On Saturday, September 20 Backesto Park comes alive with the 7th annual Luna Park Chalk Art Festival.  The festival is an all-volunteer run event created to provide a family-friendly, accessible venue to showcase the talents of local artists and students, foster awareness of the critical need for arts in schools and organizations serving youth, and to raise funds for providing grants and scholarships to meet that need.

No longer a tiny neighborhood event, the festival has grown, bringing in talented performers and musicians, vendors and food trucks, including some of my favorites, Hill Country BBQ and Waffle Amore! The dancers from  Movimiento Cosmico Indigenous Dance will be there too with their stunning ceremonial dances.

Check out the Flickr feed for the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival for more photos and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter too.

If you’d like to participate as an artist or support the festival as a volunteer or sponsor , registration for all artists, artist/vendors, schools, and nonprofits is located here.

What’s not to love about a bacon festival with fireworks too? July 4th and 5th is the second annual Movable Feast Bacon Festival on the Plaza de Cesar Chavez. They’ve expanded to two full days of food, entertainment, music and SJStreet Mart vendors with everything from henna tattoos and organic indigo to jewelry, clothing and more.

The food
Throughout the day there will be a load of food trucks including the famous Bacon Bacon and Baconbot trucks. Even if bacon isn’t your favorite thing there are plenty of other options from Grilled Cheese bandits, Madd Mex Cantina, Tastee Bytes, Chromatic Coffee, Treatbot and Fairycakes. Here’s the list of food vendors.

Entertainment
Kick up your heels to Yeshua and the Hi-Tones, Anya and the Getdown, The People and The Honey Wilders and watch the Pro Wrestling Revolution at several times both days. Silly Ricky the stilt juggler will be there as well as Brian the Bubble guy to entertain the kids. This is definitely a family friendly event.

Fireworks will start at 9:30 on July 4th courtesy of the San Jose Rotary Club

Here’s the full schedule and be sure to get tickets in advance at a discounted price. (Kids tickets are free online)

Will this be the year of the 10-Way Jacket?

Each year San Jose’s Tapestry Arts Festival brings us some of the most interesting art around. Whether it’s *really* unique jackets (they are there every year!), gorgeous scenic photography, detailed illustrations, or handmade pieces using everyday household objects – the festival never disappoints.

My friends and I have gone each year for awhile now, walking up and down the isles making sure to stop by almost every booth. Every year I toy around with the idea of buying an illustration, miniature sculpture, or some wild piece of jewelry. What I enjoy the most is taking photos – my kind of art – of how I see the festival.

That and enjoying some warm, fresh made kettle corn. Nom, nom, nom.. mmm.

But arts and crafts are not the only things there. Music plays a big role at the festival, sometimes ranging from jazz to rock, to blues. With several stages throughout the festival there are simply too may acts to list here. Check out the festival’s lineup so you can be sure to catch your favorites.

But if you’re thinking it doesn’t sound any different from last year – then you’re wrong. This year there is an added event. Tapestry Arts presents the first annual Trash Art Fashion Show and Contest. “Think of it as Project Runway goes a little trashy.” So if you’re a fan of PR, a show where designers are given challenges to design clothing from sometimes unique materials, you may find this event fun to watch! The age group for the designers is 9 to 18 and they’ll be using trash and recycled materials to create wearable (they will be the models as well) art.

If you attend the festival please be sure to stop by our Flickr group and add any photos you may take of the event!

Details:
Tapestry Arts Festival
Downtown San Jose

Saturday 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
Monday 10 am – 5 pm
All proceeds fund arts education programs in schools and arts outreach to the community

Trash Art Fashion Show and Contest
Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park
Sunday, September 6, at 12:45 pm

One of the best festivals in the Bay Area is the Maker Faire (World’s Largest DIY Festival) and it’s happening next weekend, May 30 and 31st.

Now in it’s fourth year, Maker Faire has grown not only in size (it now spans the entire San Mateo County fairgrounds now) but also in popularity. The first two years it was rather easy to park at the main parking lot outside the East entrance to the fairgrounds. Last year traffic was backed up for MILES on the freeway just getting to the place. Not to mention, once you were there, you had to drive a bit farther to dedicated parking lots/garages elsewhere and ride an old school bus (free) to the fairgrounds. I think it’s awesome that this service is provided and goes to show just how wonderful this event truly is.

If you’re a Maker Faire virgin, what should you expect? Team Maker Faire boils it down to the categories of: Arts & Crafts, Science & Engineering, Robotics & Rockets, Sustainability, Fun For Kids, and Music & Fire. There is something for everyone. Bring Mom and Dad, bring your college buddies, meet up with your coworkers, or just come by yourself. Regardless, everyone will have something up their alley to watch, listen, or participate in.

Throughout the two days, special guests will be performing or speaking. One that will be no doubt popular – Adam Savage of Mythbusters will be speaking on Saturday (2pm, MAKE Main Stage 2) on “Colossal Failures”.

In the Arts & Crafts world at Maker Faire, if you’re into that sort of thing, there will be plenty at hand. Bazaar Bizarre (a fave of mine) will have a selection of indie designer and crafters on hand selling their wares. Swap-O-Rama-Rama is returning so if you’re into sewing be sure to bring a bag of unwanted clothes and your creativity. Donate the clothes and pick out some new ones and create a new outfit on-site. I checked it out the first year and noticed there were several sewing machines, screen printing machines, and all sorts of other resources (including fellow crafters) there for all your hand-making needs.

Sculptures, working-machines, fire-breathing iron contraptions — the festival showcases so many amazing creations.

The details:
Maker Faire 2009
San Mateo County Expo Center
Saturday: 10a-8p, Sunday: 10a-6p

Weekend and Day-Pass tickets are available. Note that while discounted tickets are no longer available via the website, there are over 75 locations in the Bay Area that offer discounted tickets. Don’t hesitate to check them out!

For more details and a program you can download, visit MakerFaire.com

From the group's July 13 performance at the San Jose Obon Festival.

.

Hi everyone!

I’m Sarah, a new author for the San Jose Metblog. I’m very excited to contribute and to start off, I’d like to tell you a bit about myself (it’ll be short – I promise!)

– Journalism was my first love. I studied Journalism at SJSU, graduated with a degree in the fabulous subject in 2005, worked for local weekly newspapers for two years, then decided to leave the business. Not because I didn’t love reporting, but because I figured I should get out while I still had the choice. Anyone who’d like to have a conversation about the current state of Journalism in the Bay Area is absolutely welcome to leave a comment and let me know. :)

– I’m currently back at SJSU in the teaching credential program to be a high school English teacher. Yes, I left a poverty-inducing career where getting laid off is a possibility, to enter another poverty-inducing career that is also in danger financially. But what isn’t these days?

– And last, I love photography. I take photos around San Jose all the time, so I’m making it a mission to bring photos to each of my entries, starting with this one!

OK, enough about me. What I really want to tell you all about is the Spirit of Japantown Festival that is planned for next Saturday, Oct. 4. As a Japantown resident, I love telling people how much I love it here and how they should come by and check out some of the delicious food. Sushi Maru is my personal favorite, but Japantown has lots to offer.

The Spirit of Japantown Festival will go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the heart of Japantown (Jackson and Fifth streets) and will be packed with activities for people of all ages. Shoppers will enjoy the Main Street full of Japanese fine arts, crafts, food for sale, as well as wares from other local merchants. Festival-goers will be able to enjoy entertainment that ranges from a hula to bellydancing on the Main Stage (Jackson Street between Third and Fourth streets), as well as Martial Arts demonstrations, free Anime movies, and other activities for kids. The San Jose Taiko group is scheduled to perform on the Main Stage, and I have to say they are a must-see. I’ve watched the group perform at the last two San Jose Obon Festivals and they are phenomenal.

While there is usually plenty of street parking in the area, during festivals, the streets fill up fast. However, those who are lightrail savvy will be interested to know that the Japantown/Ayer stop is just a few blocks away from the action. The stop is on First street near Jackson, so just a quick walk and riders can be in the heart of the action.

So if you’re interested, I’m sending you a personal invitation to my neighborhood to enjoy all it has to offer. See you at the festival!

For more information about the Spirit of Japantown Festival, visit their website.