Warriors, Macy Gray will lead Pride events
It’s Silicon Valley Pride week and there has been plenty of celebrating going on already before this weekend’s parade, which honors the Warriors as grand marshals and a daylong festival headlined by R&B singer Macy Gray. Earlier this week, San Jose City Councilwoman Pam Foley led a flagraising ceremony for both the LGBT rainbow flag and the transgender flag at City Hall, which has been illuminated in rainbow colors nightly since Tuesday. And both a bus and light-rail train have been roaming around the South Bay colorfully wrapped with the “Ride with Pride” slogan by VTA.
This is all leading up to the 44th edition of the LGBTQ community’s signature celebration in the South Bay. The party really gets started Saturday with a 4 p.m. rally celebrating the transgender community, followed by a ’ 70s disco-themed night party in the park with DJs and other performers until 11 p.m.
The parade, which starts at 10 a.m. and runs on Market Street from Julian to San Fernando streets, will feature dozens of entrants including elected officials, community groups and other supporters. If you want an inkling about how important this event is to tech companies, here’s a sample of those who are participating: Amazon, Netflix, Adobe, Oracle, Google and Intel.
The festival kicks off at noon with a performance by the Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus and other entertainment throughout the day. Gray is scheduled to take the main stage at 4 p.m., and the Rainbow Women’s Chorus will close the event at the Hey Girl Stage at 5:30 p.m. Admission to the festival is $5, and you can get more information at svpride.com. SMOOTHER STREETS AHEAD » You know things have gotten bad on San Jose roads when the city celebrates street paving with a news conference. But that’s what happened this week on a cul- de-sac near Plata Arroyo Park in East San Jose as Mayor Sam Liccardo and city transportation director John Ristow — along with several others — cheered the city’s Pavement Maintenance Program for 2019.
The big deal is that thanks to funding from voter-approved measures in 2016 and 2018, the city can repair and repave nearly 300 miles of major and residential streets, with the lion’s share being smaller, residential areas. Liccardo said that’s more than the city’s been able to do in more than two decades.
And they’re not done, as the city plans to upgrade 1,400 miles of pavement over the next nine years. DOWNTOWN CELEBRATIONS » To celebrate SAP Center’s quarter- century as an entertainment venue, SAP is throwing a free block party on Autumn Street tonight from 5:30-7 p.m. featuring live music from the all-woman tribute band The Killer Queens. You can take pictures in front of a giant, inflated shark head, grab some food truck bites and purchase beer (with the cashonly brew sales supporting the Sharks Foundation). If you miss this week’s party, there’ll be another Sept. 6.
And after you’re done hanging out at the Shark Tank, you can head to the last Music in the Park concert of the season featuring California reggae singer J Boog and openers Rudy Ibarra & the Balikbayans. No tickets will be sold at the gate, though, so go to sjdowntown.com/ music-in-the-park before they’re sold out.