thank you to all who attended VALLEY ARTS FESTIVAL 2024!
sATURDAY, nOVEMBER 16, 2024
11:00AM-4:00PM
HERITAGE PARK
220 Peyri Dr.
Oceanside, CA 92058
Studio ACE proudly presented the fourth annual Valley Arts Festival (VAF) on Saturday, November 16, 2024, at Heritage Park in Oceanside. The 2024 festival was made possible thanks to a grant from The Prebys Foundation, with title sponsorship provided by Visit Oceanside. VAF is an annual event held in partnership with Studio ACE, Oceanside Public Library, Friends of the Oceanside Public Library, Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation, Floating Hearts Connections, 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 VAF 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 people 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 fourth 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.
2024 was another great success!
The 2024 free family-friendly festival, themed “Spirit Of The Valley: Kíicha Nights, Coyote Dreams©”, expanded upon the success of the last three years, and featured even more activities and vendors. It opened and closed with traditional drumming by Dancing Cloud Drumming Circle with featured dancer Raegan Olvera and showcased Native American flute music by Spiritual Storm and Faustino Fredericks. VAF also showcased youth dancers from Dancers-By-The-Sea accompanied by Red Warrior Drum Circle.
A new element introduced in 2024 was an enhanced educational area which included a three-quarter size Kíicha, the traditional home of the Luiseño people (a dome-shaped structure made of tule reeds and/or willow branches). The educational area also included a traditional Luiseño basket weaving demo by San Luis Rey member Mark Farris, tables of historic cultural items, and educational posters and models.
Sponsorship Opportunities are available for VAF. Please contact julia@studioace.org for more information!
VAF hosted a variety of interactive and participatory family-friendly activities, including interactive basket weaving with the Paa'ila Basket Weavers led by Diania Caudell, a 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 live Native American storytelling by Mel Vernon and Native American books and crafts with Oceanside Public Library, gourd painting with Mission San Luis Rey, rock painting and jewelry making with Studio ACE, and interactive community murals for youth and adults with Muramid Art & Cultural Center. In addition to music, activities, and art making, VAF featured a selection of goods for sale by Native American artists and vendors, including flutes, drums, artwork, clothing, jewelry, and delicious Indian Fry Bread.
Please note no weapons or alcohol are allowed at Valley Arts Festival, and the selling of sage is prohibited. Service dogs only please.
We can’t wait to see you at the 5th annual valley arts festival in 2025!
check back soon to save the date!
VAF 2024 waS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY PREBYS FOUNDATION!
Thank you to our 2024 FESTIVAL TITLE Sponsor!
Thank you to our 2024 FESTIVAL community Sponsors!
Thank you to our Festival Community Partners!
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.
