Explore restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, fitness studios, spas and art galleries

By Colette Mauzeralle

The historic community of Bankers Hill will celebrate local businesses and the changing season with the second annual Bankers Hill Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 21 from 1-5 p.m.

Designed to showcase Bankers Hill as a destination neighborhood, the fall festival is a walk-around event inviting all ages to explore and discover 10 blocks of Fifth and Fourth avenues.

Beginning at 1 p.m., attendees can visit the architecturally stunning St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at Fifth Avenue and Olive Street to pick up maps exhibiting a trail of participating businesses offering complimentary tastes, wellness demos, one-day shopping specials and other surprises. More than 30 neighborhood businesses including restaurants, fitness studios, boutiques, spas and art galleries will showcase their fare and wares inside their doors and on sidewalks. Streets will remain open to traffic and offer plentiful parking. Shuttle service along Fifth Avenue will be provided at no cost.

Attendees can sample the flavors of eateries including Cucina Urbana, Barrio Star, Corner Drafthouse, Wetstone Wine Bar, Parc Bistro-Brasserie, Pizzicato, Juice Alchemy, Royal Stone, James Coffee, The WestBean Coffee Roasters and more.

Health-minded hot spots like Orangetheory Fitness and Club Pilates will open their doors to offer wellness demos, while additional businesses such as Sew Loka, V Collective, Plush Salon, Thread + Seed, Danielle Zhang Art, St. Paul’s Senior Services, North Island Credit Union, Edward Jones and Inscriptu will welcome visitors and, at select locations, offer one-day-only specials to guests.

St. Paul’s will also host several off-the-beaten-path businesses and artists within its centrally located Great Hall.

Proceeds from fall festival will benefit the Bankers Hill Business Group, a nonprofit organization working to promote and advocate for area businesses as well as increase awareness of Bankers Hill as a destination neighborhood. The business group meets monthly and hosts two annual events: the Bankers Hill Arts and Craft Beer Festival in the spring and next month’s Bankers Hill Fall Festival, which is co-sponsored by the Metro San Diego Community Development Corp.

Bankers Hill, tucked between Downtown and Hillcrest, in recent years has seen an increase in residents and commercial growth in the form of new restaurants, boutiques, fitness studios and more. The neighborhood is also noted for its collection of late-19th-century architecture, sweeping views of San Diego Bay and two of San Diego’s historic pedestrian bridges: the swinging Spruce Street Suspension Bridge and the Quince Street Bridge above the Maple Canyon Open Space Trail.

To learn more about the Bankers Hill Fall Festival and to purchase tickets, visit bankershillbusinessgroup.com/events.

—Colette Mauzeralle is public relations & marketing manager for the Bankers Hill Business Group.