Diego Restaurant Week – Fall
September 25 through October 2, 2022
La Mesa Oktoberfest
September 30 through October 2, 2022
El Cajon Oktoberfest
September 30 through October 2, 2022 (first weekend)
October
Olivehain Oktoberfest
October 1, 2023***
Carlsbad Family Fall Fest
October 7, 2023***
San Diego Spirits Festival
October 7 & 8, 2023***
La Jolla Wine & Art Festival
October 7 & 8, 2023***
Mexico In A Bottle
October 8, 2023***
Taste of Carlsbad Village
October 12, 2023***
Ocean Beach Oktoberfest
October 13 & 14, 2023***
San Diego Sake Week
October 1-8, 2022
One Paseo Oktoberfest, Carmel Valley
October 1, 2022
Pacific Beachfest
October 1, 2022
Taste of Oceanside
October 1, 2022
Surftoberfest, Oceanside
October 1, 2022
Reader Best of Party,
Fleet Science Center
October 6, 2022
El Cajon Oktoberfest
October 7-9, 2022 (second weekend)
Reader Brunch at the Park,
Liberty Station
October 8, 2022
Taste of North Park
October 8, 2022
San Diego Serbian Festival
October 8, 2022
Blended Festival
October 8 & 9, 2022
A Taste of Coronado
October 12, 2022
Escondido Grand Avenue Festival
October 15, 2023***
Hallo-Wine Fall Festival, Balboa Park
The Historic Burnham-Marston House
October 22, 2022
Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, Gaslamp Quarter
October 22, 2022
November
Calienté Latin Music and
Food Fest, Broadway Pier
November 4, 2023***
San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival
November 8-12, 2023***
San Diego Beer Week
November 4-14, 2022
Carlsbad Village Street Faire
November 6, 2022
Uncorked Derby Days at Del Mar
November 12, 2022
Encinitas Holiday Street Fair
November 20, 2022
December
Taste of December Nights, Balboa Park
December 2 & 3, 2022
Cardiff Kringle Mingle, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
December 4, 2022
Taste & Tinis, Hillcrest
December 8, 2022
If you know of any other San Diego festivals that we should add to this list, would you please use our Contact form to let us know? (Thanks in advance!)
Photo of San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival by sdbaywinefoodfest via flickr (Creative Commons).
