Encinitas Arts Festival Brings Culture and Art

The one time during the year when all of San Diego County can come together and admire the fantastic skills of its community while great food and free activities is the Encinitas Arts Festival held at San Dieguito Academy. The festival attracts performers across the greater San Diego Area, featuring the gifts of acoustic African bands, local circuses, and traditional Hawaiian dancers last month.

Accompanying the live performances were a variety of vendors in booths encircling the stage, some selling works of sculpture and paintings and others letting children explore their creative sides by building paper hats or trying out different water colors.

This is the third year the City of Encinitas and San Dieguito High School Academy have collaborated to put on the Encinitas Arts Festival, each year focusing on different themes. This time around, the festival’s message was “Passport to the Art,s” showcasing the diverse talents in the county, most notably performances by the three-man African band Sene Africa, the traditional Hispanic dancing group Ballet Folklorico de San Dieguito and a coordinated Hawaiian dance by Kehulili O Kailani. On their website, the Cultural Arts division of the city says they put on the festival “in recognition of the critical role the arts play in schools and in the community”

All ages were among the viewing audience; even those of older age participated in the festivities. One of the performers, of Sene Africa invited the audience on stage to join in dancing to the music. Some shy souls politely declined while others excitedly hopped on stage eager to get in some fun exercise. Most of these rookie dancers were adults.

The kids had the opportunity to volunteer during the circus performance, where six of them got to be dived over by a hyper-flexible acrobat. At one point, an adorable toddler attempted to crawl up on stage during the act of a scantily-clad, sword-wielding, dancer. The ring master commented, “I don’t blame him.”

SDA students and faculty were participated. Senior Austin Kileen sold framed beach photographs. “I sell more here at the festival than I do at any other time of the year,” said Kileen.

Also participating in the festival were members of the Ovation theatre, a local theater troupe, featuring SDA students, including juniors Jenna Steinberg, Dashiell Gregory, and senior Yoni Kruvi. Art teacher Angela Jackson was the only school instructor who had a booth at the festival, in which she sold some of her own artwork.

Throughout the course of the day, hundreds went in and out of the school grounds to eat at the food truck in the parking lot. Many families opted to sit on the grass next to the packed chairs to marvel at the performances.

Those who chose to walk and appreciate the works of the encircled booths found plenty to see. The same hyper-flexible acrobat who leaped over the kids also happened to be an experienced juggler. Passing kids got to try out their juggling skills and toss a variety of objects between them and the acrobat, all while their parents took photos of their priceless expressions.