Throughout Balboa Park, 2012 isn’t recognized as a year on the calendar but the first year of the 2012-2014 ramp up to a grand Celebration in 2015. Every organization working in the Park is working on innovative and creative ways that their organization will contribute to making 2015 very, very special. It is an exciting time in Balboa Park that will get better and better as we get closer to 2015. The Friends of Balboa Park is continuing to plan and perform, both for 2012 and 2012-2014. The Mission of the Friends of Balboa Park is to preserve Balboa Park’s legacy for future generations through park-wide projects. Our mission is deliberately broad and includes not only the entire foot print of the Park but all that goes into or on in the Park. Click here to read entire message.
Friends of Balboa Park, together with the Balboa Park Educators’ Council, publishes an annual summer camp brochure with information on full-day and collaborative half-day camps for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and all ages through 12th grade. The brochure includes information about collaborating camps where lunch time is supervised, and your child can spend the morning in one camp, then the afternoon in another. To download and view the brochure, click here.
In 1904, San Diego celebrated Arbor Day for the first time. With Kate Sessions helping to organize the planting, the community event brought 3,500 school children to City Park, with representatives of classes and schools planting 60 pine and cypress trees. (pictured)
Friends of Balboa Park has brought back the tradition of celebrating Arbor Day, and recently celebrated our 5th Arbor Day in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion where 16 new Crepe Myrtle trees were planted for the occasion. Click here to view our photo gallery online. Click here to download an event program.
Save the date for our 12th Annual Friends of Balboa Park Luncheon for our “Salute to Volunteers.” We had a successful event last year – Check out our photo gallery to view photos. To view and download an event program, click here.
News | nick October 26, 2011 | 
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Friends of Balboa Park, together with our partner Kiosk Arts, finished installation of two new kiosks this fall. Click here to view a map of all five locations. Look for our new updated kiosks in locations at the corner of Pan American Plaza just below the International Cottages and at the Inspiration Point Tram Stop. The new kiosks feature touch screen technology that has a new look and feel, thanks to the work of the Balboa Park Online Collaborative who has been designed the software updates. Information on museum exhibits, performances, park tours, and special events are available to kiosk users as well as map locations for all the park’s features including restaurants, restrooms, museums, gardens, and attractions. Each Kiosk offers FREE WiFi, an ATM,park map, and sponsor messages from our partners. Thanks to funding from Las Patronas, Balboa Park Trust at The San Diego Foundation, and the Thursday Club, we are now putting the finishing touches on a multi-year project that helps connect people to the park!
Friends of Balboa Park is proud to get you behind the scenes around Balboa Park. If you are a regular Park visitor, you have probably heard one of the noontime bell medleys coming from the California Tower. But few people know the process behind the sound. To read more about this fascinating instrument and its rich history in the park, and to find out how you can submit a song request, click here to view entire article submitted by current Carillonneur Gina Seashore.
The Family Guide is designed with YOU in mind! We hope you will stay longer and play more by doing these activities while visiting Balboa Park with your family. There are activities for nine museums and twelve outdoor areas in Balboa Park. Have fun exploring the museums and free outdoor gardens. For some of the activities you will need a pencil, but for all of them you will definitely need your wonderful imagination. The guide is a project of the Informal Curriculum Experience (I.C.E.) sub-committee of the Balboa Park Educators’ Council (BPEC). Printed copies will be available at the Visitors Center, thanks to support from Balboa Park Central. Have fun, be creative, and PLAY! Click here to download a complete guide.
Check out our photo gallery to view photos from our past events including:
- 6th Ave. Playground Ribbon Cutting March 2012
- Millennium Awards Luncheon Oct 2011
- Fall Park & Rec. Picnic Oct 2011
- Kiosk Dedication and Party Sept 2011
- Navy Volunteers June 2011
- Rotarians at Work Day in Balboa Park April 2011
- Palm Canyon Walk March 2011
- Butterfly Garden Release March 2011
- Arbor Day 2011
Walking tours will take place the third Saturday of every month and offer the public an opportunity to learn more about the project and its benefits to Balboa Park. For more information on the tours and to view plan updates, public input,and more, including donations, please visit the official website of the Plaza de Panama project.
News | nick December 22, 2010 | Comments Off
Enjoy stories written in this rich history of Balboa Park as told through people’s memories of Balboa Park from the Expositions in 1915 and 1935. The stories were collected and published by Betty and Homer Peabody in 1997 in a volume entitled “Tapestries of Time.” If you would like to contribute a memory or story of Balboa Park in the early days, please send to our office: info@friendsofbalboapark.org. We will add to our online collection. The stories are organized by last name of the contributing authors. Click here to download Tapestries of Time.
Postcard courtesy of David Marshall
News | nick November 17, 2010 | Comments Off
Throughout Balboa Park, 2012 isn’t recognized as a year on the calendar but the first year of the 2012-2014 ramp up to a grand Celebration in 2015. Every organization working in the Park is working on innovative and creative ways that their organization will contribute to making 2015 very, very special. It is an exciting time in Balboa Park that will get better and better as we get closer to 2015. The Friends of Balboa Park is continuing to plan and perform, both for 2012 and 2012-2014. The Mission of the Friends of Balboa Park is to preserve Balboa Park’s legacy for future generations through park-wide projects. Our mission is deliberately broad and includes not only the entire foot print of the Park but all that goes into or on in the Park. Click here to read entire message.
