National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior	Cabrillo National Monument
1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive
San Diego, CA  92106
(619) 557-5450 phone
(619) 222-8211 TTY
(619) 226-6311 fax	

CABRILLO News Release

Release date:		Immediate
Contact:		Karl M. Pierce, Public Information Officer, Cabrillo National Monument
Phone number:		619-523-4562
Email:			Karl_Pierce@nps.gov
Contact:		Mary Correia, President, Cabrillo Festival, Inc.
Phone number:		619-223-0056
Email:			infomaree@cox.net
Date:			September 8, 2006

43nd Annual Cabrillo Festival Brings History to Life
Friday, September 29 - Sunday, October 1

San Diego, Calif., - Cultures come together and history comes alive at the 43nd Annual Cabrillo Festival, one of the oldest cultural events in San Diego.  Cabrillo National Monument Superintendent Terry DiMattio, Cabrillo Festival, Inc. President Mary Correia and Naval Base Point Loma Commanding Officer, Capt. Mark Patton, announced today that the festival will take place from Friday, September 29 through Sunday, October 1.  This year’s festival opens with a concert by Navy Band Southwest, Kumeyaay Bird Songs and a Commemorative Ceremony and Wreath Laying on Friday, September 29, beginning at 5:30 PM at the Cabrillo Statue in Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego’s only unit of the National Park System.  This year, His Excellency Inocencio F. Arias, Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles, will give the keynote address at the Commemorative Ceremony.  The festival continues with the 16th-century Spanish Soldier’s Living History Encampment on Saturday, September 30 from 11:30 AM until 4:30 PM, also at Cabrillo NM.  The half hour National Park Service film In Search of Cabrillo is presented daily in the Cabrillo NM auditorium at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM, and the Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and the Age of Exploration exhibit is open daily from 9:00 AM until 5:15 PM at the visitor center.  Celebrating 50 years of supporting Cabrillo NM interpretive, educational and scientific programs, the Cabrillo National Monument sells literature and other Cabrillo-related items in the bookstore, also located in the visitor center.  Visitor center and bookstore hours are 9:00 AM to 5:15 PM daily.

Throughout the month of September, 2006 Cabrillo Festival Art Contest entries, including the contest winner by Breanna Rhode, will be on display in the Cabrillo NM visitor center.  The theme of the annual art contest and the festival is Where Cultures Come Together and History Comes Alive, and entries are accepted from to 4th grade students from throughout San Diego County.

Beginning Saturday night, the focus of the festival shifts from Cabrillo National Monument with the annual Cabrillo Festival Banquet and Dance, sponsored by Cabrillo Civic Club #16, at the Portuguese SES Hall, 2818 Avenida de Portugal, in Point Loma, at 6:30 PM.  Banquet and Dance tickets are $40 per person and may be purchased by calling (619) 426-0769 or (619) 221-8084.  The main event of the festival is the Open House on Sunday, October 1, from 11 AM – 3:30 PM.  This year, for the first time, the Cabrillo Festival Open House will take place at Ballast Point, believed to be the actual spot where Cabrillo landed on September 28, 1542.  Ballast Point is located on Naval Base Point Loma, at the south end of Rosecrans Street.  Admission to the Open House is Free.

The Cabrillo Festival Open House features colorful displays of dancing, storytelling and music from Mexico, Native America, Portugal and Spain.  This free event also features Mexican, Native American, Portuguese and Spanish food from 11:00 AM until 3:30 PM, Kumeyaay basketweaving, flint knapping and acorn grinding demonstrations, a living history encampment where 16th-century Spanish soldiers demonstrate the arms, armor, implements and daily life, children’s activities, and 2006 Miss Cabrillo Festival, Melanie Medina.  A highlight of the festival is the re-enactment of Cabrillo’s historic landing at Ballast Point at 1:00 PM.  Narrated by television personality Jack White, re-enactors dressed as Cabrillo and crew sail into San Diego Bay aboard San Salvador (Californian from the San Diego Maritime Museum), landing at Ballast Point and “claiming the land” for the King of Spain.  For the first time, festival attendees will be able to see the landing on Ballast Point up close.  Confirmed for the Open House are Danza Mexi’cayotl (Aztec Dance) at 11:00 AM, La Fiesta Danzantes de San Diego (Mexican Regional Dance) at 11:45 AM, local actor and historian Abel Silvas (Juaneño/Diegueño Mission Indian), presenting his engaging, often tongue-in-cheek commentary as Running Grunnion at 12:30 PM, the re-enactment of Cabrillo’s landing at Ballast Point at 1:00 PM, welcoming of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (portrayed for the 11th year by Donald Valadao), his soldiers and priest, and 2006 Miss Cabrillo Festival Melanie Medina, and introduction of special guests at 1:35 PM, the Portuguese American Dancers of San Diego (Dances from the Azores, Madeira and Portugal) at 1:45 PM, the Spanish Ballet of San Diego at 2:30 PM and a mariachi at 3:10 PM.  Throughout the day, there will be cultural demonstrations by J.B. Kingery and Eva Salazar (San José de la Zorra Reservation) (basket weaving), Pat Sena (flintknapping), Leonard Ingrande (knot-tying) and the 16th Century Spanish Soldiers Living History Encampment with National Park Service staff and Volunteers-In-Parks from Cabrillo NM.  Staff and volunteers from the Barona Cultural Center and Museum will be on hand to tell about their programs and the peoples who inhabited the San Diego area before Cabrillo’s arrival and their descendents.

Taken from the pages of history, the Cabrillo Festival brings to life the story of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese conquistador and explorer in Mexico and Central America, who spent his youth in Cuba.  Cabrillo sailed for the King of Spain in search of new lands and wealth and helped establish trade routes between Asia and the Americas, playing an important role in the beginnings of today’s global economy.  Traveling along the West Coast of Baja California, Cabrillo and his crew eventually reached what is now known as San Diego on September 28, 1542, where they were met by the native Diegueño/Kumeyaay Indians, also known as Iipay or Tipay.  Unaware of the historical significance of his voyage, Cabrillo secured his place in history and now thousands journey to Cabrillo National Monument each year to commemorate the explorer who touched so many of the cultures of present day San Diego.

Cabrillo National Monument, located on Point Loma at the south end of Catalina Boulevard, is open daily from 9:00 AM until 5:15 PM.  Public Transportation (#28 Bus) is available from the Old Town Trolley Station to both Naval Base Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument.  For additional information call 619-557-5450, extension 0 or TTY 619-222-8211, or visit our web site at http://www.nps.gov/cabr/.

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