Downtown San Jose’s epic street fair returns this weekend

SubZERO, the annual two-day street fair that kicks off summer in San Jose, returns Friday and Saturday night in downtown’s creatively bent SoFA District. It’s a whirlwind celebration of creativity that has brought together artists, performers, DIYers and more for the past dozen years.

The party stretches along South First Street from San Carlos to Reed streets, with stages for live music starting at 6 p.m. on both ends, in front of the California Theatre and at Parque de los Pobladores (where there is also a beer garden). In between, there are three blocks of galleries, pop-up performances and street art, organized by Cherri Lakey and Brian Eder, the owners of Anno Domini gallery who also produce the monthly South First Fridays art walks. Get more details at www.subzerofestival.com and www.southfirstfridays.com.

It’s free and family-friendly, and you never know when something unexpected might catch your attention. Last year, I fell down a rabbit hole leafing through boxes and boxes of LPs being sold by Needle to the Groove.

That memory actually made me realize SubZERO is the modern equivalent of Tapestry in Talent, the laid-back craft fair that had a 35-year run from its start in 1976. Part of the reason the Labor Day weekend staple finally petered out a decade ago, in my opinion, was because members of my generation who were dragged there as kids every year decided it wasn’t for us and let it wither on the vine.

But SubZERO is like Tapestry in Talent’s subversive little sister, just louder and wearing black nail polish. It’s still about showcasing creativity and community and, one hopes, making a buck or two for local artists. And I’m sure one day many years from now, my kids — who love the spectacle of SubZERO — will complain, “Oh yeah, our parents used to drag us to that every year. I’m not going to do anything that lame with my kids.”

WOMEN TAKE THE STAGE: If your only background in Elizabethan theater comes from seeing the movie “Shakespeare in Love,” you at least know that women weren’t allowed to perform on the stage in Bard’s day. So it is no doubt with ironic glee that Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s summer production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will feature an all-female cast.

The comedy kicks off Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s seventh year of free al fresco productions at Willow Street Park in San Jose (and its 21st season overall). “Midsummer” opens Friday night at 7 p.m. and continues Thursdays through Sundays until June 23. And thanks to a new partnership between Silicon Valley Shakespeare and the Montalvo Arts Center, there will be a performance July 14 at the historic villa in Saratoga. Go to svshakespeare.org/our-season/midsummer2019 for more details.

PLEASE HELP YOURSELF: The audience at Foothill Theatre was ready for the matinee of “12 Angry Women” — a gender-switched version of the classic courtroom drama — to start Sunday, admiring the jury room set with its big conference table, a coat rack and a water cooler with a stack of paper cups. A few minutes before the 2 p.m. start, a man walked onto the set and poured himself a cup of water, causing the audience to sit up thinking the show was starting.

Nope. It wasn’t a performer but a member of the audience who apparently decided to refresh himself. “He wandered back to his seat, oblivious that he had nearly found himself in a starring role,” noted Carla Befera, who watched the whole “performance” from her seat in the audience.

If you want to see the show, or “12 Angry Men,” with which it is running in repertory, it runs through next weekend. Go to foothill.edu/theatre for details, and get your refreshments in the lobby.

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