Adams Avenue Street Fair is a good time for performers, too

It’s back: The annual Adams Avenue Street Fair is now in its 43rd year.

The outdoor music festival along Adams in Normal Heights has become an event highly anticipated by locals.

But it’s not just the people in front of the stages having all the fun – those onstage can and do sometimes enjoy the event just as much.

Various musicians who have played the event over the years said they they have profoundly appreciated the experience.

Among them is Mariela Contreras, a vocalist with Sabrosas Latin Orchestra, a San Diego-based all-female salsa band that played the street fair for the first time a few years ago and is back this year.

“As a performer, it was awesome (to perform at the street fair), because there’s so many local musicians that play and it’s so cool to overlap and get to listen and get to see fellow musicians that are playing before or after you,” said Contreras.

Sabrosas, a high-energy, good vibes, multicultural band is scheduled to perform from 8:45-10 p.m. Saturday on the Groove Stage in the Starbucks parking lot located at the corner of Felton Street and Adams Avenue.

“Part of the reason why we came back is because it’s been very organized, it’s been very smooth,” Contreras added. “It’s been an awesome opportunity to invite our families and our friends to come see us.”

Another scheduled performer, rocker Jonny Wagon, has performed at the street fair numerous times, including as a headlining act.

But one particular year’s event holds the best memories for him.

“The year that my mom got to come out from Tennessee (in 2022),” he said. “She passed away this year.”

Wagon said the 2022 show was so special because his mother didn’t often have a chance to see her son play in person due to living on the other side of the country.

“She missed a lot of the performances over the years,” he said.

“She got to watch videos and stuff like that, but that particular time when I was playing, we had a really good set in the late afternoon and it was a good crowd, and having my mother there was very memorable for me, because that was her last show, to see us.”

The Jonny Wagon Trio is scheduled to perform an hour-long set on the Roots Rock Stage at 12:15 p.m. Sunday.

Wagon’s wife and fellow performer, outlaw country artist Sara Petite, said she enjoys the street fair because it’s a chance to catch up with people she knows in the local music scene.

“Just going and seeing all your friends and running into everybody, it’s kind of like a homecoming ‘cause everybody’s playing, everybody’s going,” she said.

Petite, who performs on the Roots Rock Stage at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, said that one of her best memories of the street fair when her stepdaughter Riadon performed a song with her one year.

“That’s one of the fun memories,” she said.

In addition to bands and musicians, the event has multitudes of other attractions to keep attendees entertained, including about 340 exhibitors and vendors.

“Everything from jewelry to original artwork to homemade crafts to business promotion, there’s hundreds of different vendors,” Scott Kessler, executive director of the Adams Avenue Business District and one of the street fair’s main organizers, said.

“There’s everything from sunglasses to hats to bags, purses, jewelry, dresses, clothing, I mean, anything that you can imagine you can buy is offered at the Adams Avenue Street Fair without exception.”

New to the event this year, he said, is the addition of live comedy.

“We have free comedy shows both days at the Adams Avenue Theater. There’s a couple of shows a day,” he said. “There’s an all-ages show and then an adult show each day.”

Steve Kader, who books most of the bands for the street fair each year, said that for this year’s event, 75-plus bands are expected to perform over the course of the two days; of those, at least a third are local acts that are performing at the event for the first time.

“We’re all about local here and supporting local music,” Kader said. “It’s all about the community in San Diego.”

“Come down early and support the merchants, support the vendors, walk around, see all kinds of diverse music, bring your family – it’s always family-friendly,” he added. “Bring your walking shoes and enjoy the event.”

2025 Adams Avenue Street Fair

What: A two-day music and arts festival.
When: 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Along Adams Avenue, between 32nd Street and 36th Street in San Diego’s Normal Heights neighborhood.
Cost: Free.