St. Joseph Cathedral is glowing for the holidays

Projections provide a new look this month for historic house of worship

In a normal year, St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica would be in the midst of hosting two weeks of free arts performances. But this has been far from a normal year, forcing the cancellation of the Season of Hope concerts — a downtown San Jose holiday tradition for many families.

But all is not lost, as even though the cathedral can’t host art inside its walls, the building’s facade has been turned into a canvas for artistic projections. The arty makeover began last weekend and will continue starting at dusk each night through the end of the year. New layers will be built onto the videomapping installation by Terry Estioko of Santa Clara-based Estioko Design, so it’s worth visiting more than once. And while you could just drive by, strollers will get an extra experience thanks to a soundtrack added by DJ Carlos Diaz of Knight Sounds Entertainment.

That’s not the only illumination brightening downtown San Jose this month. Lighting has been added to several buildings, including the Fairmont Hotel annex, the Security and Letitia Buildings on South First Street and the old Valley Title building — now home to arts groups including Local Color and San Jose Jazz — at the corner of First and San Carlos.

San Jose City Hall also will continue to be lit in a variety of colors over the next few weeks to acknowledge several cultural holidays taking place during the season. The tower and rotunda were in pink and orange to represent last month’s Diwali celebrations. The colors changed to blue and white for Hanukkah, and, on Sunday, they’ll switch again to green and red for Christmas. On Dec. 26, the colors will be red, yellow and green for Kwanzaa, and it wraps up with white, red and green for Dia de Los Reyes on Jan. 2-8.

SPARTAN UP >> It’s too bad with all that lighting going on City Hall isn’t lit in white-blueand-gold this week to celebrate the San Jose State Spartans’ appearance in the Mountain West conference championship game Saturday against Boise State. Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, of course, that game would be played at CEFCU Stadium, instead of Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Ironically, with the construction on the east side of the former Spartan Stadium, there might not have been enough capacity to accommodate all the fans who may have shown up.

And instead of an oncampus event to cheer on the unbeaten and 25thranked Spartans, San Jose State is hosting a virtual pep rally at noon Friday. Coach Brent Brennan and the team are expected to beam in live from Las Vegas, SJSU President Mary Papazian and Athletic Director Marie Tuite will make remarks, and everyone’s favorite cheerleader, “Krazy” George

Henderson will keep the beat going with his drum. Spartan alums and fans can join in at bit. ly/SJSUPEPRALLY2020 (and note that it’s casesensitive).

GIFTS AT MARTHA’S KITCHEN >> Bill Lee, executive director of Martha’s Kitchen in San Jose, has seen demand for meals double because of the pandemic and also knows that many families are struggling to make ends meet for the holidays. So the nonprofit will shift gears this weekend, partnering with Toys for Tots and the Order of Malta Western Association to give away 5,000 wrapped toys for kids in the surrounding neighborhood.

The toys — aimed at children up to age 14 — will be distributed Saturday, Sunday and Monday with drive-thru delivery taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at 311 Willow St. Many volunteer elves will join Santa to help out with distribution,

but if you’d like to help out or get more information, contact Lee at bill@marthas-kitchen. org.

WISH BOOK BEHIND THE SCENES >> The Bay Area News Group’s holiday fundraising campaigns, Wish Book and Share the Spirit, are well underway, and I’ll be moderating an online talk Thursday morning with my colleagues who have brought those stories to readers. If you’d like to hear about the behind-thescenes work that goes into those projects, you can sign up for the 10 a.m. webinar — part of our Newsroom@Home series — at mercurynews.com/events.