With the help from a local nonprofit, San Jose State is revitalizing life in Downtown San Jose with a weekly Friday festival after the coronavirus pandemic left it quiet for more than a year.
The Urban Vibrancy Institute collaborated in hosting the school’s first weekly “Every Friday in Downtown,” from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Urban Vibrancy is a local nonprofit dedicated to bringing new life to downtown and unifying the San Jose community, according to its website.
Its founder Eric Glader said despite mixed opinions over masks and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the downtown community joined together for an evening of music, food, and drinks.
“[Many] people may not want to be masked, they may not be vaccinated, but they can all agree that music is awesome. Music is this connective tissue,” Glader said. “Our goal is to create a variety of different [music] spots simultaneously.”
The festival encompassed three locations: Martin Luther King Jr. Library’s lawn, Fountain Alley, a downtown pedestrian paseo at the corner of Fourth and San Fernando streets, and Camino Brewery, located on South First and Virginia streets.
These three spaces formed a triangle of live music so attendees could walk around Downtown San Jose and interact with different performances.
The crowd of around 50 people consisted mostly of new and returning SJSU students looking to explore the city.
Urban Vibrancy invited The 408 Collective, a local band, to headline Friday’s event.
Jared Carbajal, the founder of The 408 Collective, said it was exciting to have a mixed audience to watch their performance because they love the excitement of interacting with fans.
Carbajal said The 408 Collective is a community-based band and organization, but the members classify the set as a “jam session,” meaning any spectators can join the stage.
“We've been hosting community nights [where the] band plays [a set] and then we invite community members to come up and play songs with us,'' Carbajal said.
Some SJSU students in attendance said they were stoked to receive a Thursday campuswide email from Charlie Faas, university vice president for administration and finance, inviting the community to “Every Friday in Downtown.”
“I'm glad there's an event a little outside because we've been kind of confined to the campus,” said Amber Sangha, a biology systems and physiology junior.
Eric Velasquez, an SJSU alumnus and local artist, created a colorful and abstract art piece with spray paint as community members grooved to the music.
“I hope that the art we’ve got going on here brings people together,” Vasquez said. “You look around and you see people having a good time, listening to music that I think we all enjoy regardless of our personal preferences.”
Glader said, as much as students look forward to attending these types of live events, Downtown San Jose is reliant on their engagement.
“The city wants to embrace the students and it really is just this rising tide lifting all ships or services that you guys need and [there is] business that the restaurants need,” Glader said.
Carabajal said his band received local recognition thanks to “Every Friday in Downtown” and its large turnout.
“I mean [Urban Vibrancy took] a really big chance with us and every event we've been doing,” Carbajal said. “I mean the whole goal for them and for us right now is to kind of revive areas that went down [through the COVID-19 pandemic].”
While everyone was vibing to live music, some attendees came particularly for the food.
Rodney Baca, an award winning chef who has long championed local businesses in San Jose, particularly drew a crowd around his “pop up” cafe.
Located inside the MLK library during the event, “The Shop” is his latest venture with delicious, Michelin-rated cuisine.
The Michelin rating is one of the best known guides that awards one-to-three stars to restaurants with perceivably high culinary merit, according to the Michelin guide webpage.
The smell of gourmet macaroni and cheese wafted through Chef Baca’s restaurant all the way outside, catching the senses of many passersby and drawing them into the cafe.
Like many SJSU students, Ashley Sligh said she’s excited to finally have in-person events after a year-and-a-half of events being on Zoom.
“I'm just excited about hearing the live music because I haven't been around that in a long time,” Sligh said.
