We’re at the start of San Jose’s brightest season, and it’s actually brighter this year than ever before. That’s thanks to the new San Jose Holiday Lights, a new event that’s lighting up downtown’s Discovery Meadow Park.
The ticketed event has filled the five-acre park next to the Children’s Discovery Museum with huge illuminated sculptures, spread out in six themed areas that range from a pair of Christmas scenes and a Mexican-inspired desert landscape to a whimsical candy land and an enchanted garden with a giant caterpillar and towering plants. (There are a couple of dinosaurs milling about as well, but if Fantasy of Lights at Vasona Lake County Park has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t go wrong with dinosaurs during the holidays.)
San Jose Holiday Lights, which is produced by DOCA Festival, opened last Friday night and is running through Jan. 4, so there’s plenty of time to check it out. You can get more information and tickets at www.docafestival.com.
Of course, San Jose’s brightest holiday attraction for the past 45 years returns Friday night with the tree-lighting ceremony at Christmas in the Park at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The festivities are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., but it’s always a good idea to get there early for some hot chocolate before the big switch gets flipped.
And don’t forget that Blinky’s Drive Thru Light Show is already up and running at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The ticketed event, which opened last Friday and runs through Jan. 1, helps keep the downtown Christmas in the Park free. Get more information at www.christmasinthepark.com.
HOLIDAY DONATIONS NEEDED: Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose put out a call Tuesday for donations of frozen turkeys, chickens and hams to make sure 3,000 local families can enjoy a Thanksgiving meal — along with volunteers to help distribute them. Each 50 pound holiday food box contains nonperishable goods, along with fresh produce, bread and a choice of turkey, chicken or ham.
Donations can be dropped off at 1381 S. First St. until 6 p.m. Nov. 25 or 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 26. You can also donate online at www.sacredheartcs.org/holidays25 and sign up to volunteer at www.sacredheartcs.org/volunteer.
PARTY ON: The Big Bone Game between San Jose and Lincoln high schools may have been moved from its traditional Thanksgiving Day slot to September, but organizer Bill Kleidon says San Jose High alums are keeping the pre-Thanksgiving Big Bone Bash tradition alive. The Nov. 26 party, now in its 33rd year, gets going at 6:30 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott San Jose Airport hotel on North Fourth Street. “Now it’s a Thanksgiving party, and it’s open to everybody — not just San Jose High — and it’s free,” Kleidon said.
HOLIDAY SHOWTUNES: Irish tenor Emmet Cahill, who spent 15 years as lead singer of Celtic Thunder, will make his return to St. William Catholic Church in Los Altos with his solo show, “A Broadway Christmas,” on Saturday. This is Cahill’s fourth year in a row coming to Los Altos, where he says he always receives a warm welcome. The show — a mix of Broadway, Christmas and Irish songs — starts at 1 p.m., with a noon pre-show featuring the Greene Academy of Irish Step Dancers. Tickets are $45, and you can purchase them at the door or at www.emmetcahill.com.
‘WICKED’ RACE MARKETING: Don’t say the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation doesn’t have its finger on the pulse of pop culture fandom. The race shirts for the 21st Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot — taking place in downtown San Jose on Thursday morning — have a pink and green color scheme. That might have seemed an unusual combo — until the past couple of weeks when just about everything has been pink and green thanks to the big push for the hit movie “Wicked: For Good,” which opened last Friday.
“It’s the color scheme of the year,” Race Director Chris Weiler says. There’s still time to register for the 8:30 a.m. 10K run and 5K run/walk, which is supporting the Healthier Kids Foundation, HomeFirst, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County. Go to www.svturkeytrot.com for details, including street closures.