Transgender Day of Empowerment: The transgender community will host its annual Day of Empowerment at the San Diego LGBT Community Center at 6 p.m. The event was created seven years ago to honor and celebrate the transgender community in San Diego. Organizers want to bring together all who are apart of or are supporters of the transgender community. The event’s mission is to create awareness, fellowship and understanding. Individuals who have gone above and beyond to advocate for, be in support of or to educate about the transgender community will be honored. The Gomez family will be the event’s keynote speakers – honored last February at Lambda Archives San Diego’s Heroes, Pioneers & Trailblazers for supporting their son Issac through his transition as FTM and becoming powerful advocates for transgender people. The Center is located at 3909 Center St. in Hillcrest. For more information, call 619-692-2077 or visit www.thecentersd.org.

‘Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue’: The ion Theatre will perform Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue at 8 p.m. Elliot features the Ortizes, a three-generation Ortiz family, including Pop’s wife Ginny, is both close and far apart, since the elder men never shared their war stories with Elliot. In Iraq, he replicates his father’s Vietnam experiences almost exactly. For ion Theatre, under Sylvia Enrique’s subtle direction, monologues meld and tug apart, as in a fugue. Goyo Flores and John Padilla give Grandpop (who fought in Korea) and Pop hard-edged, disillusioned dignity; Steven Lone blazes as gung-ho Elliot; and San Diego newcomer Miriam White shines as Ginny, wife, nurse, and compulsive gardener. Tickets start at $24 with discounts for students, seniors and military service members. The ion Theatre is located at 3704 Sixth Ave. in Hillcrest. For more information, call 619-600-5020 or visit www.iontheatre.com.

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries: Local choreographer Patricia Sandback will perform Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries at Sushi Performance & Visual Art at 8 p.m. Sandback borrows images from opera, TV, and nature to examine life’s big questions like, why are we here and where are we going? Dancers Faith Jensen-Ismay, Kathryn McLean, David Hanlon, Erica Buechner, Lyndsey Gemmell, Mandy Langen, Lara Segura and Robby Johnson join forces for dance, theater and song. The show is performed again on the following Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. Admission starts at $15. Sushi Performance & Visual Art is located at 390 11th Avenue in East Village. For more information, call 619-235-8466 or visit http://sushiart.org.

Woofstock: Canine Companions for Independence will host Woofstock: A Festival for Dogs and People at Balboa Park at 9 a.m. The events begin with Walk n’ Roll Fun Dog Walk through the park at 9 a.m. The festival begins at 10 a.m. Festival includes K-9 playground, flyball, demonstrations by assistance dogs and disc dogs, fun zone for kids and more. Admission to the festival costs $5. Woofstock will take place at the intersection of Park Boulevard and Presidents Way in Balboa Park. For more information, call 760-901-4307 or visit http://alturl.com/bwh9.

Open Studios 2010: The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Visual Arts Department’s graduate students will host Open Studios 2010 at its Visual Arts Facility Gallery at 3 p.m. The event features 50 open studios, group exhibits, film and video screenings and live performances. The artists’ works range from technological investigations and information visualizations to social interventions, and material practices, all the while questioning and creating relationships with art history, critical theory, visual studies, art activism and public culture. Admission is free. The Visual Arts Facility Gallery is located at 9500 Gilman Dr. in La Jolla. For more information, call 858-822-7755 or visit www.ucsdopenstudios.com.

Starlettes vs. Diamond Divas: The San Diego Roller Derby’s Stalettes’ competes against the Bakersfield Diamond Divas at Skateworld at 5:30 p.m. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Plant With Purpose. Founded in 1984, Plant With Purpose is a non-profit organization that has an unique outlook on fighting poverty, hunger, and social despair in poverty-stricken, rural villages through planting trees. General admission is $12. Children five or under are free. Skateworld is located at 6907 Linda Vista Rd. in Linda Vista. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 858-560-9349 or visit www.sandiegorollerderby.blogspot.com.

Classic car festival: The American Muscle Classic Car show in San Marcos will start at 9 a.m. Organizers promise over 300 vendors, 200 classic cars and hot rods, live entertainment, a children’s area and more. Expect high-energy from three entertainment stages, one of which complements the car show. Admission is free. The car show will be located at the intersection of Via Vera Cruz and San Marcos Boulevard in San Marcos. For more information, call 760-945-9288.

Polar Bear Plunge: Visit San Diego Zoo’s renovated polar bear exhibit from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The zoo is making its most forceful statement about global warming though its renovated polar bear exhibit, which includes a chance to crawl into a polar bear’s snow den and pop your head into a seals breathing hole in the ice, climb into an Arctic research helicopter and the ability to hear and see Chinook, Kalluk and Tatqiq up close – one section of the exhibit’s massive glass wall can now slide away, and a steel screen is revealed and designed to hinge toward visitors when the bears stand up and place their giant paws on it. The San Diego Zoo is located at 2920 Zoo Dr. in Balboa Park. For more information, visit www.sandiegozoo.org or call 619-231-1515.

Fashion show: San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Afrikan Student Union (ASU) will host City Lights, a fashion show, at Montezuma Hal at 7 p.m. The show will feature the top fashions from fellow ASU members and community members. Featured designers and fashion lines include CAN Clothing, Wealth & Power, Raw Water, Jamilah Shabazz and Jeridel Banks. Admission is free. Montezuma Hall is located inside Aztec Center on the campus of SDSU at 500 Campanile Dr. in College West. To access a campus map and directory, visit http://alturl.com/cobj. For more information, call 619-587-4036.

Morning Coffee: San Diego POZabilities will host its weekly Morning Coffee at Filter Coffeehouse at 10 a.m. Morning Coffee is a great way to catch up on the local news and gossip, make new or connect with old friends and jump-start your day. Filter Coffeehouse is located at 4096 30th St. in North Park. For more information, visit www.sandiegopozabilities.org or e-mail info@sandiegopozabilities.net.

Italian American experience: Author Vincenza Scarpaci will explore the contradictions of the Italian American legacy, considering the ways in which Italians became an essential part of American history at the San Diego History Center at 6 p.m. Every aspect of life ranging from religion, the struggle for citizenship, anti-Italian prejudice, WWII, local San Diego Italian populations, and of course, food, all come to life in this insightful illustrated talk. General admission is $10. The San Diego History Center is located at 1649 El Prado, Ste. 3, in Balboa Park. For more information, call 619-232-6203, ext. 129 or visit www.sandiegohistory.org.