Mission Federal ArtWalk

Holy carnival… it’s like East County threw up. But before it puked, it ate strollers and dogs. And dogs in strollers too.
This is one of the few weekends that I use my frequent flyer miles, or I pray it’s typical San Diego weather and I just lay by our pool and sun bathe. Overall It’s just an amateur event, honestly it wasn’t always so gross. The weird people have changed that. Just a note, I love kids, children are great… art is nice. But this just doesn’t work, it’s just too much.
Look, if you are into mass produced sausage, shitty people, dumb scarfs for sale, Del mar fair style food, a drinking cage where you can be punished by sitting in a caged off area while you sip your alcoholic beverage, then this «art walk» is for you, they should rename it dog-​crawl.
It’s always funny to see people casually smoking a joint as they walk by the cop-​guard and «alcohol cage of shame» and you think to yourself walt? I’m in here and my beverage is 100% legal. But that guy is «breaking the law» and free to do so. It’s funny but sad all at the same time. We have to fix this problem. It’s like alcohol is only legal to buy and drink in your house.
You like doggies? You like leashes and poop bags? You like doggies fighting and snarling? What about little pooches in strollers, yes fucking dog strollers, let’s not forget that these same weird-​ass people dress their dogs up too, because everyone knows that’s super important. Why is this normal? Why is every event a dog-​show now?
You like nut-​to-​butt people? No space to move, mediocrity and people that «haven’t been to Little Italy in years» then this deal is all yours.
You know the slime has rolled into your neighborhood when a local bar posts signs that read «no we don’t have coors light, no you can’t use our bathrooms, no we don’t serve ketchup; we love you»
Swerve and miss this, I promise you it won’t hurt.

Are you looking for something fun to do? Do you want to exercise? If you answered yes to either one of those questions, you should visit the Mission Federal ArtWalk. No only is this fair a super fun way to look at local artists’ work but it is so big that you’ll get endless amount of walking and get your exercise in for the day.
I really like that they spread out everything across Little Italy. There are food booths in every other block and many stages where you can enjoy entertainment. I really love seeing all the local artists and their work– it’s so cool to see what people do with their creativity. If you’re looking for an art piece (painting, media work, sculpture, etc.) for your home, then you’re at the right place!
Parking in Little Italy is a pain but if you come on a Sunday, the meters are free.
Support your local artists! Come to the Mission Federal ArtWalk.

I like Little Italy. I like festivals. I like ArtWalk.
I think Mission Federal ArtWalk is an annual event. Can’t believe I missed out in the past few years, glad I finally made it this time. It’s basically a huuuuuuuge art festival with many local artists showcasing their hard work, and each of them has their own little tent. Majority of the art was actually paintings and I am not an artsy person but some of them were really really cool.
Food? Yeah they do have some food venders (just like those you see at the farmer’s markets) but I didn’t find any of them appealing so we ended up going to Monello for a big lunch, it was a good choice by the way.
I had a great time. Food, strolling, art, music, some sunshine, and people watching. I think everybody should check out the event even if he/​she is not into art!

Great festival, lots of nice art to look at and purchase if you are so inclined. This event makes for a nice day out in Little Italy. Plenty of bars and eateries in the area.

Eh– I walk this every year– but this year I felt like everything looked the same — the photo booths needed something out of the ordinary.
The performers have an amazing platform to display their talents and every Artist is talented
I will continue to come year after year but I see enough of the same artist at all the local shows

The KidsWalk (area for kids as part of the ArtWalk) wasn’t really worth coming downtown for — at least in 2014. It was just a few kiosks set up in a grass area by this run down playground. My daughter was bored the second we got there. The ArtWalk itself — well you better like art! There’s lots of it. Food stands, some live bands, but not much else. Just lots of people selling their art work, jewelry, etc.
Another bummer — we couldn’t get into the beer garden with a child.
Not too crowded. Nice to get out. But I wouldn’t go again unless they had something really cool for the kiddos.

Finally, a street fair in San Diego that isn’t just a bunch of vendors trying to get me to upgrade my cable package, or guess the number of wine corks in a jar to win a «free» vacation. There were actual artist here, rows and rows of really talented artists. My wife and I spent several hours here just browsing the art, and watching the people. Granted there are a few of your typical fair vendors (I’m looking at you wine cork guy), but the vast majority are artists. There were also several vendors giving out food samples (yogurt, ice cream, granola, juice), which was welcomed to help get through all the walking.
If you can take public transportation, do it. You can park at the Old Town Station and take the trolley down. My wife and I parked almost a mile away, just to avoid the traffic in the heart of Little Italy.

Fantastic event! This was my first year, and I won’t ever miss it again! One of my friends was exhibiting her modern paintings. Check out her latest work at
and her blog at
Weather was fantastic this year! Sunny and cool Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day! Parking was miserable though, both days. I got lucky the first day and got a great curb spot right off Beech! But the second day I got so disgusted I gave up and drove all the way back to park at Fashion Valley and caught the trolley in. Next time, I’ll just stick with the trolley and not waste my time! There were so many more exhibitors than I could have dreamed of. I’ve been to the Liberty Station ArtWalk and this one was much better! There were far more artists and more variety of paintings, prints, multimedia, sculpture, pottery, and photography.
And the very location guarantees you easy access to incredible Italian restaurants for quality meals, in addition to the standard cheap fair vendors. Honestly, I almost didn’t need to eat because of all the free giveaways! I had 2 different kinds of yogurt handed to me and Jamba juice was giving out free samples. Cascadian Farms handed me 2 bags of granola, and it seemed like every promo booth had candy. I bought some extra-​large and bargain French macarons — my favorite sweet! at the Westgate Hotel booth. They were also passing out free libations! J.R. Organics was selling fresh fruit with oodles of scrumptious strawberries to taste. As for inedible goodies, I scored a cooler bag, another shopping bag, and a pedometer!
Entertainment was excellent — a youth group performed amazing hip-​hop routines that had the entire festival jumping to their music. Then there was a traditional Korean women’s dance performance. I had to quit at the modern dance though, young girls in spandex stretching and spinning to ethereal music just lost me. The kids area looked great, but I wanted to actually appreciate the art, so I left them at home.

This was my first time at this event. Of course, the typical San Diego weather showed up and made for a beautiful weekend! What a great display from ALL the creative artists! One of my favorites was the artwork made of all wire. That takes a lot of imagination and patience. My husband and I was able to enjoy a really scrumptious ½ pound lobster from Maine… YUMMY! Great event, can’t wait to come back next year!

As visitors to the city, my Mom and I definitely planned to make Little Italy one of our destinations — but we weren’t expecting to be there for this wonderful Art Walk. One of our Über drivers told us about it. It was really wonderful to see all of the talented artists, musicians and this really neat neighborhood in the middle of the city. We walked along the booths and checked them all out, and when we were done, we popped in to Buon Appetito for lunch. Can’t get much better than that!

This is one of my favorite festivals in San Diego and I look forward to it every year. There’s just so much to see between the art, live music, dance stage, and the people watching. In fact, I might enjoy the people watching the most! There is so much diversity in the crowd (relative to other events and places in SD) and it is really beautiful to see.

Loaded up the car with my pals and pups on Saturday around 4 and headed down to ArtWalk. We miraculously found parking in Little Italy (I tried going back Sunday around 11 and there was no free parking to be found).
This event was a lot bigger than I expected. India was closed down, as well as about 6 other streets that run perpendicular to India. Lots of artists with a lot of different mediums.
Food vendors sprinkled in here and there (as well as free samples galore). My friends described this event as «Costco with art» due to all the free samples coming our way.
There were a good amount of people walking around but it didn’t feel too crowded (perhaps because we went toward the end of the day). I’d definitely recommend going Saturday around 4 next year.
See ya there next year.

One of my favorite events in San Diego! What can be better than art, food and the beautiful view that you get from the streets of Little Italy and the San Diego bay. There are so many types of art on display. They have paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry. There’s live music and the typical festival food such as; kettle corn, sausages, shaved ice etc. The nice thing about it being in Little Italy is you can explore the many restaurants.
My daughters favorite is of course the children’s art walk area where she can be creative. This year there weren’t as many booths as in previous years but in talking to some of the people at the booths they said weather was a factor since it sprinkled a bit Saturday.
If you haven’t been to this festival you are really missing out!

So Much Fun! Lots of Great Artists! Today I bought something for my Grandma for Mothers Day :) Also Got some Lobster Bisque, From a Main Lobster place that’s only at street fairs! Amazing on this cool day. Loved walking around checking out all the art & lots of live music. Love the pottery and jewelry. Do Wish I was able to take more pictures, but most of the Artist Do Not like this so, I just walked around and Enjoyed the moment! I have been several times and will be back! This was their 30^th Year!

I went to the artwalk yesterday for a couple of hours and it was great — the vendors were pleasant, there were plenty of food options (and restaurants if you weren’t feeling any of the street food), people and dogs everywhere, live music, and the artwork was cool to look at even if, like me, you didn’t purchase anything.
The event was well organized. When crossing the street, the officers directing traffic did a great job of getting people from one block to another while also allowing cars to pass through. The streets were clean (not something I overlook since I’ve been to fairs and neighborhood events where it gets messy very quickly), there were several seating areas, and the booths themselves were nice and orderly.
The art ranged from glass work to pottery to paintings to jewelry and covered pretty much all genres. It seems there was something to please every individual. There were a couple of artists painting in front of their booths which was cool to watch.

I’m all about organization — not into anything that resembles the chaos of Woodstock. Organizers have nailed it on this art fair. Booths are extremely organized, streets are open — total ease for young families to navigate baby strollers & cops are friendly.
Did I mention the clean port a pottys???
There is tons of photography and handblown glass. My only desire for next year would be to see more artists under the age of 50 with their own booths — I love that all the artists were professional, it just would have been fun to see some straight-​out-​of-​art school kids showing their wares.
Big thumbs up to the organizers — I was amazed at how great the crowd control was — great local vibe & lots of friendly people.

If you’re a fan of Art of all kinds then this is a yearly event for you.
This was my 3^rd year of going to Artwalk and it seems like it gets bigger every year. It’s basically exactly what the name implies. There are hundreds of artist in all types of mediums from Paintings, sculptures, furniture, jewelry, and etc. You could spend hours walking around meeting local and up and coming artist. Prices range from $-$$$.
On top of all that art goodness you get to spend the day in little italy enjoying all the sites and sounds they have to offer.
There’s plenty of restaurants and food stands to keep you fueled up.
It does get a little crowded but it’s not that bad. And you can bring your dog too!
It’s a great experience and I recommend it for any art lovers.

I’m not much of an art snob. In fact, I don’t know jack about art. What do I know, though, is that the Mission Federal Artwalk in Little Italy is probably one of my favorite events around.
It has so much to offer…
Art!
Live music!
Kettle corn!
More art!
Sculptures!
Paintings!
Barbeque!
Art!
Free sample of protein bars!
The world’s longest couch by BoConcept!
A little more art!
Bad art.
Great art!
So-​so art.
Banjos!
Burritos!
Iced chai lattes!
3D art!
Line drawings!
Watercolors!
Kiddie art!
I repeat — barbeque!!!
(Did I mention the barbeque?)
Sunburns.
Lots of sunburns.
I mean, with all that, how could you *not* want to go?
’nuff said. :-)
(p.s. Parking in Little Italy is a mess when this is going on. Leave your car in Banker’s Hill and make that 10-​min walk. That’s what I did, and I don’t regret it.)

I love this event! I’m not a fan of the fact that this event is suddenly named after some financial institution, but that seems to happen with everything.
This festival has grown so much… I remember going in years past and, though it was still fun, there is a lot more going on. The best part is the vast variety of art. The streets of Little Italy are lined with tents filled with artwork on both sides of the streets. I’m the type who can spend hours browsing at just a few tents if I really like the artwork, but there is so much else to do at this event. Most of the nearby shops have booths set up, there were bands playing on many of the corners and there was even the regularly scheduled Saturday Farmer’s market. There is also a huge kids art area… probably great for families.
We took the trolley in from Mission Valley so parking wasn’t an issue. Then we shopped for art for our home, as well as for gifts. We stopped at a small bar for a couple of vintage cocktails along the way. I also bought earrings and lots of postcards. We went to see Todo Mundo, a local band that we often go see, who happened to be playing at the festival. Then we went to one of the many Italian restaurants along the way for wine and snacks. This event is great because it gives you the opportunity to spend as much or as little as you want… entry, browsing and listening to the bands are all free!

If you have kids this is a GREAT FREE event @ Amici Park! The cirque performers from Sophia’s School were very talented and everyone in the audience loved them. They did three shows … for a free event, you can share a cirque de sole type of performance with your toddlers. They had several preschools and art programs offering free painting and «crafts» for the kids. This part of Art Walk we love.
As for the art … agree with another reviewer; ho-​hum this year.
As for the food; I commend what the association was trying to achieve by getting people to eat at the restaurants, but PLEASE so many people come to Little Italy with two or three little ones and waiting 30 – 60 mins for a table DOESN“T work! There were only three or four food booths in the 9 blocks we walked with the kids so we ended up having to wait in line at the only place that had a sandwich booth for 20 mins and spent $ 20 on two sandwiches. THIS CHANGE WE DIDN“T LIKE. Please bring back some real options for parents with little ones. Maybe you could have one or two food vendors near Amici Park with things suitable for kids.
We’ll for sure go again to Amici Park for this events. But the rest may not get us back. The music sets were TOO loud on the small streets, even is we stood on the other side of the streets. Music is nice but you should be able to hear your partner, hubby, whatever, if he is talking right into your ear.