San Diego is a melting pot of various cultures and ethnicities. From celebrating Irish heritage to staging German festivals such as Oktoberfest, San Diego offers a rich and vibrant cultural mix, all in one city.

Keeping with this tradition, San Diego is now gearing up to celebrate its rich Mexican heritage with the festival of Dia de los Muertos on October 31st  2010. Whether you belong to the Mexican community or not, you can attend this family oriented event which is a sort of a celebration of life and death. It is a wonderful tradition which brings together people of different origins to honor their loved ones. However, contrary to what the name suggests it is a festive time.

In San Diego, Dia de los Muertos is organized by the Mission San Luis Rey, a non-profit organization and National Historic Landmark, at the Mission San Luis Rey. The highlight of the festival is the ofrendas. Ofrendas are the altars which are decorated with thousands of orange Mexican marigolds, not larger than 12 square inches. Kids who come up with the best looking mini ofrendas are given interesting gifts.

Apart from this, the festival offers mouth-watering food, dance, music, a symbolic procession, free chalk cemetery decorated with flowers and candles and also an activity area for children.

Dia de los Muertos is an opportunity for musicians, dancers and artists to showcase their talent whereas it is an equally great opportunity for visitors to witness rich Latino culture.  Both Dia de los Muertos and Halloween will be taking place around the same time. Therefore get your kids dressed in their best Halloween costumes of skeletons, spirits for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. This family friendly festival is free and will begin at 10am and continue till 4pm.

If you are on a vacation to San Diego for Halloween, make sure to add this event too in your itinerary. Considering it is a festive time, a large number of hotels in San Diego are offering great San Diego vacation deals and packages to attract tourists.

Located in Clairemont Mesa Blvd, California Suites Hotel is offering awesome discounts to visitors. Known for good ambiance and hospitality, the hotel provides impeccable services to the guests. Some of the amenities include an extended complimentary breakfast, Internet facility, voice mail service, spa tub, safe deposit box and more. Besides, the hotel is centrally located from where Mission San Luis Rey is a short distance away. You can go through the website to know various other facilities available as well as the discounts offered.

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Halloween is just round the corner and it is time to start preparing for the Halloween costumes, parties, and events.  When it comes to events and festivities, the mesmerizing city of San Diego hosts some really great Halloween events. One such event is the Halloween Family day at Balboa Park.

Wondering what you can see at Balboa Park during Halloween? It’s a feast of entertainment and fun with spine-tingling tours, variety of spooky activities, scary storytelling, Halloween scavenger hunt, creepy crafts and lots more at the largest urban cultural park. The best part is of course the free entry to the museums. On 31st October, more than a dozen museums will throw open the doors for kids of 17 years and under.

Adults too have plenty of exciting things lined up for them. They will get discounts on their  Halloween passes. On buying a Stay-for-the-Day Pass, you can gain entry into any of the five museums for a nominal $35.

You can dress up your kids in colorful Halloween costumes and make them participate in the kiddie costume parade at the Natural History Museum. A kiddie costume parade will also be held at the Natural History Museum. Kids with best wildlife costume will win exciting gifts.

Fond of face painting? Then head to the San Diego History Center where you can learn a few tricks of face painting as well as hat making. Did you check out various rail models the last time you visited the San Diego Model Railroad Museum? This Halloween, you can build and  decorate your own glow-in-the-dark steam engine.

How about decorating sugar skulls or skull masks? For this you will have to visit the San Diego Museum of Man where you can also build miniature altars.Interestingly, a doggie costume show will also be held at the Spanish Village Art Center. The winners will receive doggie treats as prizes. Apart from the doggie costume show, there will also be trick-or-treat bag decoration, steam-powered giraffe performance and various free art activities.

If you happen to be on a vacation to San Diego around Halloween, make it a point to take your kids to Balboa Park. Since a large number of tourists will be arriving in San Diego during this festive season, make sure to book your rooms in a good San Diego lodging in advance.

California Suites Hotel is one of the budget hotels in San Diego which has been known for impeccable services and hospitality. During this festive season, the hotel is also providing awesome discounts and San Diego vacation packages to the visitors.

Halloween Family day at Balboa Park is a whole lot of fun for both kids as well as adults. Make sure to attend it!

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