Festivals

Pencil in these festivals when you're in town.

Winter: Drawing 100,000 visitors the first Friday and Saturday of December, Balboa Park December Nights offers festive carolers, food, music, and dance. The San Diego Bay Parade of Lights, also in December, lights up the harbor with boats decked out for the holidays.

January's Farmers Insurance Open is the Holy Grail for golf fans; the celeb-heavy tourney has been held at the scenic Torrey Pines Golf Course for decades. In February, the Mardi Gras block party in the Gaslamp Quarter invites revelers to let the good times roll.

Spring: Adams Avenue Roots Unplugged gives music fans a weekend of free acoustic music, while Little Italy's annual ArtWalk showcases local art talent on tent-lined streets.

Summer: The San Diego County Fair, the Old Globe's Summer Shakespeare Festival, the city's huge LGBT Pride Festival, racing season at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, and outdoor classical concerts at the Embarcadero all take place in summer.

Fall: Music fans eagerly wait for the Adams Avenue Street Fair, a weekend of concerts and a carnival.