🌊 What's Happening in North County This Weekend

In today's Carlsbad Scoop:

• Encinitas Oktoberfest turns 30 on Sunday, and it still fills a residential street instead of a park or a fairground.

• St. Michael's Jazz Fest puts fourteen bands on a church lawn in Carlsbad Village.

• Come From Away plays its final weekend at Moonlight, and Keanu Reeves brings Dogstar to The Sound on Sunday.

• Vista closes its downtown streets to cars for Cyclovia, and San Marcos runs everyone up Double Peak the same morning.

• The Grandview beach stairs in Leucadia are closed after a bluff failure, and the city has not said for how long.

• A French bakery known for desserts that look exactly like real fruit just opened in Vista Village.

Let's get to it.

🗓️ Upcoming Events in (and around) Carlsbad

Friday 9/25

• Come From Away | Moonlight Amphitheatre, 1250 Vale Terrace Dr, Vista | 7:30pm
  Final weekend of the musical about the planes grounded in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11 and the small town that took in 7,000 stranded passengers. It closes out Moonlight's 45th season, and the last show is Saturday. It runs straight through with no intermission, and you'll want a blanket for the lawn seats. details

• Atomic Groove | Belly Up, 143 S Cedros Ave, Solana Beach | 5:30pm
  Covers, loud, and nothing obscure in the setlist, which is the whole point. This one's billed as Parent's Nite Out, with $2 of every ticket going to the Felicita Elementary PTA. $12 ahead or $14 at the door, and it wraps early enough to leave the night open. details

• Arts Unite: In The Heights | Sunshine Brooks Theater, 217 N Coast Hwy, Oceanside | 7pm
  The Lin-Manuel Miranda musical about a bodega owner in Washington Heights, screening for Hispanic Heritage Month. It's the film version, not the stage show, and it plays a lot better in a real theater than it did on everybody's laptop in 2021. Students get in free with an ID. details

• Dancing in the Street | North City, 250 North City Dr, San Marcos | 6-8pm
  A live dance performance opens it, then a guided class open to all levels with no experience needed, then a DJ and open dancing. The farmers market runs right alongside, so there's food between sets. It's free, all ages, and the dance style changes month to month. details

• Improv Comedy Show | New Village Arts, 2787 State St, Carlsbad | 7:45pm
  Patrick McInnis hosts and the whole thing is built on the spot off audience suggestions. Short scenes, quick turns, nothing that runs long enough to get uncomfortable. The room is small enough that the front rows end up part of the show whether they volunteered or not. details

• Pumpkin Station | East lot, Del Mar Fairgrounds, 15555 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar | 9am-9pm
  Opening day for the season. Pumpkins in every size out front, with mechanical rides, giant slides and a petting zoo behind them. Ride tickets sell separately from the pumpkins and that's where the money actually goes. It's open daily right through Halloween. details

Saturday 9/26

• St. Michael's Jazz Fest | St. Michael's by-the-Sea, 2775 Carlsbad Blvd, Carlsbad | 10:30am-8pm
  Fourteen bands rotate across two stages on the church lawn, and the lineup covers straight ahead jazz through brass band. It's free to walk in, and you'll want a chair since you'll be there a while. A $40 wristband adds a shirt and ten raffle tickets. details

• Cyclovia Vista | Historic Vista Village, 209 E Broadway, Vista | 9am-1pm
  Downtown streets close to cars and open to anyone walking, rolling or pedaling. Group rides leave through the morning, there's a bike rodeo for kids, and vendors and live music fill the blocks. It's free, and there's a scavenger hunt with gift cards. details

• Double Peak Challenge | San Elijo Recreation Center, 1105 Elfin Forest Rd, San Marcos | 7:30am
  The course is a real climb, not a flat 10K with a hill dropped into it. The 10K goes first and the 5K follows half an hour behind, with a free Kids Trot for the small ones. Entry runs $80 for the 10K and $50 for the 5K, and finishers get a wooden medal and a beer ticket. details

• Concert in the Park | Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, 4500 Mesa Dr, Oceanside | 3:30-6:30pm
  Küf Knotz and Christine Elise headline with The Brothers Burns opening. Harp and hip hop reads odd on paper and works live. It's part of the Levitt BLOC series that's been putting free music in city parks since April. Bring a blanket or a low chair. details

• San Marcos Serb Fest | St. Petka Serbian Orthodox Church, 1854 Knob Hill Rd, San Marcos | 12-10pm
  Serbian food cooked by the parish, a folklore troupe that performs and then pulls everyone into the kolo, and live music running late. Imported beer and rakija behind the bar. $5 to get in, which ends up being the cheapest part of the day once the food comes out. details

• Pumpkin and Marigold Harvest Festival | Mellano Farm Stand, 5714 N River Rd, Oceanside | 10am-4pm
  Marigold rows you can walk into and cut from yourself, a corn maze, tractor rides and pumpkins stacked by the stand, plus food trucks and live music. This is the first weekend of the season. It runs both days, then every weekend through Halloween if this one looks too busy. details

• Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour | La Paloma Theatre, 471 S Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas | 7pm
  Three hours of short films about climbers, skiers, paddlers and a few people whose judgment you'll question out loud. The fall program is all new footage, none of it repeated from the spring run. $30 gets you in, and the old single screen room suits it. details

• Moonlight Paddle | Aquatic Adventure Center, 1400 N Harbor Dr, Oceanside | 7-9pm
  Out on the harbor under the Harvest Moon, with a short skills session before the kayaks go out at sunset. Headlamps and gear are provided, and bring a change of clothes because you will get wet. Ages 14 and up, and spots are booked ahead, no walk-ups. details

Sunday 9/27

• Encinitas Oktoberfest | Mountain Vista Dr between Wandering and Rambling Rds, Encinitas | 10am-6pm
  More than 130 artisan booths line the street, two beer gardens pour, and the ceremonial parade steps off at noon. There's a dog costume contest and stein holding for both adults and kids. A free shuttle runs from the Flora Vista Elementary lot and beats circling the neighborhood. details

• Del Mar Community Picnic | Powerhouse Park, 1658 Coast Blvd, Del Mar | 1-4pm
  Prairie Sky plays while the town's nonprofits set up booths and introduce themselves to whoever wanders over. Food and drinks are covered by local businesses, so sandwiches, ice cream and lemonade are handled. It's free with no registration, and the beach is right below the lawn. details

• Pour Out The Arts | Pour House, 1903 S Coast Hwy, Oceanside | 12-8pm
  Local vendors set up across the patio while bands rotate through the stage inside. It's all ages, unusual for this room. Magnolco puts it together with the bar, and it works as a shopping afternoon as much as a music one. details

• Dogstar | The Sound, Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar | 8pm
  Bret Domrose writes and sings, Robert Mailhouse drums, Keanu Reeves plays bass, and they've been at this on and off since the 90s. The Backfires open. $49.50 ahead or $55 the day of, with reserved seats at $79.50 if you'd rather sit. details

🍊🥑 Farmers Markets 🍓🧺

• Wed  Carlsbad, State Street, 2:30-7pm  details

• Thu  Oceanside, Pier View Way, 9am-1pm  details

• Fri  San Marcos, N City Drive, 4-8pm  details

• Sat  Vista, Courthouse lot, 8am-12pm  details

• Sat  Cardiff, MiraCosta Campus, 10am-2pm  details

• Sat  Del Mar, Civic Center, 12-4pm  details

• Sun  Rancho Santa Fe, Del Rayo Center, 9:30am-2pm  details

• Sun  Leucadia, Oak Crest Middle School, 10am-2pm  details

• Sun  Solana Beach, Cedros Avenue, 12-4pm  details

🌤️🌊 Carlsbad Weather and Wave Forecast

🚧 The Grandview Stairs Are Closed After a Bluff Failure in Leucadia

Encinitas closed the Grandview beach access on Friday, September 18, after a section of bluff came down just north of the stairs. Nobody was hurt. The city flagged a risk of more failures within about 300 feet on either side and is asking people to stay off that stretch of sand entirely, not hunt for another way down.

The stairs had only just come out of a $960,637 repair that wrapped May 22, but the bluff around them is a separate problem. The city moves fast here because of the 2019 collapse at Grandview that killed three women. No reopening date has been given, so plan on the stairs being out this weekend and likely well past it. Learn more

🥧 The Fruit That Isn't Fruit Just Opened in Vista Village

Desserts By Clément opened September 18 at 30 Main Street, Suite 180, in Vista Village. It's the third shop after Pacific Beach and Del Mar Plaza, and the first one off the coast. The draw is the fruit entremets, mousse cakes molded and sprayed to look exactly like a mango or a blueberry. They photograph absurdly well, and that's a fair share of how the name got around.

Clément Le Déoré is from Brittany, trained under French pastry chefs, and has turned up on The Great American Baking Show and Food Network. The rest of the case is macarons, croissants, cakes and coffee, so it works as a regular morning stop too. It's open every day from 8:30am to 8pm. That's late for a pastry case. Learn more

Until next time,

Carlsbad Scoop