Mission Celebrates 225 years
Mission San Luis Rey, founded on June 13, 1798, celebrates its 225th anniversary. Our anniversary gift to you is a series of great events and true Franciscan hospitality whenever you visit the Mission.
Celebrate with Us
Throughout 2023, we will celebrate the people and history of the Mission and the ways in which we connect with our community today.
Our year of celebration includes a special multi-cultural Mass on our anniversary date, lectures, concerts, and celebration events. The events include two much-loved events, brought back for our 225th year – Fiesta and Heritage Ball.
As part of our 225th anniversary, we invite our Oceanside community to show us how you “Care for our Common Home.” What do you do to conserve our resources, care for the earth, or help those less fortunate. We would like to collect 225 ways how we all are doing our part. As one example, you can use laundry soap sheets to replace plastic bottles of laundry soap. This keeps plastic bottles out of landfills and reduces plastic use. Please share your ideas, photos, or short videos at info@sanluisrey.org.
Continue to check back for shared memories, updates and tickets to events. If you would like to share your Mission memories, photos, stories, or a short video, please contact us at info@sanluisrey.org.
Calendar of Events:
| January 17th, Tuesday, 12 noon | Media Day with Tour | |
| January 28th, Saturday, 4pm | Lecture on Luiseño History by Mel Vernon, Captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians | |
| February 11th, Sunday, 5pm | Flute Concert led by Mel Vernon, Captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians | |
| March 18th, Saturday 10am – 2pm | Art Festival | |
| May 20th, Saturday, 6:30pm & 9pm | Classical Candlelight Concert – Mission Church | CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS |
| June 13th, Tuesday, 6pm | Multi-cultural Anniversary Mass, Mission Church | |
| June 16th - 18th, Friday Evening – Sunday Evening | Mission Fiesta | |
| August 19th, Saturday Evening | Heritage Ball | |
| August 25th, Friday Evening | Feast Day of St. Luis Rey Mass with Procession | |
| September 9th, Saturday afternoon | Lecture - Mission Franciscans | |
| October 7th, Saturday 10am – 2pm | St. Francis Festival and Animal Blessing, including Shells to the Bells walk/run | |
| November 4th, Saturday afternoon | Lecture on Franciscan Saints Art in the Historic Church with Helena Hazelton, Mission Museum Director | |
| November 18th, Saturday afternoon | Lecture on Mission Landscape Paintings with Helena Hazelton, Mission Museum Director | |
| December 1st and 2nd, Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm | Concert – San Luis Rey Chorale Christmas Concert |
Be a Part of our Celebration
The 225th Anniversary of Mission San Luis Rey is going to be an exciting year full of many special events and activities. There will be several opportunities for retail and food vendors as well as volunteers.
For information on how to become a Retail Vendor for our 225th Anniversary events, please contact Paula Rayo at 760-757-3651, ext 256 or email at Paula@sanluisrey.org
Fiesta – June 17 and 18, 2023
Blessing of the Animals – October 7, 2023
For information on how to become a Food Vendor for our 225th Anniversary Fiesta or Blessing of the Animals, please contact Betsy Brigantti at bbrigantti@gmail.com
Fiesta – June 17 and 18, 2023
Blessing of the Animals – October 7, 2023
We will need many volunteers to help us with our 255th Anniversary events. Please email if you would like to volunteer at:
Fiesta – June 17 and 18, 2023
Heritage Ball – August 19, 2023
Feast of San Luis Rey – August 25, 2023
Blessing of the Animals – October 7, 2023
For Sponsorship Opportunities and to become a Sponsor: