As the winter caps are tucked away and the spring bicycles are brushed off and tuned up, San Diego begins to stretch its arms and really start getting into the New Year fun. The month of February brings a re-introduction to what San Diego has to offer with a half-off museum month, an artsy Oceanside banner project, a pet-friendly 5K run, and much more.

San Diego Museum Month – February 1-29
San Diego’s museum month rings in the springtime with an entire month of half-off San Diego museum entry prices. Choose from 40 museums in San Diego County and enjoy the arts, science, culture, and history that these museums have to offer. Some museum highlights include:

• Birch Aquarium at Scripps
• Coronado Museum of History & Art
• LUX Art Institute
• Maritime Museum of San Diego
• Marston House
• Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego – Downtown
• Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
• Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
• San Diego Air & Space Museum
• San Diego Archaeological Center
• San Diego Automotive Museum
• San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum
• San Diego Museum of Art
• San Diego Museum of Man
• San Diego Natural History Museum
• Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
• Women’s History Museum and Education Center

Encinitas Arts Alive Banner Project and Auction – February-June
Local artists create banners depicting what this area means to them. The event promotes walking the streets of coastal towns and brings art and community together. Money raised by the Arts Alive event promotes the arts and offsets the cost of the next year’s project.

California Open Wildlife Art Festival – February 11-12

Held at the Corky McMillin Event Center in San Diego, this festival features more than 150 artists and wood carvers from the United States, Canada, and Japan.

The Open Wildlife Art Festival hosts a world-class carving competition, exhibits and sales, an art auction, tool vendors, and antique appraisals.

Puppy Love 5k Run/Walk – February 12

Grab your pooch and come kick off Valentine’s Day with a Puppy Love run/walk. This event starts at the corner of Via de la Valle in Solana beach. In celebration of pet lovers everywhere, the course ends with a Furry Valentine Canine Costume Contest, a doggie boot camp and agility course, and many more activities.

San Diego Derby Dolls – February 18

If you missed January’s Derby Dolls event, or you’re just itching to catch another act, join these gals at the Del Mar Fairgrounds starting at 6 PM. Buy tickets online in advance for $15 and enjoy watching this unique and exciting women’s competition.

San Diego Mardi Gras – February 21

San Diego participates in this long-time New Orleans tradition every year with its own Mardi Gras held in the Gaslamp Quarter. This outdoor celebration includes parades and a block party with musical acts, food, beverages, and beads. This is a fun, festive, 21 and over event that’s held rain or shine.

Silver Bay Kennel Club Dog Show – February 25-26

One of the largest dog shows in the United States, the Silver Bay Kennel Club dog show includes a dog agility competition, best-in-show and breed competitions, and obedience competitions.

Southern California Gray Whale Migration – Through February 27

‘Tis the season for grey whale migration south along the California coastline to the waters of Baja. These whales breed and then return to their summer feeding grounds. Although March and May are peak months, whale-watching tours and cruises run all the way through the month of February. With a 96% success rate of seeing whales, the Newport Landing Whale Watching tours are a great way to swim into spring.

Dividing the Estate – February 1-12
If plays are up your alley, see this Pulitzer Prize winning play about family, money, and greed. Held at the Old Globe Theater, this popular play was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009.

If February is your month to take a trip down to the southern tip of California, then consider catching everything the West Coast has to offer in the month of February. San Diego is jam-packed with events regardless of the season. As a hub of museums, wildlife, and social events, there’s never a dull day in America’s Finest City.

San Diego County is famous for being a family-friendly place to live with a large number of middle- to upper-income neighborhoods. What more could trick-or-treaters want? There are several factors to take into consideration when planning your kids’ trick-or-treating adventures. First and foremost, you want your kids going door-to-door in the safest neighborhoods possible. While most of San Diego is generally safe, there are a few areas that stand out as the safest places to trick-or-treat that have low crime rates and well lit streets. A second factor is whether or not a lot of other trick-or-treaters will be around the area. Dead towns are no fun for kids where there are few people who celebrate, so make sure you head toward areas where a lot of people will be handing out candy with festively decorated homes. You also want a neighborhood with a good density of homes so it doesn’t require walking a marathon just to visit each house in the area. If you still can’t decide on where to go, there are several planned events around San Diego where kids can trick-or-treat safely. Here is a brief list of the top places to go trick-or-treating in San Diego County.

1. Ocean Beach: The laid back surfer village of O.B. has several good streets for kids to wander and collect bags of candy. The friendly residents love to celebrate Halloween and are waiting with big bowls of candy for all your little ghouls and goblins. The neighborhood has over 12,000 people packed into a 1.5 square mile area which means there are plenty of doors to knock on this Halloween.
2. Carmel Mountain: Carmel Mountain is often regarded as the ultimate trick-or-treating neighborhood in San Diego because of the massive number of streets packed with tract homes right next to each other. The difference between this area and the rest of suburban San Diego is that the median household income is right around the $100,000 range, meaning the candy bars might be a little bigger and better than other areas. All the streets are family-friendly and most people have their own kids heading out on them to collect as many sweets as possible.
3. Pacific Beach: P.B. is another densely packed neighborhood, and you may have to drive around a little to find the perfect streets but the good ones will pay huge dividends (in candy that is). P.B. dwellers love to celebrate any chance they get and Halloween is one of their favorite holidays of the year. Count on witnessing some of the wildest costumes, scariest haunted houses, and friendly neighbors around. With over 7,600 people per square mile, it is almost guaranteed that every street will have some good trick-or-treating.
4. Carlsbad: Carlsbad is the ultimate family-friendly suburban beach town of North County. The median income is well above the San Diego County average and the population of around 100,000 is generally composed of families with young with kids who love to dress up and head out on the streets. Carlsbad is known for its low crime rate and friendly beach-loving residents.
5. Local Church Halloween Carnivals: There are tons of local churches around San Diego that offer Halloween carnivals where kids can play games and fill their bags with just as much candy as they would on the streets of Ocean Beach. A church Halloween carnival is a safe and fun experience for the youngsters and the parents don’t need to worry about them wandering off too far or knocking on the wrong door.
6. LEGOLAND California Brick-or-Treat: The most popular kids’ Halloween event in North County is in LEGOLAND where they host Brick-or-Treat. The event happens a few times throughout the month with the biggest on Saturday the 29^th (because it’s not a school night). The kids can experience the extravagant LEGOLAND Park while indulging in their favorite costumed candy-eating holiday of the year.
7. Trick-or-Treat on India Street: Little Italy offers the kids of downtown a fun and safe option for trick-or-treating. They work with a lot of the local businesses in Little Italy who open their doors for trick-or-treaters to come by and show off their costumes in return for handfuls of candy.

Trick-or-Treat on Magic Street: The radio station Magic 92.5 hosts an annual trick-or-treat carnival on Magic Street in Chula Vista. Driving north to downtown is often out of the question for Chula Vista residents so having something in the center of town that is safe and fun for the entire family is a great way to celebrate Halloween.

October is one of the most popular months in San Diego because the leaves change colors, ghosts and goblins come out to haunt everyone, German beer flows from beer gardens around the city, and popular annual events like the Asian Film Festival are attracting thousands of visitors. The kids are back in school, the beach still has great weather, and people can’t get their hands on Julian apple pies fast enough. Here are seven popular events and activities that take place during the month of October in San Diego.

1. Oktoberfest: La Mesa, El Cajon, Carlsbad, and Encinitas all have their own miniature version of the famous Oktoberfest celebration in Munich every year. Most of the German celebrations take place during the first and second weekend of October and the biggest of them all is easily the La Mesa Oktoberfest. This is the best time of the year to get your hands on some authentic German bratwurst, beer, and polka music.
2. Julian Apple Days Festival: Escape from the city and experience some good ol’ classic fun Julian style. You will spend all day eating endless amounts of apple pie, watching an antique tractor show, panning for gold, tasting beer and wine, listening to music, and dancing alongside some country tunes. The main event is the first weekend of October but the Apple Days Festival lasts almost two months throughout the apple harvest season in Julian. The first 250 people get a free apple pie server so don’t be late.
3. 17^th Annual Little Italy FESTA!: One of the largest Italian festivals on the West Coast, the Little Italy FESTA in San Diego is a great place to experience traditional Italian culture. Taste the great food, listen to Italian music, watch talented artists create masterpieces, participate in arts and crafts, and celebrate Italian heritage. One highlight of the event is the Italian Motor Sports Exhibit where you can admire classic Italian sports cars and motorbikes. There will be three separate stages with live music and over 120,000 people visiting Little Italy throughout the day. The event takes place October 9^th from 10am-6pm.
4. 12^th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival: Easily one of the most popular annual events in San Diego is the Asian Film Festival from October 20-28th. Attendees can mingle with filmmakers and actors while they all enjoy a showcasing of Asian and other international cinema. It is a fun week of film watching and partying downtown where you can pick and choose what films interest you and then get to hang with the stars of the show and creators afterwards.
5. Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival: It isn’t a little secret anymore; the Borrego Days Desert Festival is a fun event great for families and provides tons of activities over a three day weekend. The event takes place out at Borrego Springs, a popular desert location east of San Diego. There will be a parade, mini-carnival, classic car show, artist and vendor booths, live music, tasty festival food, and much more at the annual desert festival that takes place from October 21-23rd.
6. Tequila Festival and Expo: This event isn’t for everyone, but people looking for a little adventure just across the border shouldn’t miss the annual Tijuana Tequila Expo. You can hop across the border and be at one of North America’s premier tequila events or take a tour with bus transportation from San Diego. Either way, the price you pay for the amount of fun in store is hard for any other San Diego event to compete with. The expo takes place from October 14-16^th this year and Five Star Tours offers an organized tour with some tequila education on the ride down.
7. Haunted Halloween Events: Most locals love when October rolls around because that is when all the extremely scary haunted houses, hotels, forests, restaurants, mazes, and whatever else you can think of being haunted open up. Top events include Scream Zone Del Mar, The Haunted Hotel, Haunted Trail at Balboa Park, LEGOLAND Brick-Or-Treat, Monster Manor, Sea World Spooktacular, and Monster Bash just to name a few. Most of the haunted attractions operate all month long so you have plenty of time to scare yourself and your friends this October.