SubZERO Festival

The SubZERO festival is an event presented by South First Fridays (but this took place on both Friday and Saturday evening this past weekend in June). It's basically 2-3 blocks of streets closed off to vehicles, lined with booths and stands presenting art and music exhibits and selling colorful and quirky creations to the public. There's a beer garden, and stages at each end with live music (lots of slowcore music on the main stage, a sort of indie rock). The real entertainment was the art itself coming from the various vendors and artists. There was an interesting musical exhibit (giant instrument), the Space Palette, that apparently would only run after sundown. Even booths that were just selling items had really great paintings and sculptures to view, making it feel like an outdoor art museum in the streets. Then of course some of the actual venues on 1st Street were showcasing pieces of art and culture as well, at no cost to visitors, such as the MACLA, a contemporary arts space focused on the Chicano/Latino experience.There were about 6-7 food trucks at one end, extremely spaced out. Earlier in the evening only one had a line and it was very short... El Bombero 408 (looked like a fire truck), serving yummy mexican food, including shrimp quesadillas! Another truck, De La Tierra, served plant-based vegan food. I recall Fresh Catch Poke truck as well. So, yeah several different options, but nothing that really stood out that much to me. For a festival on a Saturday evening, I'd say the place wasn't very busy, I guess that's good in the covid era, with lots of open air to roam around comfortably. I hear it's been a lot busier in the past and had a lot more to offer. Later at night it did get more crowded, but not too much.To me, it was a cool low-key thing to do as we transition from spring to summer season. And the temperature was perfect outside, a comfortable 72 degrees in the evening and mid 60's later at night. Pretty ideal for an enjoyable night out. Also, in an ideal and fitting location, in the SoFA district, where we were able to check out the new Mama Kin venue as well for some drinks and live jazz before our night ended, since it's one of the many businesses on the block (formerly known as Cafe Stritch).I'm sure parking's been worse in previous years when the event was busier, but I was able to find free street parking just around the corner... might have gotten lucky though, plus I arrived early like 6pm.

Went here with my daughter and partner. All we have to say is... if you want weird and funky, this is where you go. And Definitely in a good way. I mean we're giving it 5 stars. They have everything from belly dancers to handmade soap to henna tattoos to off-the-wall awesome live bands, food trucks, street art, handmade jewelry, pottery, candles, and even a light up dance floor! This festival only happens once a year. And if you're ever in the South Bay area around this time of year, it is a must go to!

In conjunction with South First Friday Art Walk http://www.yelp.com/biz/south-first-fridays-san-jose#hrid:ZoR-UD81TFLJ3_IQNHSyVQ/src:search/query:south%20first%20fridayin June. Three streets on South First Street, artists, food, music stages, performers, jewelery, clothing.There are also participating galleries from the Art Walk that are open late night. 6pm-12 midnightI arrived around 4pm to find street parking and got a great metered street parking til 6pm then free afterwards. Checked out the galleries til the Festival started.

Definitely a nice little thing to do on a Friday night, as they usually will schedule the start of the fest to fall on the First Friday of the month so there are plenty of places to duck into and check out anyway. It's truly a great way to get exposed to local vendors you may not have otherwise had access to. It was great to see Classic Loot, Zonkey, the Art Boutiki and more represent this past weekend!I would certainly suggest arriving at the very start of the Friday night festivities if you prefer to avoid crowds - parking was relatively easy to find, hitting up SoFA Market for dinner was easy breezy (in fact, easier and breezier than on other similarly busy nights), and it was actually a pleasure to walk the closed-off streets and check everything out because there weren't tons of people to bump into yet. You will more than likely see someone you know at subZero, so don't be surprised if you reconnect with a long lost bud after the fest - hell, you can even get your caricature drawn together there if you wanted to!It's been described as the mark of the beginning of summer in San Jose, and the temperature was high enough to make me believe it. Check it out next year if you're into a hot night on the town - and I do mean hot.

I love this festival. I think it had gotten bigger. It features art of all kind from local artists, food truck eats, music, and fashion. All this in one stop festival. I love that my favorite stores are vendors here.

Not a bad festival at all. Was covering the event with a local community access television station and the bands were awesome. Lots of vendors and interesting artwork along the way. Only thing I didn't like dealing with was all the drunks.

As Music in the Park reemerges from the ashes, the $10 entrance fee has many local San Joseans looking elsewhere for their downtown summer celebrations. For many, that party is SubZERO Fest, on the first Friday and Saturday of June through August.This block party is put on by South First Fridays, "an eclectic evening of Arts & Culture in downtown San Jose's SoFA district (and beyond) every First Friday of the month." While First Fridays are always a notable date to come out and experience local art, SubZERO takes it up a notch. The first festival of the summer kicked off last week...and it was a blast.The SoFA district was filled with local art vendors, music and dance performers. The bars were filled to the brim. And as they do every year, the beer garden showcased some of the tastiest local craft brews with their stage surrounded by eager music lovers, beer in hand.Cafe Stritch was considerably full with a jazz band jamming for hours on both nights.Although this is SubZERO's eighth year, the recent change to extending it from Friday to Saturday, as well as keeping the party going until midnight, has allowed SubZERO to develop into one of the finest free block parties in America. And if you don't believe me, go to the next one in July and experience it for yourself.http://www.the408archives.com/subzero-festival-brings-joy-to-thousands/

The annual subZERO festival in DTSJ's SoFA is quite amazing. Difficult to explain, but it's quite the eclectic celebration of music / technology / media / art. It has an awesome SJ / Silicon Valley vibe. Check it out for sure.