Studio ACE is proud to present the second annual Valley Arts Festival (VAF), supported by a grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation, and with promotional sponsorship provided by Visit Oceanside. VAF will take place in partnership with Oceanside Public Library, Friends of the Oceanside Public Library, Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation, 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.

Valley Arts Festival is pleased to present a celebration of Oceanside and its first peoples, the Payómkawichum (People of the West). Today their seven tribes are known as the Luiseño nation. The festival aims 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 will be donated to the San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation for enrichment programs. 

This year’s free family-friendly festival, themed “Spirit of the Valley”, expands upon the success of its inaugural year in 2021, and will feature even more activities and vendors from the Luiseño tribe. It will again showcase Native American flute music with Spiritual Storm, Native American blues music with Tracy Lee Nelson, Indian Fry Bread for purchase, and educational tables filled with historic cultural items. There will also be a variety of interactive and participatory family-friendly activities, including interactive community murals for youth and adults sponsored by Muramid Art & Cultural Center, interactive basket weaving with Diania Caudell, a Luiseño 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 Native American books and crafts with Oceanside Public Library and live Native American storytelling with Cathleen Chilcote Wallce, gourd painting with Mission San Luis Rey, native animal sand & rock painting with Studio ACE, and more to come! 

For more information please visit studioace.org/valley-arts-festival or call 760-730-5203.