The 45th annual Cabrillo Festival Open House returns for the third year to Ballast Point on Point Loma, where visitors will be able to view, close up, the re-enactment of the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo as he steps ashore at 1 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 28, the highlight of the festival’s open house. This year’s open house, featuring dancing, storytelling, music and food originating in Mexico, Native America, Spain and Portugal, will again be held at Smuggler’s Cove in the picnic grove at Naval Base Point Loma from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This beachside area is near the likely location of Cabrillo’s landing on Sept. 28, 1542, when he claimed the region for the Spanish crown. The festival is free and open to the public. A last-minute change is that this year, because the Maritime Museum’s replica revenue cutter Californian is in drydock, the role of Cabrillo’s ship San Salvador will be played by clipper schooner Lynx, based in Portsmouth, N.H. The Lynx was originally slated to portray La Victoria, the second ship in Cabrillo’s fleet. When Cabrillo landed in 1542, he travelled with three small ships, according to Karl Pierce, public information officer for Cabrillo National Monument (CNM), San Diego‘s National Park, which hosts the festival’s opening ceremonies and living history encampment on Saturday, Sept. 27. Usually only one ship is used for the re-enactment. The Maritime Museum will still offer guests the opportunity to sail aboard the Lynx/San Salvador to experience a nautical view of Cabrillo’s landing, said Mary Correia, president of the Cabrillo Festival, Inc. Information and tickets are available through the Maritime Museum by calling (866) 446-5969. Tickets are $75. The Navy will provide costumed rowers for the chalupa carrying Cabrillo, portrayed again this year by Donald Valadao, and his priest from the ship to Ballast Point. “Historically, the priest was an Augustinian monk. This year, we have a true Augustinian monk filling that role,” Correia said. “The new location has been very positive for us. The beachside view makes you feel like you’re actually there, watching the landing,” she said. Before the event relocated to Ballast Point, visitors could see the landing only from atop the cliffs at Cabrillo National Monument. With more space available at the submarine base, festival organizers have expanded the event with new offerings of artists and vendors selling traditional baskets, gourd art, jewelry, pottery and other crafts, as well as more children’s activities. All the traditional elements representing the merging of the cultures of Mexico, the Native Americans, Spain and Portugal remain along with recently added participants. Among those providing interactive displays are the Barona Cultural Center and Museum, the Portuguese Historical Center, the Maritime Museum and High Tech High School, who will provide information regarding their research and community programs. Cabrillo National Monument will stage its traditional 16th-century Spanish Soldiers’ Living History Encampment both at the National Park on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at the submarine base as part of the Sunday open house. Food vendors representing the different cultures will offer typical foods for sale, including Spanish paella, Portuguese linguica, Mexican tamales and tacos and Indian fry bread. Festival visitors should follow Rosecrans Street to its western end at the submarine base, said Chief Yan Kennon, base public affairs officer. “If you come to the front gate and say you’re here for the Cabrillo Festival, you’ll be given access,” he said. Kennon recommends adult drivers have their photo identification and current car registration and proof of insurance on hand. Guests will be directed to on-base parking with handicapped parking near the event. The festival’s opening ceremonies on Saturday at 4 p.m. will again be held at the park’s Cabrillo Statue. Festivities there will include a concert by the Navy Band Southwest, Kumeyaay Bird Songs, a ceremonial wreath-laying and keynote address by historian Joseph Sanchez, Ph.D., superintendent of the National Park Service’s Colonial Research Center and Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to the living history encampment, the park will show the National Park Service film “In Search of Cabrillo” in the park’s auditorium at 10 a.m. and at 2 and 4 p.m. on Saturday. Admission to the park will be free on both days to honor National Public Lands Day. The festival’s theme remains the preservation of local history and the celebration of the merging of many cultures, Correia said. “Our two main goals are to keep history alive and to bring cultures together,” she said. For more information, call (619) 557-5450, (619) 222-6786 or Cabrillo National Monument at (619) 557-5450. Participants may also visit www.cabrillofestival.org. festival schedule Sunday, Sept. 28 • 11:30 a.m. – Danza Mexi’cayotl (Aztec Dance). • 12:15 p.m. – Actor, historian and Fulbright-Hays scholar Abel Silvas (Juaneno/Diegueno Mission Indian), presenting his commentary as Running Grunion. • 1 p.m. – Re-enactment of Cabrillo’s landing at Ballast Point, narrated by television personality Jack White. • 1:35 p.m. – Welcome of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, his soldiers and priest, the 2008 Miss Cabrillo Festival. • 1:45 p.m. – Portuguese-American Dancers of San Diego perform dances from the Azores, Madeira and Portugal. • 2:20 p.m. – Spanish Ballet of San Diego performs dances from various regions of Spain. • 2:55 p.m. – Ballet Folklorico Cristo Rey performs Mexican regional dance. For more information, call (619) 557-5450, (619) 222-6786 or Cabrillo National Monument at (619) 557-5450; also visit www.cabrillofestival.org.