SAN DIEGO — During the month of February, 2007, the San Diego Museum Council and Macy’s invite entertainment seekers in San Diego County to visit more than 30 participating institutions at half price admission with a FREE Museum Month pass.  Travelocity Web site recently named San Diego "the newest cultural Mecca in the United States”.  With so many museums and organizations to visit - from music to sports, and animals to the visual arts - the Museum Month pass gives San Diegans a chance to try it all.

A special Museum Month brochure sponsored by Macy’s will be available free of charge at all San Diego County Macy’s stores beginning February 1, 2007. Included in the brochure is the Museum Month pass which visitors must take to any of the participating institutions in order to receive the half-priced admission.

Museum Month was created in 1989 to promote awareness of the region’s museums, historical sites, educational institutions and cultural offerings on alevel witnessed by very few cities in the country.  This is the 18th year San Diegans will have the opportunity to participate in the celebration which has become a much anticipated tradition.

San Diego County Macy’s store locations include: Horton Plaza, Fashion Valley, North County Fair in Escondido, Mission Valley, Plaza Bonita in National City, Chula Vista, Otay Ranch, El Camino Real in Carlsbad, University Town Center, Grossmont Center, and Parkway Plaza in El Cajon.

This year, participating museums and historical sites (including some of San Diego’s most important institutions) are: Birch Aquarium at Scripps, California Center for the Arts Museum (Escondido), Coronado Museum of History & Art, Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum, Heritage of the Americas Museum, Maritime Museum of San Diego, MCRD Command Museum, Mingei International Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Others participating in the Museum Month program include the Museum of Making Music, Museum of Photographic Arts, Oceanside Museum of Art, Quail Botanical Gardens, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum (USS Midway), San Diego Automotive Museum, San Diego Historical Society (which includes the museum and archives, Serra Museum, Villa Montezuma and the Marston House), San Diego Model Railroad Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego Natural History Museum, Stuart Collection of Sculpture at UCSD, Tijuana National Estuarine Research Reserve, Timken Museum of Art, the San Diego Hall of Champions, Water Conservation Garden, and the Women’s History Museum and Education Center.