free, all-ages\u00a0festival\u00a0<\/a>is expected to attract 70,000 attendees,\u00a0more than four times the neighborhood\u2019s population of\u00a0about\u00a016,000\u00a0people.<\/p>\nCityFest, in its more than\u00a0four decades of existence,\u00a0has grown into\u00a0one of San Diego\u2019s\u00a0largest free, all-ages events.<\/p>\n
\u201cHillcrest is San Diego\u2019s most eclectic urban neighborhood \u2026 and CityFest is the ultimate celebration of that spirit,\u201d Hillcrest Business Association spokesperson Natalie Starr said in a statement.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s\u00a0festival\u00a0is set to take over\u00a0seven city blocks, starting at\u00a0University Avenue\u00a0under the\u00a0iconic\u00a0Hillcrest sign,\u00a0and stretching\u00a0nearly half a mile\u00a0down Fifth Avenue to\u00a0Pennsylvania Avenue. Hours are from\u00a0noon to 11 p.m.<\/p>\n
Attendees\u00a0can expect\u00a0two stages of live music and DJs, 100-plus\u00a0local\u00a0vendors, a 21-and-over beer garden,\u00a0community booths and a\u00a0kids zone.\u00a0The kids zone, active from noon to 8 p.m., includes\u00a0free\u00a0all-ages arts and crafts, such as\u00a0learning to make\u00a0a suncatcher with a template and tissue paper.<\/p>\n
More than 20 hours of performances are\u00a0scheduled across the two stages, with performers from all over the San Diego region. Artists run the gamut, from singer-songwriters and electronic to indie\/alt rock and\u00a0hip-hop.<\/p>\n
Musicians slated to appear on the main stage include DJ-producer Kurtyka, swing-jazz act Vintage Girl in a Modern World, indie glitter rock band Daddy, soul-funk act Jenny & the Tramps, high energy indie rock band The Dimes and three-piece indie-alternative group The Band Cope.<\/p>\n
As the sun goes down,\u00a0various\u00a0DJs,\u00a0including Kinky Loops, K-Swift and John Joseph,\u00a0will spin on the main stage from 7-11 p.m.<\/p>\n
Also planned for the event are drag queen story time for kids and a performance by former \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d competitor Lydia B. Kollins.<\/p>\n
New\u00a0to this\u00a0year\u2019s event\u00a0is a\u00a0Mural Alley wine garden,\u00a0from noon to 6 p.m. Although\u00a0CityFest\u00a0itself\u00a0is free, tastings inside the\u00a0garden require the purchase of tasting tickets, which cost $10-$40.<\/p>\n
Each tasting ticket\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0redeemable for one 2 oz.\u00a0pour from any participating winery. Featured wineries include Cork & Stem, Negociant Winery and Pali Wine Co.<\/p>\n
Starr said of City Fest, \u201cIt is amazing to see the neighborhood come alive with people dancing in the streets, connecting through music (and) art, supporting local businesses and celebrating what community pride looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CityFest What:\u00a0CityFest, the 42nd\u00a0annual edition, in Hillcrest.When:\u00a0Noon-11 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 9.Where:\u00a0University Avenue (under the Hillcrest sign)\u00a0and\u00a0Fifth Avenue from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":983170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,2104,7720,975,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-983169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-america","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-festivals","tag-hillcrest","tag-music","tag-san-diego","tag-sandiego","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117045157131738557","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"People](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0.fest_.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>CityFest will return Sunday for its 42nd year in Hillcrest. (Photo courtesy of the Hillcrest Business Association)<\/p>\n