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GAY SAN DIEGO August 12–25, 2011


FROM PAGE 9 CALENDAR


Kitchen. Pre-sale tickets are available for $55 and tickets sold at the door are $65. To purchase tickets, visit mamaskitchen.org. Bourbon Street is located at 4612 Park Boulevard. For more infor- mation call (619) 233-6262. The Greater San Diego Business Association Sum- mer Rooftop mixer: The Greater San Diego Business Association (GSBDA) will host a Summer Rooftop Mixer at the Porto Vista Hotel from 6 to 8 p.m. The mixer is geared toward networking businesses at a re- laxing atmosphere. Patrons will have a chance to view the San Diego Bay from the top of the


hotel. Appetizers and cocktails will be served. Tickets are $10 for members and $25 for guests. The mixer will be a 21 and up event. The Porto Vista Hotel is located at 1835 Columbia Street in Down Town San Diego. For more information call 296-4535, or visit alturl.com/fwunr.


Friday, August 19 “The Hidden Fortress”


screening: The San Diego Asian Film Foundation and the San Diego Museum of Art present a screening of “The Hidden Fortress” in Balboa Park at 8 p.m. “The Hidden Fortress” follows two greedy peasants escorting a man and woman across enemy lines. What they do not realize is that their companions are a princess and her general. The screening will take place at the


Danielle LoPresti & the Masses perform at South Bay Pride.


Saturday, August 20 South Bay Pride 2011: The South Bay Alliance is hosting their South Bay Pride Art and Music Festival in Memorial Park, Chula Vista from noon to 7:00 p.m. Aside from the arts, crafts, local businesses and food booths there will be a packed entertain- ment line up kicking off with the San Diego Women’s Drum Circle. Other entertainment includes the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus, Rhythm & the Method, Danielle LoPresti & the Masses, Tori Roze & the Hot Mess, Roxy Blue & the Handful, Todo Mundo, Laugh Out Proud, and the SD Drag Kings. Funny lady Laura Jane will be hosting. There will also be a grand-prize drawing for four VIP tickets to Blink 182 for a later date at the Cricket Wireless Amphi- theater. Plus, you can stop by and say hello to Gay San Diego in our booth. The after-party will be at Urban Mo’s and Gossip Grill. The event is free, with a $5 suggested donation at the gate. For more information visit southbayalliance. net or southbaypride.org.


EVENTS/NEWS


East lawn adjacent to the mu- seum. Admission is free. The San Diego Museum of Art is located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park. For more information call (619) 232-7931 or visit alturl.com/ufygy.


Sunday, August 21 Visiting Chef Series at the Hillcrest Farmers Market: The Hillcrest Farm- ers Market will host a cooking demonstration at 1 p.m. The demonstration will take place at the heart of the market where a local chef will choose items throughout the market to incorporate into the cooking demo. The audience members will get to sample the finishing product. The Hillcrest Farmers Market consists of 110 vendors offering locally grown produce and international cuisine. Admission is free. The Farmers Market is located at the inter- section of Lincoln and Normal streets in Hillcrest. For more information visit hillcrestfarm- ersmarket.com or call (619) 299-3330.


Thursday, August 25 Hatha Yoga Class: Balboa Park’s Japanese Friendship Garden presents Hatha Yoga at the Koi Pond from 5 to 6 p.m. The movements and tech- niques will be accessible for beginning and advanced yoga practitioners. The activities can be tailored to suit each individ- ual. Students are encouraged to wear loose and comfortable clothing, bring a mat and water and avoid eating a heavy meal prior to class. Tracy Ohm Norris will instruct the course. Tickets will be $8 for members and Balboa Park employees and $10 for non-members. The Japanese Friendship Garden is located at 2215 Pan Ameri- can Rd. E. in Balboa Park. For more information call (619) 232-2721 or visit niwa.org/ event/hatha-yoga-class.t


FROM PAGE 1 ALTERNATE


tional outreach was done at LBGT establishments, including Gossip Grill, Eden and Rich’s. Two kick- off parties are being held the Fri- day before the festival at Urban Mo’s and Numbers, and this year’s “Dunk a Drag” tank is a fundraiser for Mama’s Kitchen. Matt Ramone, the General Manager of Urban Mo’s, is organizing the dunk tank, and says he anticipates around 16 local drag queens participating. “The obvious,” Weir says, “is that these bars and restaurants are very gay oriented because they are located in Hillcrest, and the business improvement district is the Hillcrest business improve- ment district.” For the HBA, the two cannot be separated. “One will get you two,” Weir says. “I think why this event is so suc- cessful is because our primary goal isn’t making money at an event,” Weir says. The HBA is a non-profit organization funded by fees paid by local business owners to the city of San Diego based on the number of employees in each establishment, which Weir says gauges the ap- proximate size of each business. The city, in turn, funds the HBA. The HBA’s non-profit status,


according to Weir, makes for dif- ferent accountability than a cor- poration or a marketing company running an event. “Our primary goal is bringing the community together and keeping the busi- ness district happy. So it’s not about how much we profited this year, but rather how much should we profit in social and emotional capital,” she says.


For many LBGT people in San Diego, the social and emotional capital the HBA seeks is integral in maintaining the Hillcrest neigh- borhood as well as the local LGBT community. The feeling is likened to the annual Pride Festival for many, only on a smaller scale. The main difference between the two festivals, Weir notes, is economic. “Pride is well known for its pa- rade,” she says, “but it is also very well known for its festival. But the festival involves buying a ticket and having this entrance process into the festival, whereas CityFest is open to the community…There is this element of it being totally accessible and open regardless of whether you have a ticket.” That is not to say CityFest does not raise money for both the partic- ipants and the HBA, but the HBA is explicit when it says the money raised at CityFest goes back into the local business district. For the approximately 200 vendors, City- Fest can be very lucrative, and Weir says the fact that there are so many return vendors year-to-year supports this claim. However, not everyone is able to return. Gigi Canton of


Diversionary


Theatre says her organization was able to be a vendor at this year’s Pride, but not at CityFest. For the theater, Canton says CityFest did not coincide with a running show so it did not seem appropriate to par- ticipate. Diversionary Theatre did, however, participate in last year’s CityFest, and Canton says they look forward to being a vendor at both Pride and CityFest in the future. Weir does say the differences


between CityFest and Pride are unique for every vendor, and that the HBA is happy Hillcrest has two large-scale festivals. “We as a busi- ness district are immensely sup- portive of Pride,” she says. “What


see Alternate, pg 22


gay-sd.com


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