Your land- and sea-based guide to Labor Day

Labor Day weekend is here, which means it's time for... pretty much anything except labor. Unless you're about to have a baby, in which case, congratulations! But if you AREN'T about to become a parent, here's a rundown of how to spend the long weekend, whether you fancy your activity out on the water, or land-based, in case you need a... water break

For the land lovers Prepare to have your mind blown at the US Sandcastle Building Competition all weekend. 300 tons of sand is being dumped downtown, and 10 professional world masters will sculpt those tiny grains into giant 3D masterpieces that you never imagined possible. There will be live music, food trucks, some sort of bungie ride, and a zip line...
The racing season at the
Del Mar Racetrack may be winding down for the year, but not before they host their final beer event with not just one, but two brew festivals on Saturday; Del Mar Beer Fest, with over 100 craft brews to sample, and the festival within the festival, Hops Fest, featuring over 40 of the hoppiest beers on the planet for all of you hop-heads. See which breweries are bringing the hops...
The track is also finishing off their Summer concert series Saturday with Reggae Fest. The party gets started during the Del Mar Beer Fest with DJs and the band One Drop. After the last race, The Expanders will take the main stage, and because no Reggae Fest would be complete without a Marley, ending the festival is a performance by Ziggy Marley.
Get tickets to the last show of the season...
Kicking off the SDSU football season and keeping with a long-running SD tradition is the KGB Sky Show XXXVIII at
Qualcomm Stadium. Synchronized to a playlist of songs spanning four decades of music, this is the largest firework show in San Diego. It all gets started immediately after the Aztecs' season opener against Eastern Illinois Saturday night. Check out the playlist...
Join The Local for Sing, Dance, Crawl, one of the most epic downtown bar crawls of the year. It all starts at House of Blues with a performance by Wayward Sons and continues to several downtown venues with more music and amazing drink specials at every stop.
See where you'll be singing, dancing, and crawling to...
For those with their sea legs Head down to the San Diego Bay all weekend long for the Festival of Sail. Everything starts on Thursday with the Tall Ship Parade leading all the visiting boats into SD Bay to dock at the Maritime Museum. There's stuff to do on and off the water all weekend long: help sail an America's Cup racing yacht, watch a cannonball battle reenactment from aboard a tall ship to learn about the maneuvers of combat at sea, take a cruise on one of the mid-day or twilight sails, or stay on land to check out the vendors, food, and live music while also kicking back in the beer garden.
Come aboard...
Ok, so its not exactly the ocean, but drinking all day near a pool still counts as a water-based activity, right? On Sunday, party with 500 of your closest friends at Fortune 421's final pool party of the Summer on the rooftop at the
Andaz Hotel. There will be a lineup of DJs providing the tunes, including headliner Solidisco, and a Fortune 421 pop-up shop. Hop on the party bus at Thrusters in PB to catch a ride downtown, and be sure to stop by the afterparty at Sidebar. Summer is almost over! Hurry, get your tickets here...
Spend your Sunday funday on the Pier Pressure Cruise and party aboard a $15mil luxury yacht with three levels, two DJs, fully stocked bars, and a strict dress code of board shorts and bikinis.
Party like a rock star...
Before you hit up that beach BBQ on Monday, get your swim on at the 84th Annual Oceanside Pier Swim. Register by today to get in on this mile-long race to help raise money for the Oceanside Swim Club.
Register here...