Gator By The Bay Festival

 – presented at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, California

6:00 to 10:00 pm – May 8 | 3:30 to 10:30 pm – May 9 | 10:30 am to 8:30 pm – May 10 | 10:30 am to 7:30 pm – May 11, 2024

The Gator By The Bay Festival at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, California is one of our favorite Fun Go Do & See Festivals with Fun Events planned for the whole Family.  And, this is just One of the reasons Gator By The Bay Festival is so special, every member of the family will enjoy a fun day full of scheduled family activities. This year a special activity area is designated for the kids that features a Mardi Gras parade that the kids can interactive with and  join in to make the event a fun and interactive experience for the everyone.   For countless families, the Gator By the Bay Festival has become a Mother’s Day Weekend tradition and many families surprise Mama and Grand Mama with festival tickets for their Mother’s Day present.

If you think that the Gator By the Bay Festival is only about music and dancing, you’re missing out on one of the tastiest facets of the festival.  Gator By the Bay is also about fantastic food—and in particular the signature cuisine of Louisiana. In Louisiana, the word “lagniappe” connotes “a little something extra”, a small gift included with a purchase, or an added bonus.  At Gator By the Bay, we heartily embrace the lagniappe concept, and include lots of extra goodies in your enjoyment of the festival.  In addition to all the great music you’ll hear on our 5 stages, here are some “extras” that you don’t want to miss —all included in your ticket price !

 Music Jam / Lesson  Friday 5pm, Saturday at 11:30am and Sunday at 10:45am. Behind the Festival Stage.  Musicians: Bring your instruments! New to this year’s Gator By The Bay is the music jam area where anyone with an instrument can join in a music jam session or lesson. It’s open to all levels of musicians from beginners to experienced. We envision a small group of players sitting in a circle with one person leading the Cajun or Zydeco tune and the others joining in. Next, another person will lead, and so on.

The Jam Area will be consist of several hay bales set up south east of the Festival Stage.  Bring your rubboard, guitar, accordion or other musical instruments that .anyone who would like to learn a little breakdown of any of the tunes played can ask and we take some time to break down the basics.
Questions: Email

The Bayou Grove Stage  Here, local and visiting musicians will give workshops, tell stories, talk about and demonstrate their music, instruments and craft.

 Taste of Louisiana Food Demo Tent   On Saturday and Sunday, learn how to cook traditional Louisiana delicacies, and sample the results.

Dance Lessons Want to learn a new dance, or perfect your technique, or maybe have never danced in your life, and looking at all the fun everyone is having, think it’s about high time you learned? Well then, you’re in luck because there is a full schedule of FREE dance lessons all throughout the festival. At both the Festival Stage and Mardi Gras Stage, Cajun, Zydeco, and Salsa lessons will be given throughout the day at various times between sets.  At the Bon Temps Social Club Pavilion, classes are given all day long, in everything from Zydeco to Zumba and salsa to Charleston.  See the full schedule here.

Free Shuttles and Bicycle Valet There are lots of parking options with free shuttle service operating to/from various lots and areas.  Or, ride your bike and park it securely for free!  All the options, here.

So much more than just a music festival, Gator By the Bay is loaded with lagniappe!  Come get yours!