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Welcome to San Diego's Street
Scene!
Meeting people is
no problem at San Diego's Street Scene.
• 2007 Street
Scene, Sept. 22-23. New location: Del Mar Fairgrounds. See
our Del Mar Fairgrounds Article
By Correspondent Joe del Real
The Street Scene in San Diego may not be as well known as other events
such as Jazz
Fest in New Orleans or the Kentucky
Derby, but it is a fantastic party nonetheless.
In fact, PubClub gives it a huge thumbs up!
There are lots and lots of people there, including some extremely beautiful
women. I just happened to be lucky enough to do a little partying with
some of them.
 Once
a year, usually in the month of September (but late July for '05), the
city of San Diego blocks off several blocks in the happening downtown
area known as the
Gas Lamp District for three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
People fill the streets for music, food and drinking.
NOTE: This article was written prior to 2004. Since that time, drinking
was allowed only in designated areas, a real buzzkill for those wanting
to have a beer and listen to the bands. This was very, very disappointing.
Now, the event has moved from the Gaslamp to Qualcomm Stadium and onto
the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
The main focus is on the seemingly endless lineup of live bands. There
are at least six large stages set up with a number of other smaller
stages all spaced out and featuring many different kinds of music (Jazz
Fest fans such as myself can definitely relate!). The stages are set
up in the middle of a street or in large parking lots allowing plenty
of room to move around and mingle.
A few of the better known musical acts include Counting Crows, the
Black Crows, James Brown, 311, Social Distortion, Los Lobos, Berlin,
Cowboy Mouth, the Fix, the Offspring, just to name a few. There are
also stages featuring Reggae, blues, electronica, and more.
Live bands play
at several stages giving the event a Jazz Fest flavor.
People celebrate by dressing up in costumes, some of which are quite
elaborate.
Friday and Saturday is 21 and over, which begins in the late afternoon
and goes on until about midnight. Sunday is for all ages and begins
and ends a few hours earlier. Alcohol stands, such as beer, margaritas,
and frozen rum drinks, are set up throughout the enclosed streets and
you can walk around freely with your beverage. On Sunday there are less
alcohol booths and drinking is allowed in only about half the Street
Scene area, still plenty of room.
One of the great features about Street Scene is that it encompasses
many of the Gas Lamp District's bars (see our guide
to the best). There are also plenty of other great bars just
outside of the Street Scene enclosure.
 Elaborate
costumes are part of the scene.
This was my second year at Street Scene and I can guarantee it will
not be my last. I drove down from Hermosa Beach in LA to San Diego on
a Saturday afternoon, missing the Friday evening's activities. I had
reserved a hotel room walking distance to Street Scene a few weeks earlier.
There are plenty of hotels nearby but they do sell out. I highly recommend
booking far in advance since the hotels fill up fast and charge a higher
rate as the date approaches.
A good choice for old-style European elegance is the Westgate.
It's only a few blocks from the entrance and Gaslamp and has the look
and feel of a classic luxury liner. It also has an incredible Happy
Hour – a blue sky vodka and shrimp cocktail for just $4.95.
What a way to warm up for Street Scene!
I entered Street Scene about an hour before it got dark. I was surprised
at how many people were there. I did not remember it being as crowded
the previous year and knew it was just going to get more crowded as
the night went on.
 After
about an hour I lost everyone I had come in with and would not see them
again the entire evening. No problem, as there were plenty of new friends
to make.
I spent much of the evening with several groups of these new friends,
jumping from stage area to stage area, being sure to enjoy the many
easily accessible refreshments along the way. Before I knew it, Street
Scene was closing up for the evening.
Once again, no problem. Between Street Scene and my hotel three blocks
away were at least a dozen bars which were still open until 2:00 AM.
I had so much fun that the next day, I decided to change my plans and
back to Street Scene for a few hours on Sunday
Joe del Real is a Special Events Correspondent for PubClub.com
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