Happy Wednesday!

Before we jump into the weekend, here are a few things worth flagging: Plus, keep scrolling for a roundup of FREE OC birding walks.

🕯️ The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy just added more dates for early Nov. This eerie cemetery-chapel experience pairs four Poe stories with themed cocktails. The original dates sold out, so don’t wait on these.

🎹 Five For Fighting brings “Superman,” “100 Years” and more to the Coach House with a live string quartet. This one will sell out. Get tickets now.

🎸 Richie Furay, founding member of Buffalo Springfield and Poco, brings his Final Farewell show to town Sat, Nov 7. After six decades of music, this is a special chance to catch him while you can. Get tickets

To all the new readers, welcome to The Scene… Our motto is: the more you know, the more you’ll go. That’s what this newsletter is all about, sharing ideas big and small to make it easier (and more fun) to get out and enjoy OC.

See you out there!
Lorna & Jason

P.S…A Quick Favor: Click the sponsor ad below. It’s an easy way to support The Scene at no cost to you (We get paid when you click, even if you don’t buy).
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⚓ Maritime Festival Returns to the Harbor
The 42nd Maritime Festival sails back with cannon battles, ship tours, live music, maritime re-enactors, and dockside fun.
Sept 11–13, 2026 | Ocean Institute | Dana Point

🍺 Sails N’ Ales
Kick off Maritime Festival weekend with local craft beer, live music and waterfront views.
Thurs, Sept 11 | 6–10 PM | Ocean Institute, Dana Point

👑 Queen Nation Goes Symphonic
Queen Nation expands into a 14-piece production with strings, brass, backing vocalists and Queen’s biggest songs.
Fri, Sep 11 | Doors 6 pm, show 8 pm | The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

🏄 Lexus Trestles Pro Begins
The world’s top surfers return to Lower Trestles as the WSL Championship Tour begins a ten-day stop.
Fri, Sep 11 | Begins 8 am | Lower Trestles, San Clemente

☕ Coffee Concert
Enjoy a morning performance by local musicians paired with fresh brews from High Tide Coffee.
Fri, Sept 11 | 10 AM | Casa Romantica, San Clemente

🎃 Creep It Real OC
Step into a vintage Halloween world with 130+ spooky vendors, live music, roaming characters and nightly trick-or-treat parade.
Fri, Sept 11–Sun, Sept 13 | 4–10 pm | Heritage Museum, Santa Ana

🍷 An Idiot’s Guide to Wine
Wine tasting meets stand-up comedy during a night designed for experts, beginners and everyone in between.
Fri, Sep 11 | 6 pm and 8:30 pm | The Charleston, Fullerton

🎸 CHECK FRIDAY’S LIVE MUSIC →

➡️ NEXT WEEK
Scroll down to see events happening next week and beyond.

🍺 Ales & Trails
Craft beer tasting and live music right on the Oso Creek Trail, held in the Celebration Garden. 21+.
Sat, Sep 12 | 2–4 pm | Celebration Garden, Oso Creek Trail, Mission Viejo

🎹 Piano Men: Generations
A father-and-son piano team celebrates four decades of music from Billy Joel and Elton John.
Sat, Sep 12 | Doors 6 pm, show 8 pm | The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

👑 Queen and The Beatles by Candlelight
A string quartet brings together arena-rock anthems from Queen and favorites from the Beatles. Save 10% with code SOUTHOC10
Sat, Sep 12 | Time Vary | The Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Beach

🎭 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Opening Weekend
The musical comedy about two con men on the French Riviera kicks off its run, sharp, campy, and a fun date-night pick.
Sat, Sep 12 | 7:30–10 pm | Camino Real Playhouse, San Juan Capistrano

🔧 Get Your Stuff Fixed for Free at Repair Café OC
Broken lamps, wobbly chairs, busted gadgets — volunteers help you fix them at no cost.
Sept 12 | 8:30 am - 12:30pm | Norman P. Murray Community Center, Mission Viejo

🍷 Pacific Wine & Food Classic
A coastal tasting event featuring wine, food and chefs from around Southern California.
Sat, Sept 12 | 1–5 pm | Newport Beach

🎸 CHECK SATURDAY LIVE MUSIC →

☕ Start Your Sunday at Americano’s Coffee
This new indie coffee house near Saddleback College feels part European café, part New York cocktail lounge. The coffee is excellent, the matcha is ceremonial grade, and it’s open until 10 pm. Go Vietnamese for a jolt, or Spanish for something sweet and mellow. Save 10% through Sept. when you mention The Scene!
Sun, Sept 13 | Open until 10 pm | Mission Viejo

🎻 Pacific Symphony: Symphony on the Go
Pacific Symphony rolls its mobile stage into Melinda Park for an outdoor string quartet performing classical and contemporary music.
Sun, Sep 13 | 6 pm | Melinda Park, Mission Viejo

🛍️ The Coast Vintage Market
Browse vintage finds, antiques, retro treasures, handmade goods, and one-of-a-kind pieces at this free outdoor market.
Sun, Sept 13 | 8 AM–3 PM | Laguna Hills Mall Parking Lot, Laguna Hills

🎉 Fiesta Latina en Irvine
Celebrate Hispanic and Latino culture with live music, lotería, calavera makeup, art, crafts, food trucks and cultural performances throughout the Great Park.
Sun, Sep 13 | 11 am–4 pm | Great Park, Irvine

🎶 Maná by Candlelight
A string quartet revisits the Latin-rock band’s biggest songs inside Newport Beach’s Art Deco theater. Save 10% with code SOUTHOC10
Sun, Sep 13 | Time available in ticket selector | The Lido Theater, Newport Beach

🎸 CHECK SUNDAY’S LIVE MUSIC →

➡️ NEXT WEEK
Scroll down to see events happening next week and beyond.

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🧐 Trivia Answer:

✅ A. They were processed at Camp Pendleton 🇻🇳

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, roughly 50,000 Vietnamese refugees were processed through Camp Pendleton, putting more than a third of that first major wave of refugees right here in Southern California.

Orange County churches helped sponsor families, while affordable housing, plentiful jobs and the warm climate gave many a reason to stay.

How Little Saigon Took Shape

Westminster had another major advantage: cheap commercial space along Bolsa Avenue, where Vietnamese-owned markets, restaurants, pharmacies and other businesses quickly began opening.

By the 1980s, about 500 businesses opened along Bolsa Avenue, helping transform Westminster and Garden Grove into Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese cultural enclave outside Vietnam.

And it didn’t just attract the refugees who landed at Camp Pendleton. As Little Saigon grew, Vietnamese families initially resettled elsewhere in the U.S. began moving to Orange County to join the growing community.

50 years later…

Pho and bánh mì have gone mainstream, and Vietnamese coffee, is showing up at coffee shops far beyond Westminster and Garden Grove.

The Vietnam story is also having another cultural moment in books. Kristin Hannah’s The Women brought the war back to bestseller lists through the story of American nurses who served in Vietnam, while novels such as Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s The Mountains Sing and Dust Child explore the war and its aftermath from Vietnamese perspectives.

So what began with refugees arriving at Camp Pendleton in 1975 didn’t just create Little Saigon. It helped reshape the culture of Orange County and the rest of America.

Want to experience Vietnamese culture? Start here:

Asian Garden Mall: Also known as Phước Lộc Thọ, this is the cultural heart of Little Saigon. Browse Vietnamese shops, jewelry, traditional clothing, snacks and drinks!

Garlic & Chives is a Michelin-recognized modern Vietnamese restaurant in Garden Grove

Closer to home is Pho Lab in Lake Forest where you’ll find some of the best Pho available

🥱 Boring Stuff

Publication Disclaimer: Everything included here is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. It is always best to double-check links to be sure event information hasn’t changed if you plan on attending something.

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©️ 2025 The Scene: South OC | All content and information set forth above was created by Lorna Ladd and Jason Ladd and is the intellectual property of this publication. It is protected under US copyright law, including but not limited to “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or duplication of any material, in whole or in part, without express written authorization & consent, is strictly prohibited by law and may result in legal action. Violators will be subject to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.