It’s early June, and that means two things for downtown San Jose: The jacaranda trees are blooming in brilliant violet along South First Street and the SubZero festival is returning.
San Jose has encouraged a lot of recent efforts to create more vibrancy downtown, including night markets, farmers markets, a rollerskating park and massive EDM shows. Some have worked better than others, but so far nothing can beat SubZero when it comes to authentically spotlighting local creatives.
The two-day cultural bazaar — now in its 16th year — will fill the arty South First Area (SoFA) with dozens of local artists and musicians, with a splash of tech and even a beer garden at Parque de los Pobladores. SubZero has long been described as “where street meets geek,” and that’s still pretty apt.
You can catch one of more than a dozen bands over the two days, check out the offerings from the Bay Area Glass Institute, have a poet create verse on a typewriter in front of you or see what the San Jose State game development club has come up with. There’s always somebody doing a live painting, and you might just run into a theater performance if you’re not paying attention to where you’re walking.
And it’s always appreciated if you can actually support the culture all around us by purchasing something — whether it’s original art, a T-shirt or cap or an antique knickknack.
SubZero runs 5-10 p.m. on Friday night, running concurrently with the monthly South First Fridays art walk, and then starts back up again Saturday, from 2 to 8 p.m. You can see the full lineup for both SubZero and South First Fridays, along with DJ listings, beer offerings and food trucks, at www.southfirstfridays.com.
UNDERGROUND SCENE: Live jazz will make for an even cooler atmosphere at Haberdasher, the basement craft cocktail lounge at 43 W. San Salvador St., starting this Thursday and continuing the first week of each month this summer. The Haberdasher Shows will feature a resident trio made up of guitarist Mark Arroyo, vocalist Jonathan Borca and keyboardist Bennett Roth Newell, each week from 6 to 10 p.m. The trio describes their sound as “Hip Hop(e)” — a blend of jazz, soul and spoken word.
Guitarist Mark Arroyo, vocalist Jonathan Borca and keyboard player Bennett Roth Newell perform during Haberdasher's 15th anniversary party on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The trio will return for a monthly residency, the Haberdasher Shows, starting June 5, 2025. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)Haberdasher owner Cache Bouren invited the trio to play at the bar’s 15th anniversary anniversary party last month. Each week, the Haberdasher Shows also will showcase the work of a different local photographer: Stephanie Barajas and special guest artist Constance Button on June 5, Alex Knowbody on July 3, Daniel Garcia on Aug. 7 and Quinton Louis on Sept. 4.
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COMMON CAUSE: Art builds community, and in the case of the controversial film, “No Other Land,” it has built an interesting coalition here in the South Bay. Grace Baptist Church in San Jose is hosting a screening of the Oscar-winning documentary about the situation in the West Bank on June 7 and is hoping to fill its 250-seat auditorium.
The church at 484 E. San Fernando St. purchased the screening rights and rented equipment for the one-night showing along with eight co-sponsors: the Arab American Cultural Center of Silicon Valley, South Bay Jewish Voices for Peace, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, Code Pink-San Jose, Vigil4Gaza, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the San Jose Friday Night Peace Vigil and San Jose Against War.
“We are doing what we can to make this documentary available to those who want to see for themselves, up close, from an on the ground viewpoint, the struggles of the innocents who reside in the West Bank community,” said Bill Brooks, who is on the Grace Baptist Church administration team.
The 6:30 p.m. show will be followed by a Q&A session. The screening is free, but a donation of $10-$20 is suggested. Go to www.graceinsanjose.org/events-and-activities for more details or to RSVP.
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