Families all over San Diego had the chance to gather with their different communities Saturday night, some for the first time, in a long time. NBC 7’s Jackie Crea reports.
People all over San Diego chose from several holiday celebrations Saturday night.
The tradition picked up again in La Mesa at the “Holiday in the Villlage” event, Saturday.
Between the live music, craft vendors, food and kid activities there were plenty of options for the entire family. Part of La Mesa Blvd. was closed off for the event and many of the shops and restaurants were open too.
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Jessica McCullough and Lexi Clemens, both La Mesa residents, were with their families together.
“It’s so busy. It just feels like, [I] would say, normal times, yeah it feels good. Feels great,” said McCullough, who just recently moved to the area.
Clemens looks forward to the event every year.
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“We live in the neighborhood, and so this is one of our traditions every year we come down. We love the La Mesa community. It’s fun to see all our neighbors out,” said Clemens.
It’s the first time for many to gather with their community, like Rocio and Bryan Hermosillo and their children.
“We were happy, excited because we usually do the Chula Vista one. But they stopped because of Covid. Now this will be the new one I guess,” said Rocio.
At Balboa Park, a “Taste of December Nights” was in full swing. It was meant to expand on the drive-thru edition celebrated last year. But, the park was packed with people checking out the normal vendors and street performers.
Sisters Dalia and Sofia Garcia drove in from North County to walk their dog and weren’t expecting any event.
“Definitely weird to see lots of people but also, we both go to school in person already so," said Dalia. We were like pleasantly surprised by all the vendors and the food, so it was like impromptu.”
No matter what event you went to Saturday night, there was plenty of cheer to go around.
"Just a Christmas feeling. Family’s all together. That’s kinda what we want to bring them up with,” said Bryan Hermosillo.
It was a chance to make up for last year's pause on traditional family gatherings and celebrations.
“Nice to meet everybody else from the neighborhood. And they put on such a great job here today. It’s been really really fun for everybody. It’s beautiful,” said McCullough.
