Projects:
Historic Streetcar
North Park Developments
Traffic & Parking

North Park Main Street is
partially funded by the City of
San Diego Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Diego Small Business Enhancement Program

Arts, Culture, & Entertainment

In January 1998, North Park Main Street declared itself an Arts, Culture, and Entertainment District. This designation has resulted in a dramatic renaissance that has swept through downtown North Park. Today, North Park is viewed as an emerging arts district in the City of San Diego.

Developing a market niche that will attract new shoppers and visitors to the district has been the emphasis of the Main Street program. North Park Main Street focused on the changing population make-up in North Park, capitalizing upon the in-flux of artists, designers, architects, and other design professionals in the surrounding neighborhood. Arts districts have been the cornerstone of revitalization of commercial districts all the way from Eureka in Northern California to Santa Ana in Orange County.

In North Park, you’ll find a wide array of visual arts, public art, music, dance, poetry, and theatre. There are arts-based businesses, arts-friendly events, and arts-inclusive developments all throughout the business district.

North Park is the home to many businesses that are either arts-based or complimentary to the Arts, Culture and Entertainment District. These include galleries, art store, dance studios, music shops, art schools, and poetry venues. For links to these businesses' websites, please visit our online Business Directory.

North Park is the home of numerous arts-based events. The North Park Spring Festival is an annual street festival in May that attracts over 40,000 people to the neighborhood. It features arts and crafts vendors and five stages of entertainment including dance, world music, and local talent. At the North Park Thursday Night Market – the neighborhood’s weekly farmers market – you’ll find a variety of international foods, arts and crafts vendors, and entertainment. Ray at Night has become the premier art event in San Diego. Every second Saturday of the month, over twenty North Park merchants showcase art of various mediums including oil, acrylic and mixed media paintings; sculpture; photography; furniture; ceramics; jewelry and other fine arts. Live music is often included in the event. Picnic-packing music lovers flock to the free Summer Concerts by the North Park Community Association, which provide the perfect setting for kicking back with friends or kicking up your heels to the tunes of local bands.

North Park Main Street has worked proactively to include all new developments in the Arts, Culture, and Entertainment focus of downtown North Park. All throughout the district, local artists have transformed utility boxes into beautiful works of art. The North Park Theatre is certain to be the heart of North Park’s entertainment scene when it opens as a live performance venue in October 2005. The North Park Parking Garage, slated to open at the same time as the Theatre, will include a number of large art panels all along the façade. The Poetry Building at 2820 University Avenue features a poem as part of its facade, reflecting the fresh and vital poetry scene in North Park. New poems are included on the front of the building every few months. The very name of La Boheme – condominiums under construction named after Puccini’s famous Opera – emphasizes the Bohemian nature of North Park’s arts community.

These are just a few of the ways that Arts, Culture, and Entertainment are resulting in the renaissance of downtown North Park. For more information please call us at (619) 294-2501 or send us an e-mail: npbid@northparkmainstreet.com.