Día De Los Muertos party today

There is a massive Día De Los Muertos celebration in Plaza de Cesar Chavez that runs from 11am to 7pm today. The event features all sorts of live entertainment including pro wrestling and mural painting. Of course there will be tons of Mexican cuisine and live music as well. More details below courtesy of the San Jose Downtown Association.

Saturday, October 15

Plaza de Cesar Chavez

11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Día De Los Muertos, also called Day of The Dead, is a celebration of life. Día San José is a culmination of family, entertainment and (most of all) fun! Throughout the day, we sing, dance, laugh and celebrate our loved ones. 

• Main Stage with continuous, live entertainment

• Chicano Art Mercado

• Pro wrestling in a full-size ring

• Authentic Mexican cuisine

• Live mural painting

• "Native Roots" vendors celebrating indigenous heritage

• "Lowrider Altars," presented by Blvd Bombs.

The first 300 kids through the gates will receive a free T-shirt they can paint in their favorite colors.

Ticket prices: $8-10 adults; $5 students; kids under 12 are FREE.

Champions of Magic - Contest Winner

Congratulations to David Gauthier! 🥳🎊

You have won 4 tickets for the internationally renowned show Champions of Magic. 

For those that did not win, you can still purchase tickets over here.

October 2022 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The October 2022 Downtown Dimension is available for download.
 
This month's newsletter highlights:  

• BART has made much progress this past month on its plans to bore under downtown to build stations along its line down Santa Clara Street to the City of Santa Clara.
• Caltrain moved to the front of the line, claiming "dibs" on 1.1 million square feet of office development on land it owns in front of Diridon Station.
• This year's Annual Meeting will be unique.  We provided a link in the pdf you can link to for easy access to voting for Board members and to fill out the end-of-year survey.  The electronic version of Dimension should have more links in the future.
• Celebrate a new batch of Downtown Doors.
• Learn more about Christina Ruiz doing what it takes to earn a nod as Groundwerx Employee of the Month
• San Jose Marriott has a new owner, part of a huge nationwide transaction of resort and upscale urban hotels.
• ABVE the Basics shows how to take over a kitchen to cook up modern Mexican food.
• Businesses can buy transit passes for all its employees for a year and be reimbursed from the City Department of Transportation
• Take a look back at our regular From the Archives feature, which offers glimpses at what was going on 10, 20, 25 and 30 years ago in downtown San Jose.

Wayfinder

The San Jose Museum of Art recently unveiled artwork by SJ-based artist Juan Carlos Araujo called "Wayfinder." This work celebrates the history of lowrider culture in San Jose--which may grow now that the cruising ban is lifted.

Auaujo's banners are installed along East Santa Clara Street between Market and 20th, connecting East San Jose with Downtown. You can find more info about the project over here.

Scott Knies: The Exit Roast

After a whopping 34 years of service, Scott Knies is retiring his post as the executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. He was the first hired executive for the SJDA and launched many great initiatives and events such as Music in the Park, Downtown Ice, and the Downtown Farmer's Market. 

He's going out with a bang. A roast will be held in his honor at the Signia by Hilton (former Fairmont) on Saturday, October 29th from 6-10pm. You can buy tickets over here.

He'll also be doing his last "State of Downtown" speech and slideshow on October 14th.

Champions of Magic Giveaway

As mentioned last week, the internationally renowned show Champions of Magic is doing five performances at the San Jose Civic from Dec. 27 to 29. You can buy tickets right now over here starting at $69 per person... but you might be able to get those tickets for free right now. We are doing a giveaway for four tickets for the December 27th show!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is fill out this form (below is an image of what it looks like), check "San Jose," and mention The San Jose Blog. That's it, should take 30 seconds.

We will keep the contest open for a week and then announce the winner next Friday!

South FIRST FRIDAY - October 2022

South FIRST FRIDAYS is back this week! Galleries (both permanent and temporary) will be open from at least 5-9pm. The Street Mrkt urban faire featuring artists, special performances, live music, food trucks, and a beer garden will be running in parallel until 10pm. Two local breweries--Camino Brewing Co. and the Fox Tale Fermentation Project are the stars of the beer garden this month.

Participating venues include ANNO DOMINI, Institute of Contemporary Art, KALEID Gallery, Works San Jose, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, the SoFA Market, MACLA, Art Ark Gallery, and MACHU PICCHU.

Admission is free and all ages are welcome.

Click here for a preview of featured art and list of all street vendors.

Illusionist show coming to San Jose for the holidays + Giveaway

The internationally renowned show Champions of Magic is doing five performances at the San Jose Civic from Dec. 27 to 29. The show is led by a team of five illusionists that have been featured on every major US TV network. The acts take place around the whole theater and include interactive magic, levitations, several illusions that can't be seen anywhere else, and an epic finale. 

It's an ideal family-friendly activity for the holiday season and will pair well with Christmas in the Park across the street.

You can buy tickets right now over here starting at $69 per person. We are also going to do a giveaway for four tickets next week! Keep your eyes peeled for further details early next week on how to enter the giveaway.