Christmas in the Park, San Jose

Location: Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Jose
Dates: November 29, 2013, through January 1, 2014. 9am to midnight every day.
Cost: Free

While looking for evening Christmas displays in the Bay Area, I started with the listing of houses that get all decked up for the holidays. But when I first started looking, it was early December and most listed houses were not yet complete (or were off during the week). However, at some point during my search, I discovered that one of the earliest displays to go up is Christmas in the Park in San Jose.

I’m not sure which part of the display to really focus on: the lane of Christmas trees decorated by community groups (e.g. the Girl Guides), the rows of Santa workshops, the large “Lima” train, the live performance in the centre of the park, the fair with a Ferris wheel and other rides, the Victorian Village or the massive Christmas tree that probably needed some sort of scaffolding to decorate.

A stroll through this park is a stereotypical Christmas walk, however, the number of police walking around was a bit daunting.

Finding parking around the park is a bit of a challenge, it’s located in the heart of Downtown San José at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez and not much is available unless you’re willing to pay an evening rate of $7 and for a 20-minute walk this seemed unreasonable. I lucked out because I was in a mini and found a free spot that no one else could fit into.