A decade can sure fly by — especially if you’re zipping through San Jose streets on a bike, skates or by foot for Viva CalleSJ, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this Sunday.
Viva Calle is San Jose’s open streets program, which actually means about six miles of roadway are closed to motor vehicles but “open” to everyone else. From the start, the program’s goals have been to get more people out and exercising by encouraging more human-powered transport while also doing some community building.
The routes often go through downtown San Jose but radiate out into different neighborhoods — East San Jose, Japantown, Willow Glen, the Monterey Road corridor and Shasta-Hanchett near The Alameda — where strollers, skaters and bikers can soak in the architecture, enjoy the scenery or discover a new business or eatery.
The route for Sunday, “Downtown and Eastbound,” harkens back to the route of the first Viva Calle back in 2015, with Story Road as the main east-west artery and First/Market Street running north-south. There will be “activity hubs” at the end points of Emma Prusch Farm Park, St. James Park and Tamien Park, which will each have entertainment, food trucks and minor bike repairs available along with some site-specific fun like Pro Wrestling Revolution at St. James Park.
The hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and — as always — there’ll be spots along the route for vehicles to pass through. Get more details at www.vivacallesj.org or download the VivaCalle app, and mark your calendars for the next two on June 8 and Sept. 7.
CELEBRATE THE 408: Coinciding with Viva CalleSJ on Sunday is the big celebration for the seventh annual San Jose Day. Now, purists might argue that San Jose Day always should be held on 4/08 — if I have to explain it, you probably have a 669 area code — but if we can consider Silicon Valley to be a “state of mind” and not just a place, why not celebrate San Jose Day all week?
The festivities kicked off last Saturday with the premiere of the documentary, “From San Jose, With Love” at CreaTV’s Open San Jose space and continued with “Handled,” a free tote-bag themed art show, at Cukui in Japantown on Tuesday. On Saturday at 6 p.m., there’s another art show at Empire Seven Studios, 525 N. Seventh St.
But the big party is Sunday at Emma Prusch Farm Park during Viva CalleSJ, with folklorico and Aztec dance performances and live music by acts including Cosmic Roots, the Hello Hellos, William Johnston and Fever. There will be several artists out there doing live painting or leading hands-on art activities. More details are available at sanjoseday.org.
CHORALE ON A MISSION: It’s always a special treat when the Symphony San Jose Chorale takes a field trip, and even more so when it’s a venue like Mission Santa Clara. That’s where conductor Elena Sharkova is bringing the chorale and symphony musicians — including soprano Alexa Anderson and bandoneon player Adrian Jost, on Saturday night.
“Serenade to Music,” an hourlong concert which starts at 7:30 p.m., includes “Misa a Buenos Aires” by Argentinian composer Martín Palmeri, a composition that puts a little tango into the traditional Latin mass, and “The Secret of the Sea,” a poetic piece by American composer Jake Runestad. Get tickets at www.symphonysanjose.org.
GIFTED STORYTELLERS: Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi will be honored as the Legendary Storyteller at the second annual Asian American Stories video contest gala on May 1 in Milpitas. This year’s event is based on the theme, “My Gift to America,” and filmmakers, storytellers and other creators were invited to submit their stories to highlight the contributions of Asian Americans to the United States. The response was huge, with more than 90 one-minute videos submitted by people sharing their own stories.
The videos are available at www.aastories.org, and the public can vote on their favorites through April 15. That’s also where you can get tickets to the gala, which will be held at Cantonese restaurant HL Peninsula in Milpitas.