ICA is a large cool funky art space that also hosts events…read more Among the many cool restaurants and bars along south First Street are the cool artsy venues. The Institute of Contemporary Arts (i.e. ICA) is fantastic. It showcases local Bay Area artists' works among others. Super friendly staff are on hand and have the latest scoop on upcoming happenings. Go online to see upcoming events at the ICA. You may discover some cool-funky talks and art shows. Happy adventures!

Feeling arty-farty, I decided to go check out the Institute of Contemporary Art. It's located in a…read morereally cool area of First St. Admission is free which is always nice. I wanted to donate and the friendly guy asked if I wanted to sign up to get information, but I declined. I was the only one in there. The exhibit was called "Allegedly the Worst is Behind Us" which featured 12 artists and their work expressing intergenerational trauma. The work was very personal and moving and inspiring too. The work was much more interesting than the San Jose Art Museum. I felt the work would definitely resonate with others who may have experienced the same thing. Since I saved $20 on the last museum, I put it in the donation box in the front. Great place to come to!

My boyfriend and I walked in here during the holiday season, but during the day time so there…read morewasn't any real event or lights on, but it was still nice to see all of the houses, decor, and set up. Plus parking was free and entry was free when we went. Just a BIG FYI, because we didn't go during an event, they DO LOCK UP THE PARK and when I was waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up from our parking area (ended up on the other side of the park somehow), I saw a bunch of people trying to call for help after the gate locked them in. Woops. It seems that they hold lots of events here with outdoor local vendors, food vendors, and also opportunities to go inside the houses and learn about the history of a lot of the buildings. I'd keep an eye out on their social media or website for those, but as a freebie person exploring through. It's fun and cute.

If you've been to medieval or historical towns (where folks dress up in that time period and…read morereenact that time period...), this History Park has that kind of vibe. It's like a small town within a big town. There's a museum. There's a gift shop. There's a garden. There's a bunch of seating areas. There's sculptures. There's trains and horns you can honk. Parking is strange. No idea if they truly monitor and ticket folks because it's self pay.

5 stars because it's free and I enjoyed my time…read more Pretty chill art museum I liked all the variations of soccer balls and one painting really caught my attention. I appreciate that it is free. They close early so go before 5pm. I was late and only had 30 minutes to end it that was enough time. I ended up sitting outside and just journaled about my day. Such a relaxing evening.

I love this museum. I actually went here before as a field trip for Girl Scouts. I love they gave…read morethe football memorabilia. They even do events here too: I went here for a wedding. They have beautiful walls to take a photo ops.

Cutest lil plant store I've been in in a long time!…read more Grabbed this super vibrant inchplant & added this beauty to my collection. Love the warmth of the store as you enter, very welcoming & the staff was super nice! It's the lil touches right down to the adorable notes they put in the bag. Read them both when I got home. Support women owned & local. Will definitely be picking up a few more gems in the future, they're super affordable & their plants are healthy & happy. I also saw that you can host events a d create things here. How exciting. Will be looking into that idea as well!

**3.5 stars** Super…read morecute boutique plant store for plant mamas and papas! The store is a little smaller than I thought (you can see the whole store right when you enter), and the prices were steeper that I thought (ie, tiny enamel pins are $12 and $16!) -- so after such a long drive to get there, I didn't end up buying anything, which is very OFF BRAND of me! Momstera Lounge is at the end of the little downtown, so it was fun to walk around and made the most of our long drive. The store is super cute though, and if I lived closer, I'd probably check out one of their classes.

Super cute shop located in Japantown. It's a lot larger than it appears outside. It's filled with…read moreall sorts of cute, fun things from stickers, magnets, plushies, shirts, cards and so much more. The guy working was friendly and helpful.

Specifically this review is for the SJ Made event that happened this past weekend (May 30-31, 2026)…read morein the History Park San Jose. L O C A T I O N There are two locations for paid parking which was stated on the website. Paid garage located at 1278 S 10th Street Paid parking lot located at 350 E. Humboldt Street We opted for the closer parking. Luckily you can pay on mobile if you have reception. I luckily did out of the 4 of us that were there. Otherwise, you'd have to wait in line to pay at the kiosk. So budget some time to pay for waiting for the kiosk in case you don't have cell phone reception. Parking was $15 + fee. E V E N T It's a large park and if you show up as one of the first 100 people, you get a free tote bag with this year's design for the event. Unluckily even though we showed maybe half an hour after the opening, it was all gone. So make sure you go early if you want the freebie. The event itself is free and it's outdoors so you can bring your furry friend but they need to be leashed. There are large water filling stations and port o potties. Feel free to bring your water canteens. It said you couldn't bring outside drinks or food but we were able to bring in our own filled bottles as well as some Starbucks drinks. But of course worse case is that you have to bring back your stuff to your car. It's not a far walk but it's still a walk from the parking structure. They do have a nice map of the booths as well as events throughout the day. They also have a bunch of food stands and trucks there if you want to make it a day. We opted to just go outside for food as the lines were long and the day was hot. Although not as big as the Winterfest, this event was a nice outdoor one with various craft goods. I always am in awe with all these makers. They're all so talented! O V E R A L L If you're wanting to do some walking and perusing of crafts, it's not a bad way to spend a couple hours of your day. I'm unsure if there's any free parking around, but you could try searching. We just didn't do much research on it.

Free art exhibits, live music, delicious food and drinks... this is definitely my kind of event!…read moreVarious musicians performing at participating venues during specific times throughout the day, it was enjoyable entertainment. First I stopped by Whole Foods, cuz ya know, I could fit in a little bit of grocery shopping in between songs. Lots of outdoor seating around, and David Jesitus (duo) performing for passersby. Then, off to Visual Philosophy Studio, where I got to check out the opening reception for Encode-I art exhibit by Yue Xin, and met the artist while listening to the sounds of Asher Stern (unique covers of songs like Santeria and No Diggity). Afterward, Hop & Vine made the most sense since it was just a few minutes walk away. Had some really great wine and snacks here, specifically the house made jalapeno poppers were delicious. Peter Martin wowed the cozy-sized crowd with his electric guitar and vocals, playing a range of songs, including instrumentals for hits like Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. He played till 7pm, an hour later than the listed time for Second Saturday on The Alameda. Many of these artists did a lot of folksy music and renditions of songs, and I was loving it. My final stop for the night was J. Lohr Vineyards, the only one with live music later in the evening on this day, two hours of duets and harmony by the Complements... so many covers on the keyboard, guitar, and vocals including How Deep is Your Love, Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, Hotel California, Your Song, Can't Help Falling in Love, Take On Me, and I Wanna Dance With Somebody. I was able to experience so much in just a few hours. Even without stops at the tattoo parlor, coffee shop, or pancake house (other spots that had live music on this Second Saturday as listed on the schedule), I was more than satisfied with my visit to this event. A great opportunity to explore and support local businesses along the Alameda while appreciating the work of various artists and entertainers at no cost, with bonus freebies offered by specific venues as well. I'll definitely be back.

This is a beautiful fine art gallery. There's so much talent in this gallery. It was renovated and…read moreis even more beautiful than it already was.

Great selection of art from local artists at very reasonable prices…read more We have purchased many pieces here and we will definitely be back for more

Been to the San Jose City Hall once before inside but I recently came for a Dom Dolla Concert. It's…read moreamazing to see San Jose have big concerts and do a Downtown shutdown in that area. Overall it was an okay experience for us, maybe it was just the vibes and the crowd more so the venue. I would ideally give it a 3 star but since the San Jose City Hall is its own entity, I don't want to give them a bad review. Starting with the lines to get in, it was very poorly run with people cutting and a HUGE bottleneck of people. From what I saw there wasn't enough rails and check in staff to help with the event so they were going so slow. Inside it was amazing to see the festival go on with apartments, traffic light in the middle of the venue and just felt like a street festival. I noticed a lot of police too which was great to see even though we got caught up in the middle of a fight and got her drinks spilled.

Hello, I just know about this Civic Center from my friends…read more.I heard about the events will be soon in September 2026.I tried to call Ms. Yen Dinh about some events will happen around in October, but there is no answer .So, I 'd like to have some phone numbers or the websites of City Hall that I can contact ,and ask for these events . Thank you and have a nice day. Very sincerely. Anh Huynh. My email address : a.huynh15@yahoo.com.