sATURDAY, nOVEMBER 16, 2024

11:00AM-4:00PM

AT HERITAGE PARK IN OCEANSIDE, ca

Studio ACE is pleased to announce that the fourth annual VAF is in the works! Save the date for the upcoming festival, Spirit of the Valley: Kíicha Nights, Coyote Dreams©, which will be held on Saturday, November 16, 2024. VAF is once again made possible in part by Prebys Foundation, with Title Sponsorship by Visit Oceanside, and it will be organized in partnership with Studio ACE, Oceanside Public Library, Friends of the Oceanside Public Library, Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation, Floating Hearts, Muramid Art & Cultural Center (and California HQ for the UNESCO Center for Peace), and Mission San Luis Rey, and in cooperation with Mel Vernon, Captain, San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians.

What is valley arts festival?

The purpose of the festival is to present a celebration of Oceanside and its first peoples, today known as the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, one of the seven tribes of the Luiseño nation. The Luiseño are an indigenous people of California who inhabited the coastal area of Southern California; in the Luiseño language, the people call themselves Payómkawichum, meaning People of the West. Now in its third year, VAF aims to help support and celebrate the indigenous population that lived on the land now known as Oceanside for over 10,000 years, and to educate the community on the beauty and the strength of this amazing culture. A portion of proceeds from the festival will be donated to the San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation for enrichment programs.

the 2023 festival was a great success!

The 2023 free family-friendly festival, themed “Spirit Of The Valley: Circle Of Life”, expanded upon the success of the first two years, and featured even more activities, including traditional drumming by Dancing Cloud Drumming Circle, Native American flute music with Spiritual Storm and Faustino Fredericks, Native American blues music with Tracy Lee Nelson, and an enhanced educational area filled with tables of historic cultural items, educational posters, and models. Festival attendees also enjoyed a variety of interactive and participatory family-friendly activities, including interactive basket weaving with the Paa'ila Basket Weavers led by Diania Caudell, a Luiseño member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians and Board Member of the California Indian Basket Weavers Association (CIBA), a storytelling area featuring Native American books and crafts with Oceanside Public Library and live Native American storytelling by Mel Vernon and Linda Kallas, gourd painting with Mission San Luis Rey, medicine wheel and jewelry making with Studio ACE, a feather art project with Pablo Tac Elementary School, mural painting with Muramid Art & Cultural Center, and scavenger hunts with prizes for the kids! In addition to music, activities, and art making, VAF also featured a selection of goods for sale by Native American artists and vendors, including flutes, drums, artwork, dresses, jewelry, and delicious Indian Fry Bread.

Thank you to all who attended Valley Arts Festival in 2023!

We can’t wait to see you for the fourth annual event on November 16, 2024— more details are coming soon!

Festival History

Valley Arts Festival originally debuted in 2019 as “Mission District Arts Festival” and was envisioned to be an annual celebration of the vibrant arts & culture in the Oceanside valley, with a rotating theme each year. Like so many other community events, the festival was put on hold in 2020, but this allowed time for reflection and reinvention, and the festival made its official reemergence in 2021 as “Valley Arts Festival”, with the inaugural theme being a celebration of Oceanside and its first peoples, the Payómkawichum (People of the West). The seven tribes are known today as the Luiseño nation, and VAF specifically highlights one of the seven tribes, the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians. After the success of the event in 2021, the decision was made to continue Valley Arts Festival as an annual celebration of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians and the Luiseño history and culture, aiming to help support and celebrate the indigenous population that lived on the land now known as Oceanside, and educate the community on the beauty and strength of this amazing culture. A portion of proceeds from the festival each year will be donated to the San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation for enrichment programs.

VAF 2024 IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY PREBYS FOUNDATION!

Thank you to our 2024 FESTIVAL TITLE Sponsor!

Thank you to our Festival Community Partners!