Mary Rosa Giglitto, a pillar of San Diego’s Portuguese community for the last 50 years and a co-founder of the Cabrillo Festival, Inc., will be honored with a bronze commemorative bust at the 48th annual Cabrillo Festival in early October. The two-day festival celebrating explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who founded San Diego in 1542, will be held Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2, Giglitto, who passed away Feb. 27, was known as the heart and soul of the Cabrillo Festival, having been a past president and playing a key role in launching the Cabrillo Festival in Ensenada. Taking a page from Cabrillo’s book, Giglitto set her sights on international waters, and in the 1970s grew San Diego’s Cabrillo Festival to embrace other countries and cultures. “Mary is really the person who took the festival to an international level by involving Portugal, Mexico, Spain and the Kumeyaay [band of Indians],” said Jose Alves, whose blog offers historical tidbits of the Portuguese history in California at corisco-california.blogspot.com. Giglitto’s enthusiasm and dedication to her culture also made her a mainstay of many other organizations. For many years on Pentecost Sunday, she stood on the roof of the United Portuguese S.E.S. (U.P.S.E.S.) Hall to organize entrants in the annual Holy Spirit parade. She was also involved in the annual Miss Cabrillo Pageant, where she coached and nurtured contestants. For these and many other efforts, Giglitto was honored by the Portuguese government, the state of California and the city of San Diego. Artist Kitty Cantrell was commissioned to create Giglitto’s commemorative bust, which will be unveiled Oct. 1 during the Cabrillo Discovery Celebration Dinner-Dance at the U.P.S.E.S. Hall. Tickets for the 6 p.m. dinner, sponsored by Cabrillo Civic Club #16 and the Portuguese American Social and Civic Club, are $40 per person. The Cabrillo Festival officially begins at 4 p.m. on Oct. 1 at Spanish Landing Park on North Harbor Drive with a ceremony at the build site of the San Salvador — a replica of Cabrillo’s original ship. Spanish Ambassador Enrique Ruiz Molero is scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Entertainment will be provided by the Navy Band Southwest Brass Ensemble and Kumeyaay wildcat songs by Jon Meza Cuero and the Aukas. The festival’s main event is the open house at Ballast Point on Oct. 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free to the public. Located at Naval Base Point Loma, Ballast Point is believed to be the actual location where Cabrillo landed 103 days after he set sail from Navidad on Mexico’s west coast. The festival At 1 p.m. on Oct. 2, a re-enactment of Cabrillo’s landing narrated by Gary Correía will sail into San Diego Bay aboard the Californian. The ship from the Maritime Museum of San Diego is the official tall ship of California. The day will include colorful displays of dancing, storytelling, music and food from Mexico, Portugal, Spain and native Americans. Eva Salazar will offer basket weaving demonstrations and staff and volunteers from Cabrillo National Monument will stage a 16th-century Spanish soldiers living-history encampment. Staff and volunteers from the Barona Cultural Center and Museum will be on hand to tell about the peoples who inhabited the San Diego area before Cabrillo’s arrival. The Portuguese Historical Center will have an exhibit and the bust of Giglitto will be on display. High Tech High School students will display their research about San Diego Bay and its peoples. Local artist and muralist Carmen Linares-Kalo will exhibit Aztec art. Representing participating organizations will be 2011 Miss Cabrillo, Juliette Simões; 2011 Miss Kumeyaay Nation, Olivia Barrett; 2011 Queen of the Casa de España, Carolina Stonehouse; and the 2011 Queen of the House of Mexico. Cabrillo National Monument, located at the south end of Catalina Boulevard on Point Loma, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the Cabrillo Festival and scheduled events, visit the Cabrillo Festival website, www.cabrillofestival.org.