DESTINATION EAST COUNTY: SEPT. 16 - OCT. 21

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East County News Service

September 15, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- This week’s Destination East County includes the Julian Music Festival, concerts by Siren’s Crush and the Grossmont Symphony and Master Chorale and a hike to the Valley of the Moon.

 Plus, we’ll tell you about coming attractions including Julian Apple Days, Oktoberfests in La Mesa and El Cajon, an OktOVERfest and over-the-line tournament in Santee, a Marty Stuart concert in downtown El Cajon, Stockzilla at Santee Lakes, the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous, open house with firefighters, a tailgate barbecue contest in Spring Valley, and Haunt Fest on Main.

So scroll down for all of these events and many more!

SIREN’S CRUSH CONCERT IN DOWNTOWN EL CAJON SEPT.16

Siren’s Crush, a high-energy dance band that’s one of the hottest entertainment acts in town, will be performing live at El Cajon’s Dinner and a Concert night this Friday, September16th. The modern pop and dance music concert will get you movin’ and groovin’ from 6 to 8 p.m. at Prescott Park in downtown El Cajon. For details you can visit www.DowntownElCajon.com.

MONARCHS AND MILKWEED SEPT. 16 IN ALPINE

Children of all ages are welcome to come to the Alpine Library for Funtastic Friday on September 16^th at 3:30 p.m. for a hands-on demonstration on how to grow milkweed to attract monarch butterflies. 

Kids will also learn about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and why it is so important to grow milkweed. As an added bonus every participant will go home with a free kit which includes milkweed seeds, Ranger Rick’s Wildlife notebook and many other items.  For more information, you can e-mail WildlifeHabitats@aol.com.

HIKE TO THE VALLEY OF THE MOON SEPT. 17

Jacumba Hikers and Walkers invite you to a full moon hike to the Valley of the Moon. This five-mile, four-hour evening hike to an otherworldly location in the desert just past the San Diego/Imperial County line near the Mexican border is rated hard.   Meet at 5 p.m. at the Jacumba Spa (44461 Old Highway 80 in Jacumba Hot Springs). Bring a flashlight, plenty ot water, and wear sturdy shoes.

For questions you can contact hike leader Bill Pape at (619) 766-4927.

JULIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL SEPT. 17

Here’s something to howl about!  The Julian Music Festival on September 17^th will benefit the California Wolf Center, which is working to preserve a rare and endangered wolf species.  The music festival will be held on September 17^th from 1 to 7 p.m. at Menghini Winery in Julian.  The 47^th annual music festival will feature a diverse lineup of entertainment.  For tickets and details you can go to https://julianmusicfestival.com/.

GROSSMONT SYMPHONY AND MASTER CHORALE CONCERT SEPT. 16 AND 18

The Grossmont Symphony Orchestra and Grossmont Master Chorale opens its fall season with a 7:30 p.m. performance on Friday, Sept. 16 at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church (8175 Lemon Grove Way in Lemon Grove, and a 2 p.m. performance Sunday, Sept. 18 at All Saints Episcopal Church (625 Pennsylvania Ave.) in San Diego.

They will perform music by Beethoven, Wolf, Spohr, Fauré, Bach, Tchaikovsky and others. For tickets and details visit the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra website at www.Grossmont.edu/GSO .

NOW FOR A PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS…

JULIAN APPLE DAYS SEPT. 24-25

The annual Julian Apple Days Festival offers weekend full of fun for the whole family on September 24^th and 25^th.  It’s part of the longer Apple Days celebration.  The two-day festival will be held at Menghini Winery featuring apple displays, music and dancing, an antique tractor display, children’s games and activities, gold panning demonstrations, a beer and wine garden, food and merchandise vendors, contests, and, of course, apple pie.

For more information, visit www.JulianCa.com (or http://visitjulian.com/to-see-do/special-events/apple-days/)

LA MESA OKTOBERFEST SEPT. 30-OCT.2

Wilkommen! You're invited to the largest Oktoberfest celebration west of the Mississippi:  La Mesa Oktoberfest from September 30^th to October 2^nd.  This community event is spread out over nearly six blocks in La Mesa Village and features hundreds of exhibitors, family friendly activities, German food, music, dancing, outfits, games and of course, beer.

(Hours:  Friday, September 30:  4 p.m.- 10 p.m.; Saturday, October 1:  10 a.m. 10 p.m.; Sunday, October 2:  10 a.m. 6 p.m.  Admission is free.)

For more information, visit http://www.thelamesaoktoberfest.com/.

GERMAN-AMERICAN CLUB OKTOBERFEST IN EL CAJON FIRST 2 WEEKENDS IN OCTOBER

The German American Club in El Cajon will host its annual Oktoberfest over two weekends:  September 30^th through October 2^nd and again October 7^th through 9^th.

This Oktoberfest features a band from Germany, authentic German food from Bavarian pastries to an ox on a spit, plus German beers, and folk dancer. Plus, you can dance to oom-pah music, polkas and waltzes and let the children enjoy a kids’ zone.

The German American Club is located at 1017 South Mollison in El Cajon.  Learn more at http://www.GermanClubSanDiego.org.

LAGUNA MOUNTAIN RENDEZVOUS SEPT. 30-OCT. 2

You’re invited to step back in time and enjoy an authentic 1800 to 1840s Rocky Mountain fur traders’ encampment at the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous from Sept.30 to Oct. 9.  Day visitors and period campers are welcome.

The rendezvous of mountain men includes demonstrations of primitive survival skills including cooking, tool making, tomahawk throwing, archery and black powder shooting.

The event will be held at the Mataguay Scout Reservation (27955 Highway 79) in Santa Ysabel. For details, you can visit http://www.lagunamountainrendezvous.com/.

OKTOVERFEST IN SANTEE OCT. 1

 Santee’s Chamber of Commerce invites you to OktOVERfest—along with a Party in the Park October 1 at Town Center Community Park West (9409 Cuyamaca St) in Santee.

OktOVERfest will kick off at 9 a.m. with East County’s first-ever Over the Line tournament. Teams of three can sign up to participate in the double-elimination style tournament, which will include both a men’s and women’s division.

Attendees can head over to party in the park from noon to 4 p.m. to cool down with some refreshments in the beer garden, get lunch from food trucks and vendors, and jam out with continuous music courtesy of DJ Eddie V. Both events are for ages 21 and over.  For details you can visit www.SanteeChamber.com/OTL.

STOCKZILLA AT SANTEE LAKES OCT. 1-2

Santee Lakes invites you to “Stockzilla” on October 1^st and 2^nd, when all seven lakes will be stocked with 3,500 pounds of catfish.  There will also be tagged fish and surprise prize giveaways.  The most stocking will be in lakes 6 and 7, which are reserved for campers.  For more information or to reserve a campsite, you can visit www.SanteeLakes.com.

MARTY STUART COUNTRY MUSIC CONCERT OCT. 7 IN DOWNTOWN EL CAJON

Marty Stuart, a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville Tennessee and a multiple Grammy awards winner, will bring his band’s blend of traditional country, honky tonk and rockabilly music to downtown El Cajon at Prescott Promenade Park on Friday, October 7^th from 5 to 8 p.m. 

Stuart is former lead guitarist for Johnny Cash, played bluegrass mandolin for Lester Flatt at age 13, and later performed with Willie Nelson and other well-known country stars before gaining fame on his own. Bring your dancing shoes to dance the night away under the stars.  For more information, you can visit www.DowntownElCajon.com. .

OPEN HOUSE AT HEARTLAND FIRE

Heartland Fire invites you to bring the kids to an open house at Fire Station 6 (100 East Lexington Ave.) in El Cajon on October 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

You can meet the firefighters, see emergency vehicles, safety & health displays and more. For more information, you can go to www.heartlandfire.org.

TAILGATE BARBECUE COMPETITION IN SPRING VALLEY OCT. 16

Fire up your barbecues and get your best recipes ready!  The 7^th annual Spring Valley Tailgate BBQ Festival is looking for participants in its annual barbecue competition.

The event is sponsored by Cali Comfort Restaurant and the Marso Walchef Youth Empowerment Organization to raise funds for youth sports.  The barbecue competition will be held on Sunday, October 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Troy Street in Spring Valley outside Cali Comfort’ restaurant.  Besides sampling barbecue, you can also visit a beer garden, shop at street vendors, enjoy live music and plenty of family fun.

For info on how to enter your amateur BBQ team call 619-490-0684 or visit http://www.CaliComfortBBQ.com.

HAUNTFEST ON MAIN OCT. 21 IN EL CAJON

The fifth annual “HauntFest on Main” will take place on Main Street in downtown El Cajon on October 21^st from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Costume Contests will be held on the Main Street stage. There will also be carnival rides, crafts, games, a car show, candy challenge, Kids Zone with outdoor movies, face painting, a pumpkin patch, inflatables, rock wall and performances by local dance groups.

In addition, this Halloween-themed event features live music on 2 stages including “Out of the Ashes” with Linda Ray from 5:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., and the “Amazing 80's All Stars” from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  For more information, you can check out www.Hauntfest.org.

That’s all for this week! You can find details on all of these events and more on our Calendar and in our Festivals and Events section online at eastcountymagazine.org. 

If you have an event you’d like added to our calendar, or if you would like to sponsor the Destination East County column on our website, or the Destination East County show on KNSJ radio, you can contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org   Destination East County is the most-read feature on our website.

We’ll be back next week with more festivals, events and attractions in San Diego’s East County.