Below are just a few of the many activities in the City of San José.
01SJ
01SJ is a biennial global festival presented by ZeroOne. It is North America’s newest and largest festival of digital arts, and a great deal more. With over over 100 artworks, performances, screenings, talks, and workshops, covering topics from robots and artificial intelligence, to the wildest sci-fi fantasy. For more information, please visit the 01SJ site.
Amgen Tour of California The largest cycling event in America, the Amgen Tour of California, is a tour de France-style cycling road race that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding, recently expanded, 800-mile course from Sacramento to Escondido. The tour also hopes to raise awareness about the environmental and health benefits of cycling. For more information, please visit the Amgen Tour of California.
Chinese Summer Festival
Chinese Summer Festival sponsored by the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP) is celebrated at the San José Historical Museum. The festival attracts more than 11,000 each year to learn about Chinese culture, arts and history.
Christmas in the Park
Christmas in the Park is organized by a non-profit corporation known as Christmas in the Park, Inc. and co-sponsored by the City of San José, Department of Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services. Each year, the two-acre park is transformed into a holiday fantasy with over 60 musical and animated exhibits and glittering lights and the 60-foot City Community Giving Tree. It draws over 450,000 people to downtown San José during the four-week holiday season. For more infromation, please visit the Christmas in the Park site.
Cinco de Mayo Festival Every Cinco de Mayo weekend, which is the fifth of May, there's a parade in downtown San José honoring of the Mexican-American culture. With musicians, dancers, food vendors and activists, the Cinco de Mayo Parade & Festival attaches around 300,000 people to the Guadalupe River Park.
Cinema San Pedro &
Cinema St James
Warm summer nights are the perfect time for outdoor movies. Come join us for free classic movies at dusk in San Pedro Square on Wednesdays and in St. James Park on
Saturdays.With our partner Cinequest, this isn't just a screening, it's an event. Learn more about Cinema San Pedro and Cinema St James.
Downtown Ice
Downtown Ice is located in a spectacular setting—the Circle of Palms between the Fairmont Hotel and San Jose Museum of Art. The South Bay’s largest seasonal outdoor skating rink, produced by the San Jose Downtown Association, is directly across Market Street from Plaza de Cesar Chavez. For more information, please visit the Downtown San José site.
Filipino Heritage Festival The Filipino Heritage Festival is an admission free, Filipino-American event sponsored by the City of San José that takes place at the Plaza De Cesar Chavez Park in the heart of downtown. This festival is one of the largest events of its kind with Filipino cultural performances, food, clothing, etc. For more information, please visit the Filipino American Heritage Appreciation Project site.
Gay Pride Parade The Gay Pride Parade is an annual celebration that takes place in downtown San José. The parade with top entertainers attracts close to 10,000 people each year. For more information, please visit the San José Pride site.
Holiday Parade The San José Holiday Parade, the largest parade of its kind in Northern California, and one of the largest in the state, ushers in the holidays with its giant helium balloons, over two dozen marching bands, creative floats, dozens of specialty units, clowns and Santa Claus. For more information, please visit the San José Holiday Parade site.
Italian Family Fiesta The popular Italian Family Fiesta is the oldest and largest event of its kind on the West Coast. The Fiesta has shared the full richness of being Italian with hundreds of thousands of patrons. It has become a superb showcase in the folklore of glorious Italy, with its Italian Village atmosphere, food, costumes, art and photo exhibits, games, and musical entertainment. For more information, visit the Italian American Heritage Foundation website.
Juneteenth Festival Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. The festival is held at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez located on South Market Street of downtown San José.
Mariachi and Latin Music Festival
The San José International Mariachi Festival offers a weeklong of music and educational events, attracting over 50,000 people to hear artists like Linda Ronstadt, Aida Cuevas, Lila Downs, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Mariachi Cobre, Los Tigres Del Norte and Pepe Aguilar. For more information, please visit the San Jose Internation Mariachi and Latin Music Festival site.
Music in the Park
San Jose summers wouldn't be the same without Music in the Park, Downtown's most anticipated concert series. People come out to enjoy alternative, R&B, reggae, rock and jazz in free Thursday night performances. For more informtaion, please visit the San Jose Downtown site.
Obon Festival
The San José Obon Festival is held by the San José Buddhist Church Betsuin in Japantown each summer. This is a free outdoor festival that offers a rich Japanese cultural experience complete with dance, food, music and games. For more information, please visit the San José Buddhist Church Betsuin.
Rock "n" Roll Half Marathon The Rock "n" Roll Half Marathon, co-sponsored by the City of San José, is much more than a race. The 13.1-mile course features 16 live bands on 14 stages and a free finish line festival at Cesar Chavez Plaza. To help Bay Area residents get in shape, there is also a free Two-day Health & Fitness Expo offer. For more information, please visit the Rock "n" Roll San José Marathon site.
San José Children's Faire
The San José Children’s Faire hosted by San José Public Library and Early Care and Education is an established free, one-day, outdoor festival designed to link parents and caregivers of young children with community organizations that serve their needs and the highlight of April’s “Month of the Young Child” celebration.
San José Jazz Festival
The San José Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival organized by The San José Jazz Society in downtown San José. With more than 80 performances on 10 different stages, offering all flavors of Jazz, Blues, Latin, Salsa, R&B, Electronica and more, it's an event that can't be missed. The 2008 event was the City’s first zero-waste event! For more information, please visit the San José Jazz Society site.
SoFA First Friday Night Gallery Opening On the First Friday of each month art galleries in the downtown San José SoFA district (South First Area) are opened free of admission to the public. So come on down and join the fun! For more information, please visit the South First Friday site.
Tapestry Arts Festival
The Tapestry Arts Festival is a free annual festival during the Labor Day weekend, celebrating art, music and food. With over 350 artists and craftspeople showing, stages of music, dance and theatre, free hands-on art activities, and so much more. Each year more than 250,000 people are attracted to this fun arts festival.
Veteran's Day Parade Each year, since 1919, the United Veterans Council (UVC) of Santa Clara County has produced a Veterans Day Parade with support form the City of San José and the County of Santa Clara, along with contributions from many individuals and organizations. This Parade, the largest Veterans Day Parade in Northern California, honors all who served, or are currently serving their country.
For more information, please visit the
United Veterans Council of Santa Clara County
site.
Vietnamese Tet Festival Vietnamese Tet Festival means Feast of the First Day and the most important Vietnamese Holiday of the year. It celebrates the beginning of the Lunar New Year which usually falls at the end of January or beginning of February with variety of activities, foods and performances. The festival offers delicious Vietnamese food, Vietnamese folk dancing, beauty/talent pageants, martial arts exhibitions, dragon dancing, fire crackers, drumming, etc.
Students: From Campus to City Hall
200 East Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA 95113
Main: (408) 535-1285 Fax: (408) 292-6447 TTY:
e-mail: Human.Resources@sanjoseca.gov
The City of San Jose is committed to open and honest government and strives to consistently meet the community’s expectations by providing excellent service, in a positive and timely manner, and in the full view of the public.
