San Jose’s Little Italy district may seem a little bigger when it holds an inaugural street festival this Sunday.

The festival will take place on North Almaden Boulevard, which will be closed between Henry’s Hi-Life on St. John Street to Paesano Ristorante on Julian Street for the big party. Henry’s, Paesano and Bel Bacio coffee will have some specials going, and there’ll be plenty of other food, including ravioli from Antipastos Deli, baked ziti from East Coast Alice in Saratoga, a pizza food truck, and sausage and polenta provided by Italian service organizations. The Houserockers will lead a lineup of entertainment on a stage under the Little Italy arch.

Little Italy President Joshua DeVincenzi Melander said holding more Italian-oriented events, like last year’s Ravioli Cook-Off, has been part of the cultural district’s plan. When the Italian American Heritage Foundation moved the Italian Family Festa to History Park this year, Little Italy saw an opportunity.

“When the IAHF moved, we made sure we planned a big event right away to keep a large-scale festival going on in Little Italy,” he said.

The festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., also will launch a membership campaign to raise funds for the future Italian Cultural Center & Museum. Admission is free, and parking will be available at the Santa Clara County lot at 333 W. Julian St. Go to www.littleitalysj.com for more details.

PUMPKINS IN PALO ALTO: The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, now in its 21st year, opened Tuesday at the Palo Alto Art Center. The free outdoor installation showcases more than 10,000 glass pumpkins and is open to the public through Friday.

The annual sale of the colorful glass pumpkins and gourds takes place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with proceeds supporting the participating artists as well as the Bay Area Glass Institute, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation.

Palo Alto Art Center Foundation members at the Advocate level or above will get first pick of the pumpkins at Thursday night’s Candlelight Cocktails at the Art Center (which seems like a good enough reason to upgrade your membership). Get more details online at www.greatglasspumpkinpatch.com.

PRIORITIES OVER POLITICS: About 200 Silicon Valley community and business leaders opted to record Monday’s presidential debate so they could attend the Housing Trust Silicon Valley’s “Good Eats & Treats” event at Cafe Stritch in downtown San Jose.

San Jose City Councilman Raul Peralez arrived a little late, but with good reason — he had been meeting with constituents who had been hit with a 45 percent rent increase on their downtown apartments.

“This is typical of the conversations I have far too often,” Peralez said. And the councilman knows what he’s talking about: The former police officer is a renter and added that no one in his family has been able to achieve home ownership.

Recent reports that rents are coming down in San Jose is good news, and there was an even better announcement for affordable-housing advocates made at the event: Craig Robinson of Silicon Valley Bank said the bank is investing $2 million in Housing Trust programs in 2017.