The new Taylor Street Night Market is already a big hit, based on the San Pedro Square Market-sized crowd that showed up to last Thursday’s first event at Gordon Biersch’s brewery in Japantown. related_articles location=”left” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”automatic-primary-tag”]

The Night Market — showcasing street food, live music, craft vendors and beer runs — will be open from 5 to 9 p.m every Thursday throughout the summer in the brewery’s courtyard. Gordon Biersch co-founder Dan Gordon told me he thought the market would be a fun way to activate the space during off-hours while providing a dining and entertainment option for the growing residential population of San Jose’s Japantown and Northside neighborhoods.

While he’d staged some large one-time events there, the idea of an ongoing beer garden was something new. So Gordon turned to Moveable Feast founder Ryan Sebastian, who produces weekly food truck events throughout the Bay Area. The music and food truck offerings will change out every week: Guitarist and singer Isaiah performs this week, followed by keyboardist Brian Ho on June 1 and the Mark Arroyo Trio on June 8. You can keep up to date on the schedule at www.facebook.com/nightmrkt.

IT’S GOWN TIME AT SJSU: San Jose State’s commencement ceremony Saturday morning at CEFCU Stadium, the former Spartan Stadium, will be a source of joy for the estimated 10,000 students receiving their degrees. But it could be a headache for anyone not ready for the big traffic jam around the stadium at Seventh Street and Alma Avenue before the 9:30 a.m. ceremony.

Phil Boyce, a 1966 SJSU grad who founded Pacific Valley Bank in 1975 and continues to be a key Silicon Valley business leader and philanthropist in retirement, will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the ceremony. Ysabel Duron, the groundbreaking broadcast journalist and founder of Latinas Contra Cancer, will deliver the commencement address. While Duron earned her degree in journalism in 1970, you can bet her life experiences will still resonate with today’s grads.

WEEKEND FESTIVALS: Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer, and that brings summer food festivals. Two of San Jose’s most popular food events, its bacon and taco festivals, will take place for the first time on the same weekend at History Park.

The sixth annual Taco Festival of Innovation is on Saturday, with more than 20 food truck chefs serving up their best twists on the Mexican street food staple from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, tacos will be replaced by sizzling pork as Baconland — formerly known as the San Jose Bacon Festival of America — takes over the park. On both days, there’ll be craft beer tasting, live entertainment and lucha libre wrestling. Go to www.mvblfeast.com for ticket information.

And California’s Great America is celebrating the holiday weekend with a new festival, Red, White and Brews that runs Saturday through Monday and continues June 3-4. Taking place in the park’s Hometown Square, it’ll feature tastings — for an additional charge — from more than two dozen regional craft breweries and Northern California wineries, plus live bands and lots of comfort food like smoked chicken drumsticks, pulled pork sandwiches and corn ears roasted in chili powder and lime juice. Go to www.cagreatamerica.com for ticket info.