San Diego, CA
San Diego piñata festival dazzles with color, Mexican culture
Piñatas are for celebration, and that’s exactly what’s happening inside Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan.
While it’s a brewery first, the space has been transformed into what feels like a piñata museum.
“It holds a lot more than just visual appeal,” said artisan Jasmine Venegas. “It’s a traditional value and culture that we’re able to cultivate. I think it’s amazing being able to have a space that aligns with artistic values of our communities.”
The two-week-long Border X Piñata Art Fest features vendors, live music and piñata workshops for the public led by artists like Venegas.
She also has a piñata on display that honors her Mexican and indigenous roots.
“I wanted to bring the elements of Tonantzin and her current figure — most known as La Virgen of Guadalupe — as well as Santa Muerte,” Venegas said, describing her artwork. “So bringing those two factors together, how life has that duality in it and how we are able to grow from life and death.”
The event offers the community a chance to learn some history, try out piñata making for themselves and see professional pieces that stretch the imagination.
“There’s definitely a couple dozen. Some are smaller, some are bigger, some are displayed in the corners,” said festival curator Andy Gonzalez. “People are going ‘that’s a piñata?’”
He said all the works on display are made by artists from Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles. One is even made out of metal.
“We didn’t want them to bring us piñatas you can find at a grocery store,” Gonzalez said. “(They’re) definitely out of the box piñatas, so they got the assignment and they did it — you can see some of them are just amazing, some of them are crazy.”
Both Gonzalez and Venegas agree that piñatas are symbols of identity and a medium to tell stories.
Brewery owner David Favela wanted to give them a space to evolve.
“If you understand the Mexican culture and the U.S. culture, you can decode the art pieces in a way where they’re telling you something. And that’s what all great art, at the end of the day, does — it communicates,” Favela said.
With the magic of papier-mâché, creativity and love for their heritage, artists like Venegas are looking to carry on traditions that she said would otherwise get lost.
“One of my earliest memories of a piñata would be my seventh or eighth birthday — my mom made me a snoopy piñata from scratch. It was my favorite memory,” the artisan said.
This is the first annual piñata festival and the event runs through June 9. While it’s at a brewery, Gonzalez said it’s still a family-friendly fiesta.
San Diego, CA
City considering cutting funding to resource center for those experiencing homelessness
Last week Mayor Todd Gloria released the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal budget. Protected homeless services is among his top priorities mentioned in the proposal. However, some of the reductions he’s proposing could impact thousands of San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Located on 17th and K Street, the Neil Good Day Center offers an array of services to nearly seven thousand people experiencing homelessness. The services include giving them a place to shower and do laundry, and connecting them to a case manager, among others.
“These are critical services that are helping people off the streets, but really better their lives and their health and their employment situation as well,” Deacon Vargas with Father Joe’s Villages said.
Deacon Jim Vargas heads Father Joe’s Villages, which runs the center. He said through their prevention and diversion strategies, they’ve managed to keep nearly one thousand individuals from falling into homelessness.
“So by helping them pay rent, or helping them with their utilities, or helping them to reunite with family,” Vargas said.
Right now, the city allocates at least $850,000 per year to the Neil Good Day Center, according to Vargas.
But the future and funding for these services are in limbo because of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts.
“The impact to those whom we’ve been serving the Daily Center would be very severe,” Deacon Vargas said.
In a statement to NBC 7, Mayor Todd Gloria said in part, “We must find more efficient and cost-effective ways to address this crisis and prioritize funding for programs that provide shelter beds and maximize resources to programs that place people into permanent housing.”
Since it’s still at a proposal stage, Deacon Vargas said it’s unclear how the city will decide to move forward.
However, Deacon Vargas said services would be significantly reduced because they would be forced to operate solely on a budget of about half a million dollars they receive from philanthropy.
“The hours would be cut. Some days would be cut. We would have showers that might be impacted because they’re given seven days a week and we’d close two days a week, then the showers would be five days a week, the case management,” Deacon Vargas said.
Deacon Vargas is certain of one thing.
He would like to continue offering services at the Day Center, even if the city goes through with the funding cuts.
“As we work with individuals at the Day Center and at Father Joe’s Villages, the community becomes healthier as a result of it,” Deacon Vargas said.
The budget also recommends additional cuts to homeless services, but does not give specifics as to where those cuts would be.
San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
Advertisement
-
Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
-
Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
-
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
-
Comment on articles, community posts
-
Rec comments, community posts
-
New, improved notifications system!
San Diego, CA
Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
-
Culture10 minutes agoWhat America’s Main Characters Tell Us
-
Lifestyle16 minutes agoWe beef with the Pope and admire the Stanley Cup : Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
-
Technology28 minutes agoThis pasta sauce wants to record your family
-
World34 minutes agoMassive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits off Japanese coast, tsunami alert issued
-
Politics40 minutes agoUS military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’
-
Health46 minutes agoCancer tied to woman’s vaping habit since age 15 as she’s now given just months to live
-
Sports52 minutes agoPolice report details Zachariah Branch’s arrest days before NFL Draft over sidewalk incident
-
Technology58 minutes agoBMW puts humanoid robots to work building EVs