At 9 a.m. this Friday, October 2, Thomas Avenue between Mission Boulevard and Ocean Boulevard closes to traffic. So does Ocean Boulevard between Thomas and Grand Avenue. Both stay closed until noon on Sunday, October 4. That is a full day before the first festival booth goes up. The closures cover two events back to back: Pacific Beachfest on Saturday and the Pacific Beach Half Marathon on Sunday.
That Friday closure starts a month in which the big events move around Pacific Beach. The first weekend belongs to the ocean edge. Two weekends later the crowds shift to the Mission Bay side, south of the neighborhood. The month closes on Garnet Avenue, in the business district. Each stretch of PB gets its own busy weekend. Knowing the order is the easiest way to plan a quiet errand or a full day out.
October 2 to 4: the ocean edge
The 27th annual Pacific Beachfest runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 3. It fills the boardwalk from Felspar Street to Thomas Avenue along Ocean Front Walk. Discover PB organizes it, and admission is free, though some activities charge separately. The Union-Tribune's PB Monthly says the festival draws tens of thousands of people. With streets west of Mission Boulevard closed, organizers are pointing people to bikes, rideshares and scooters, with extra bike parking, rideshare drop-off and scooter parking at Thomas Avenue.
Most of the day happens at named spots along the boardwalk:
- Main Stage at Hornblend: DJ Betty Bangs at 9:30 a.m., Paging the 90s at 11 a.m., Rock of Ages at 1:30 p.m., Fishing for Chicks at 3:30 p.m. and The Sleepwalkers at 5:30 p.m.
- Grand Avenue Stage and Community Stage at Felspar: Crown Point Junior Music Academy, Pacific Beach Middle School ensembles, Mission Bay High School groups, Thriller San Diego and Shoreline Blues.
- Best of the Beach Fish Taco Contest: the 16th year, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the food court concession stand and cover samples from five competing restaurants. Ballots are due by 3:15 p.m., and last year's winner, Duck Dive, has a booth again.
- Volo 4Sum beach volleyball: a coed tournament in its fifth year, with prizes for the winning teams and for best costume.
- Kids Action Alley: beachside rides, free games, and a climbing wall run by the YMCA.
- Merchant sidewalk sale: along Garnet Avenue and the boardwalk between Felspar and Garnet, plus more than 60 arts and crafts displays.
Dog owners should plan around one rule. Dogs are not allowed on the city park portion of the boardwalk from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. that Saturday.
The festival also hosts the race weekend's first day. The Pacific Beach 5K starts on the sand at 700 Thomas Avenue, with an early wave at 7:30 a.m. and the main wave at 9 a.m. A kids' 1K follows at 10:15 a.m. San Diego Running Co. says the 5K course is about 1.75 miles of sand and 1.35 miles of boardwalk.
Sunday, October 4: the race links the ocean side to the bay side
On Sunday the half marathon starts at 6:30 a.m. at Crown Point in Mission Bay and finishes near 700 Thomas Avenue. The point-to-point course runs past SeaWorld, Hospitality Point, the West Mission Bay Drive bridge and Mission Beach. It ends on Thomas Avenue where the street meets the Pacific Beach Boardwalk.
On race morning the closures move inland. Most are partial, so drivers lose a lane rather than a whole road. Here are the Sunday restrictions closest to home:
| Street or lot | Restriction | Sunday, Oct. 4 window |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Ave., Mission Blvd. to Ocean Blvd. | Full closure, in place since Friday | Through 12 p.m. |
| Ocean Blvd., Thomas Ave. to Grand Ave. | Full closure, in place since Friday | Through 12 p.m. |
| Grand Ave. eastbound, Mission Blvd. to Bayard St. | No parking | 4 to 7 a.m. |
| Mission Blvd. | Curbside southbound lane closed; road open both directions | 4:30 to 10:30 a.m. |
| Crown Point Dr., Lamont St. to Ingraham St. | Northbound lane closed | 5:30 to 8 a.m. |
| Crown Point center parking lot | No parking; north and south lots stay open | Through 9 a.m., starting Sat. 9 a.m. |
Before dawn there is a second, smaller rush on Grand Avenue. Runners can park near the finish and ride a shuttle to the start from 801 Grand Avenue. Shuttles run from 4:45 a.m., and the last one leaves at 5:50 a.m. No shuttle runs back to the start after the race. Runners who parked at Crown Point have to get back to their cars on their own, about two miles away. Expect extra rideshare pickups between Thomas Avenue and Crown Point late Sunday morning.
October 16 to 18: the bay side, just south of PB
Hospitality Point is a landmark on the race course, and twelve days later it becomes a parking lot for the month's largest ticketed event. Mission Bayfest runs October 16, 17 and 18 at Mariner's Point Park, 3119 Mariners Way. The park sits on the Mission Bay side, south of Pacific Beach. The organizer recommends free parking at the Hospitality Point dirt lot across the street from 1840 Quivira Way, with a free shuttle to the gate. MTS Route 8 runs from Old Town to a stop near the festival at Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive. Bike parking is in the Bonita Cove East lot next to the rideshare area.
The Union-Tribune lists the daily headliners as Rebelution on Friday, Kolohe Kai on Saturday and The Offspring on Sunday. The wider lineup includes Steel Pulse, SOJA, The Interrupters, Goldfinger, Common Kings and The Expendables. Doors open at 3 p.m. Friday and at noon on Saturday and Sunday. MTS lists the event as running until 11 p.m. on Sunday. Single-day general admission is $140, and three-day passes start at $280. The organizer says set times will be posted on social media during show week and may change.
The Route 8 stop shows how this weekend reaches back into PB. Festival traffic coming by bus heads down Mission Boulevard to the West Mission Bay Drive intersection. Drivers heading for Hospitality Point use Quivira Way, the same curve where the half marathon closed the bike lane on October 4. The boardwalk stays clear that weekend. The bay-side streets do not.
Friday, October 30: Garnet Avenue
The month's last event moves into the business district. Discover PB's Zombie Crawl and Trick or Treat is set for Friday, October 30. According to the event description, kids can trick-or-treat along the business district from 4 to 8 p.m. The Zombie Walk then starts at 8 p.m. and heads down Garnet Avenue. The calendar header on the same Discover PB page shows 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. That conflicts with the description, so confirm the timing with Discover PB closer to the date.
This is the only one of the month's big events built around storefronts. Beachfest's sidewalk sale reaches Garnet, but Beachfest happens on the sand. Bayfest is fenced off at Mariner's Point. On the 30th, the shops along Garnet are the event.
Into November: a new storefront on upper Garnet
Garnet Avenue also has the neighborhood's newest opening. Wild Fork, the Brazilian-founded, Florida-based retailer known for blast-frozen meats and seafood, opened its first metro San Diego store at 1701 Garnet Avenue on September 24. It took over a 4,000-square-foot space that previously held the V-Outlet discount store. Store manager Michael Carey told Times of San Diego that everything is frozen at minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit:
"It's a protein wonderland."
The freezer cases range from A5 wagyu filets and North Atlantic lobster tails to everyday items. Those include chicken parts, pork chops, sausages, a beef-veal-pork meatball mix, and ground beef and bison in several fat-to-meat ratios, much of it in one-pound packages. Its free grand opening event is set for Saturday, November 7, from 1 to 4 p.m., eight days after the Zombie Crawl.
If you have questions about how event weekends like these affect a particular Pacific Beach block, from the Thomas Avenue closures to upper Garnet, the principals at Cohen Albrecht Real Estate Group can walk you through it. Schedule a Private Consultation.
