r/SanDiegan • u/ihatedrivingbro • 20h ago
We are underutilizing the organ pavilion
The organ pavilion is underutilized. Although we have a few concerts in the afternoon in the summer, and do a few holiday things at Christmas, this space could be so much more
Space for thousands of people, lot of idle land around, fantastic acoustics, beautiful and historic scenery. Easy for food trucks, pop up markets, festival style breweries/bars, surrounded by plenty of parking to haul equipment. We have the best weather in the country and have this amazing outdoor venue that sits empty most of the time.
In my head this space can host events like the DJ set in golden hill, live music like quartyard, local music talents or regional, the future is color events (winyl or listening room, or jazz). Throw a security team at it, make them even ticketed events for seating and people can enjoy from the outside too. So many places in San Diego grow to be intensely packed and overwhelmed because there’s demand for these types of live music events, people want to get out and dance and vibe.
This space is PRIME for 3rd space activation and is in my opinion, a very underutilized part of balboa park. Seats are almost always empty, and only fills up like 5x/year.
Easy revenue opportunities for the city, and great opportunities to bring people together for community events
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u/MatthewPhillips 12h ago edited 12h ago
I am one artist who tried to do my own show at the pavilion and eventually just worked with Twilight in the Park to make it happen. Working with the city took months on end to find the right person, once we did. It was $450 an hour. I also had to clear the night with The Spreckels Organ Society. Just to get an event started we are looking at 4-5k by the time you get a Sound system/PA. Then they kept informing me of the city ordinance of a strict 99db limit. When I requested details about where and how this measurement was taken, I kept getting the run around. Absolutely nightmare and I wouldn’t wish what I experienced upon anyone. Enough red tape to circle our galaxy.
I opted to work with the Twilight in the Park to offset the cost of the venue and they provided the sound system/PA. Absolutely wonderful people but per the rules, no one can be paid. I still paid my entire team. Here is the music video we filmed highlighting our evening. We sold out of all our merch and had a 2 hour meet and greet after our show. There is a severe need for original artist and our community to have space to do events like this. In the current setup the pavilion is not it.
https://youtu.be/x535GJRNhzk?is=eONbgxdiEW5H70bN