"About 800,000 people every year make a visit to Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose part of their holiday tradition. Of course, it's not to visit the Plumed Serpent statue or relax on a bench overlooking the Tech Interactive. No, for five weeks spanning Thanksgiving weekend to New Year's Day, the two-acre park's biggest draw for nearly 50 years has been Christmas in the Park a kitschy and whimsical collection of animatronic displays, hundreds of decorated trees and a chance to visit with Santa himself."
"South Bay residents who go farther back than that can remember the years when the display was installed on the lawn in front of the old San Jose City Hall on North First Street for a few years in the 1970s. And some still have fond memories of when everything was still on Willow Street, decorating the Lima Family mortuary every year from 1950 to 1969."
About 800,000 people visit Plaza de Cesar Chavez annually to attend Christmas in the Park during the five weeks from Thanksgiving weekend to New Year's Day. The two-acre park has hosted the event as its primary holiday attraction for nearly 50 years, featuring animatronic displays, hundreds of decorated trees and opportunities to visit Santa. Ted Lopez became executive director in August 2025, and his family has long treated the event as a holiday staple. The display previously appeared on North First Street in the 1970s and on Willow Street at the Lima Family mortuary from 1950 to 1969.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]