Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Manhattan Transfer, David Sanborn, Zakir Hussain, Les McCann, James Hunter, John Densmore’s Tribaljazz, Yosvany Terry, Christian Scott, Javon Jackson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill Holman Band and many more… The sounds of jazz return to downtown San Jose August 8-10. From Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, over 80,000 music lovers will converge on the heart of Silicon Valley to enjoy over 1,000 musicians performing three days of jazz, blues, salsa, Latin, R&B, electronica and many other forms of contemporary music. $10 admission per day or $25 for three-day pass.

San Jose hosts a Day of Remembrance & Reflection at History Park for WWII. Hear from people who served overseas and at home. There will be period activities, exhibits, and demonstrations for families. Learn how to make digital stories for our “Greatest Generation.” Enjoy and dance to the big band music from the 1940s. Meet WWII re-enactors and Living Historians. Exhibits from the USS Hornet and Rosie the Riveter National Historic Site.

Want to do something different this summer to help your community and get a free ice cream as a reward? The Heritage Rose Garden needs volunteers to snip all the dead roses in order to promote more bloom. We’re hoping you will help us on Tuesday, August 12, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm, with a sweet payoff at the end. No experience necessary. Volunteer experts will show you how. Bring your own clippers, or borrow one from the staff. It will be an enjoyable and rewarding way to spend a summer evening. (more…)

A perfect summer afternoon in Discovery Meadow, the last Sunday before school starts and the performing arts season gets under way. Bring a picnic lunch, your friends and family, and join the orchestra led by Maestro Bruce Hangen, former Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Pops. Enjoy favorite excepts from Leonard Bernstein, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Beethoven and other treats. Special activities for children who arrive early. Next to The Children’s Discovery Museum, corner of West San Carlos and Woz Way.

No tickets, no reservations — just great music in downtown San Jose.
presented by Symphony Silicon Valley and sponsored by TARGET.

Come to Downtown Willow Glen for the the 2008 Italian American Heritage Foundation’s Italian Family Festa. The popular Italian Family Festa is the oldest and largest event of its kind on the West Coast. The Festa has an Italian Village atmosphere, food, costumes, art and photo exhibits, games, and musical entertainment. Featured at our Festa is the pony-drawn San Jose Italian Festa Cart which is covered with paintings and sculpture of San Jose history. The Festival also includes a grape-stomping contest, children’s games, a Tarantella contest, dancing, Pasquale, Italica, Folk Dancers, Dick Contino The Accordion Whiz (pictured) and more.

The 2nd annual festival takes place on October 4th, 2008 in the 8 blocks surrounding the heart of San Jose Japantown. The festival is expected to feature exhibits and demonstrations like Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), San Jose Taiko (Japanese drumming group), Sakabozzo (world famous comedy cooking demonstration from Gilroy Garlic Festival), Anime (Japanese animated movies), California Car Exhibit (imports, classic rods & more), Bonsai the art of Japanese plant sculpting, Samurai Swords, and Martial Arts

On Saturday October 12, 2008 The Guadalupe River Park & Gardens hosts the 13th annual Pumpkins in the Park, an environmental harvest festival for young families designed to create awareness of the Guadalupe River and celebrate the fall season. 12,000 people are expected to attend Pumpkins in the Park to learn about the Guadalupe River, make scarecrows, decorate pumpkins, taste apples and cider, listen to great music, eat great food and partake in countless other activities.