{"id":248833,"date":"2026-04-02T18:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248833\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:53:12","slug":"april-3-5-easter-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248833\/","title":{"rendered":"April 3-5 \u2013 Easter edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>San Diego\u2019s historic beachfront amusement park, Belmont Park. (File photo courtesy of Belmont Park)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of things to do \u2014 in fact, there are parties galore this San Diego weekend, but for very different reasons. On the secular side, there\u2019s music and luaus. On the spiritual side, there\u2019s Easter, the highest of Christian holy days. We\u2019ll give you a taste of both.<\/p>\n

First up<\/p>\n

The secular world does have a high holy holiday of a sort locally, in the midtown area at least, and it\u2019s the North Park Festival of Beers<\/a>. The 16th annual festival starts in front of the Lafayette Hotel<\/a> on Saturday at 1 p.m. (although VIP entry begins at noon) and ends at 4 p.m. or when you have hit your limit of the 80-plus craft beers on offer. Ticket prices<\/a> start at $40.74.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not quite your thing (or if you\u2019ve wrapped up by then), try the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina for a Rhythms of the Pacific Luau<\/a>. These infrequent events boast a Hawaiian buffet and fire dancing in a convivial outdoor setting. Tickets begin at $71.21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also on Saturday, celebrate San Diego\u2019s queer surf and skate culture at the Eden SD Queer Lifestyle + Music Festival<\/a> at The Quartyard<\/a>. The event will feature live music, DJs, an open-air beer garden and a half-pipe. The event is 21 and up. Tickets start<\/a> at $24.30. But if this event looks interesting, better move fast \u2014 early-bird tickets are all sold out.<\/p>\n

Another fun one going on all weekend, especially if you\u2019re on a budget: The Makers Arcade Spring Fair<\/a> at Balboa Park is intended to showcase<\/a> arts, crafts and technology as well as celebrate area artists and small businesses, and, of course, bring the community together. Meet makers, enjoy their booths, and eat at one of the food trucks on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5.<\/p>\n

Easter weekend<\/p>\n

Shift into the spirit on Good Friday with St. Peter\u2019s by the Sea<\/a> in Ocean Beach, which hosts a community faith walk between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The walk sets off from the church, 1371 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.; once it is complete, shuttles will be available for returning participants.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s two for the family:<\/p>\n

Eggstravaganza Spring Festival<\/a> in Carlsbad includes a range of fun, from face painting and cookie decorating to twists on the traditional hunt and photos with the Easter Bunny. Instead there will be an egg scramble, where two age groups of kids can collect candy-filled eggs and (watch out rabbit) something called Soak the Bunny. Poinsettia Park hosts from 10 a.m to 1 p.m.; $8 activity cards and $8 unlimited inflatables wristbands are available for the events.<\/p>\n

First Evangelical Lutheran Church of El Cajon<\/a> hosts a kids carnival on Saturday, with an Easter egg hunt, jump, crafts and more. Head to the event at the church, 867 S. Lincoln Ave., from 10 a.m. to noon.<\/p>\n

Two separate sunrise services, one along the coast and one on Mount Helix, will welcome early-rising worshippers on Sunday:<\/p>\n

Mission Bay Park<\/a> \u2013 United Methodist churches from La Jolla and Pacific Beach team up for a 6 a.m. service near the parking lot off Crown Point Drive and Corona Oriente Road. Those who attend should bring chairs or blankets.<\/p>\n

Mt. Helix Park<\/a> \u2013 Legacy Church hosts the 6:15 a.m. service in the park amphitheater. Meet at Grossmont High to pick up a shuttle to the service, which has a history dating back to 1917.<\/p>\n

Belmont Park<\/a> combines the love of spring with Easter festivities Sunday for the first weekend of \u201cBelmont in Bloom.\u201d There will be floral arrangements and sculptures on display throughout the amusement park, live music and face painting. On Easter, children can enjoy an egg hunt on the beach (tickets are required). The bloom fest continues through May 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego\u2019s historic beachfront amusement park, Belmont Park. (File photo courtesy of Belmont Park) There\u2019s no shortage of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4549,9378,85617,6568,1103,11109,983,3101,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-248833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-balboa-park","9":"tag-carlsbad","10":"tag-easter","11":"tag-el-cajon","12":"tag-mission-bay","13":"tag-mission-beach","14":"tag-north-park","15":"tag-ocean-beach","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-san-diego-headlines","18":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}