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Plaza de Cesar Chavez
Categories: Local Flavor Active Life Parks Local Flavor, Parks [Edit]
170 S Market StSan Jose, CA 95112
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
25 reviews for Plaza de Cesar Chavez
25 reviews in English
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Review from Alice C.
Santa Clara, CA
10/3/2011
Small and sweet is what this park is. Smacked in the middle of Downtown, San Jose, so it is a great place to chill and meet up with friends before heading out to your final destination.
On the north end of the park is where the stage is and where Music in the Park is set up during the summer. The south end is a big statue of a serpent called, "The Plumed Snake".
I have crossed here many times. Haven't been to Music in the Park yet and not planning on it since I heard bad vibes about it. However, during Christmas is where you need to be. "Christmas in the Park" is what you call Christmas spirit and it really does left up your spirits even though it's really cold out! =) -
Review from john-michael c.
Santa Clara, CA
11/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
What is there to say?
You are nice!
I still like walking through during Christmas in the Park. I enjoy watching kids play in the nasty chlorine smelling water fountain thingies. And who doesnt like music in the park where everyone is cramped and smoking something. Otherwise I drive by on my way somewhere or walk through on my way to eat. So I shall leave with my opening words...
You are nice!
;D -
Review from Brenda C.
San Jose, CA
1/1/2012
Cool,needs more for kids !!Nice though
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Review from Steph V.
7/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
If you like music, people, skateboarding, picnics, smoking, smoking gonja, public water fountains, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, snakes that look like poo, making friends with homeless people, reading books in the shade, exercising, marathons, flowers, walking through parks, being in a centralized location where you can meet anyone in DTSJ and the safety of knowing there are hella people chillin so you're nice and safe, then Plaza de Cesar Chavez is the place to be.
It's a downtown SJ must when there's an event. Don't lie to yourself; you love it too. -
Review from Madam A.
El Granada, CA
9/7/2011
Hell yeah, Music in the Park is awesome! San Jose really isn't my scene, but when I lived closer I'd come for the FREE shows and they didn't suck! They've had Junior Reed and Eek-a-Mouse just to name a few. It's totally different then San Francisco, but everybody is cool. People watching can be interesting. It shuts down around 8pm or so but therte's some bars and resturaunts within walking distance to wait until the massive rush out of the park dies down. Some people bring their young kids and babies... I personally woulodn't since people are smoking weed and drinking, but their not my kids so.... Anyways depending on the artist, the crowd differs. The Reagge crowd obviously mellow, haahaaa! Good times though fo' sho!
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Review from Ivy R.
This park is pretty cool. I wish, wish, wish we had one like this closer to hang out by.
We had the opportunity to walk around both at night and in the day.
During the day families come and hang out near the fountain while little children splish and splash in the fountain. Its looked really fun and I would have loved to run and play in it myself.
At night there is an element of riff raff but mostly its young people meeting up before dinners or clubbing.
Its situated between all the high rises so its like a little oasis in the hustle and bustle of the city.
Grab the hand of the one you love and take stroll or a splash if you wish....like me.Listed in: Free & Fun, Parks & Recreation
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Review from Wilhelm Y.
San Francisco, CA
4/22/2009 2 photos
Located in the heart of downtown San Jose, I've been visiting this little park for many years. This is the site for some of my favorite events. Events such as the finish line festival for the Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon, Christmas in the Park, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk and the Vietnamese Moon Festival are just a handful of examples.
On warm days kids of all ages play in the public fountain. Often you'll see adults join in on the fun. The park sits at a site perfect for taking a break if you're ever visiting the Tech Museum, the San Jose Convention Center or the San Jose Museum of Art. It's clean and relatively safe too as I've often noticed uniformed San Jose Police visiting with the children in the park. Ice cream vendors often push their carts around to the delight of overheated visitors. This park just has a really nice feel of community to it.
This past Sunday on an unseasonably warm day I took a long 90 minute break at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. I found a nice park bench under a tree, pulled out a book while enjoying the cool sounds coming from a local drumming group (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) that had gathered at the edge of the park. Park visitors, little kids and even squirrels stopped in curiosity just to enjoy the soulful sounds. A few park visitors even joined in and added percussion. People danced too! It was just really cool. I love this park! -
Review from Lisa R.
8/20/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Good free concerts in the summers on Thursday nights. Close to the Grill, First Street bars and restaurants and near light rail.
Also it has great fountains and good landscaping. -
Review from Donna Z.
10/24/2007 1 photo
The Plaza de Cesar Chavez is a nice little 2.2 acre park, smack in the middle of Downtown San Jose. It's the home of "Christmas in the Park" on a yearly basis (which is probably what it's best known for). This is my favorite area downtown, since it's surrounded by The Tech Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, and the Civic Auditorium--all places that have provided countless hours of enjoyment.
It's also a nice place to come and sit and enjoy a nice outdoor lunch, since they do have several benches.
During the summer, there are weekly outdoor concerts here showcasing lesser-known (and a few well-known) bands...for free.
So why not 5 stars? Well, as many of you probably are aware, at the southern tip of the park lies the Quetzalcoatl statue, commissioned by the city and designed by sculptor Robert Graham. Anyone can appreciate an effort to add character and cultural representation, but this 8-foot-tall "monument to misinterpretation" cost the city $500,000. What a crock of....well, you know.Listed in: Downtown San HO!, Bay Area Attractions
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Review from Anna L.
4/21/2008
When I first came up from LA to visit San Jose (prior to my Norcal Transplant), I remember driving by this park with friends wondering what the hell that statue at the South end was...
And of course, I was informed that the giant piece of dookie was in fact a snake of some sort. Yeah, rightttt.... I wonder what Cesar Chavez would think of that?
Little did I know that I would be hanging out next the dookie for years to come, AND, that I would really enjoy it. Go figure!
I have particularly enjoyed some of the free festivals that the city has held here, such as the August Jazz shows (which used to be free, though is still low cost), Summer/late Spring concert series, the fountains to wet your feet or watch kids and adults run thru,Christmas in the Park, and the informal drum circles on Sundays. When the stage is set up in between events, I like to pretend like I am performing and jump on the stage area.
Yes, I am a RockSTAR.Listed in: Mexi-CALI or Bust!, Live and Breathe Bay Area…
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Review from Max O.
Bay Area
6/6/2011
Plaza De Cesar Chavez is an interesting park, it's a common central location for annual events. For me, it's a place where I go to try and find a sense of community since I moved back to the area.
Take it's namesake: César Chávez. His day is celebrated in the bay area March 31st, the day he was born. He was a farm worker, just like my Grandfather was. But my grandfather came to the bay area from the Philippines. Cesar was a Union organizer for laborers rights, co-organizing what would become the United Farm Workers. He successfully fought for collective bargaining rights for field laborers in California. He helped organize the largest farm worker strike in the US for higher wages and better working conditions. Cesar supported a Filipino march to the state capital in Sacramento and was supported by RF Kennedy. All this bears mentioning because those rights are not only challenged today, but are being systematically stripped down and then flicked away by politicians and big business importer, outsourcing mansion owners.
I read about the snake sculpture that looks like the big turd in the Metro, but since I don't remember much about it, I'll have to remember more next time I read anything about it?
Last December, I was pretty despondent at the prospect of not finding work during the winter months. The park happens to be a convenient light rail ride from where I live and somehow I got up early enough to make it out there the day of the X-mas parade. Even the weather cooperated somewhat from raining (it sprinkled later on). I suppose there might be a x-mas parade listing yelp, but I feel like lumping a couple of experiences here for the point of what they mean together. I saw families together, I felt a bit alone. Everyone was celebrating, I was looking. I was just observing the community I was away from for near a decade. Used to be anywhere I went, I ran into people I knew. I felt like I was in a foreign state. I was able to walk around at my own pace and not be pulled around by a group. I got to look at each of the trees and which groups decorated each one. I got to think about each of the groups in my community and what they thought represented them on their tree. There were a lot of recycled items that was comforting.
A lot of the day was mentioning the threat of not being a parade the following year with the budget cuts and lack of sponsorship. It'll be interesting to see if the community gets together to continue the biggest holiday. The Cinco De Mayo parade was already cancelled, apparently because of security issues. But the police were out in full force and yet there was vandalism and packs of rowdies which rendered the presence quite useless! So what was the difference?
Recently I went to the first Music in the park 2011 concert featuring Greg Kihn. [I know they have their own review, too. should I copy this twice to the other pages?] I occasionally listen to his morning show on KFOX, there just isn't enough (ital) of him. Seems to be a strange stretch of continuous music to have during the shift when I actually like hearing his conversations and rock stories. I walked around, it was a pretty sunny day, all things considered. There has been unheard of rainy weather for a June, breaking all the weather low records. The consensus of articles I've read suggest the weather has a lot to do with Japan's nuclear winter as well as the Volcanic winter from Rapture Day. Remember the apocalypse?
Interesting members of the community this time. A LOT more feathered back hair than I was ever aware of in the south bay. Rockers unite! Makes me wonder what happened to KSJO. I was away during the whole cannabis collective starting era. So all the secondary I was inhaling actually got me high and got me the munchies, good for all the food stands from neighboring restaurants. I panicked for a bit at the prospect of getting a job interview with weed in my system, but then I figured WHAT job interview? It's been a dry year for that. Yeah, It's June. People brought lounge chairs, I didn't even think of that. someone even had a cool quilt they made form concert shirts. Transients were walking around. People were dancing, uh, very enthusiastically. I hoped someday I could dance again without considering the stiffs around me.
I plunged myself in this environment to try and feel a connection again with the town I left years ago. I talked with a few people and tried to shake off feeling like an outsider. I tried not to think of the community of friends I had to leave hundreds of miles away. I want to belong to a group again, even if it's just those from a job. -
Review from Lorrie M.
1/5/2009
Ok, seriously, what's with the $50,000 snake cement statue? Did we really need to spend our good earned tax money on this? Perhaps not, but I guess it definitely gives me something to talk about when my friends come visit and wonder what's going on with the city these days.
In general, this park is alright, in the summer there's an area where water shoots out and kids are abound. In the winter, there is Christmas in the Park where you can browse year old displays that move from amazing distances (read sarcasm) while enjoying overpriced food stand foods from around town.
It's not spectacular, but it's not shabby either. 3 stars suffices. -
Review from Melissa Q.
San Francisco, CA
6/29/2008
San Jose has very few claims to fame. They make many claims but none of them really pan out. I know--I was born and raised there and finally escaped last year.
But I do give this spot 5 stars. My first love: Christmas in the Park. I can take even the most jaded San Francisco resident to this event and they smile like a child. Score!
And I don't really care what's in the water...those fountains are fantastic! -
Review from Rat a tat R.
San Francisco, CA
8/20/2009
Even though I had to do stupid Americorps exercises here every Monday and Friday a few years ago (yeah, don't ask), I always had fond feelings for the Cesar Chavez itself. As tempted as I am to give them a star off for being the source of my main Americorps-related pain, that's not really their fault, is it?
Anyway... in a city that I often complained was devoid of local culture and flavor when I lived here, this plaza always manages to provide some local cultural experiences. My favorites were Rock N Roll Half Marathon, Christmas n the park, and the various free outdoor concerts. Even on a regular day the plaza has nice benches and grassy areas to hang out and is near lots of local businesses and other events (such as the winter-time outdoor ice rink). Cesar Chavez Plaza is a huge benefit to the City of San Jose, and I'm very glad it's not going anywhere. -
Review from Mike J.
San Jose, CA
8/9/2009
I had wanted to go to the San Jose Jazz festival as I heard last year it was good. Unfortunately no one seemed to be interested, so I was not to be deterred and went by myself. Besides it sure beats cleaning the house, doing clothes, going to Costco and everything else. Of course I had to do all those things Sunday and go to the gym so....in typical fashion I guess I just procrastanated. Men do that.
Got there at 2:00pm and saw there were quite a few people ready waiting for the first band to start. They had ample set ups for food, different types including Asian Cuisine, Mexican and I found that they even had some Portugese foods. They also had every type of liquor one wanted to consume on a nice warm Sat afternoon. I started with a glass of Chardonnay and eventually went to a few Kamikazes later in the afternoon.
The great thing about this is the local talent ( specifically San Jose) that are represented here. Not being a big jazz fan per say, I was not sure how this would all pan out over the course of the next several hours. I had the opportunity to listen to a band called the " Lara Price band" and they were great. Apparenty not turning up the volume to deafening levels is a must, as the sound engineers did a great job.
Apparently they play this type of music that is referred to as " Jazz fusion" one of the people were telling me. It was nice and relaxing for sure.
Several more bands were playing also on different stages so I wandered over and listen to the " Salsa" music and boy people can dance here locally. Good to see everyone enjoying the day for sure.
I finally had to eat and chose a " Grilled Halibut Steak" from one of the local vendors. Good, but a little dry. But of course I am sure the alcohol played a factor, as by 5:00pm I was feeling pretty good. I left shortly after and realized that when you start drinking at 2:00pm, you are not going to last very long on a warm outdoor day downtown. -
Review from Barb B.
5/28/2008
I guess this is San Jose's GG Park wannabe...although not quite. Not quite at all.
Fountains are fun on a hot day when the water isn't poo water.
Christmas in the park....errr.
And if I were an Aztec descendant, I'd be seriously offended by the Quetzalcoatl monument at the end of the park. Come now, the artist could have done better than that. Looks more like Clifford the dog came to town and left his calling card. I wonder how many tourists come by and squat on top of this thing and this is their memory of San Jose and Quetzalcoatl. Very sad. -
Review from Veronica S.
Fremont, CA
7/25/2008
I actually really like Plaza de Cesar Chavez, everytime I drive by this area I think it's a nice part of San Jose
I also like that they host Music in the Park here, the parking is no fun but if you park a few blocks away , it's not bad walking distance to the park =)
There are also a lot of nice restaurants, and decent hotels/movies etc around as it is located in central downtown San Jose -
Review from Lanie L.
1/16/2009
Music in the park (where i saw and met Trapt!), christmas in the park, popular location for protests, rallies, and parades, water fountains in the summer, green grass to lie on, giant pile of turd, right by many hotels, restaurants, parking lots, across the street from the tech museum,
san jose didn't screw this up. -
Review from Stacey T.
Pomona, CA
12/15/2007
I love this place. It's walking distance from the Museum of Art and Tech Museum. I usually come here for the holidays (i.e. Christmas in the Park) which is pretty fun.
Lots of flowers, benches, and fresh air. Great place to read a book or take a stroll on.
There's also a water fountain place where kids play in. I heard there were reports of several kids getting sick from that water though. -1 star for that. -
Review from Paige C.
Oakland, CA
12/20/2008
Home to the Music in the Park, the larger of the San Jose park music series. Wikipedia says: "The Plaza was established when San José moved from its original location on the bank of the Guadalupe River to the current downtown location in 1797 and has been in use ever since, making it the oldest public open space in California."
This place has been in my memories throughout my whole life. I remember the parents bringing the sis and I here for the fountains (when we didn't think about things like waterborne bacteria) to the day they placed that statue at the south end to the first years I had my license just hanging out in downtown SJ with a sprinkling of Christmas in the park just about every year. This place has never the been the best city park in the world but it definitely did have and influence on how I grew up. -
Review from Trudy H.
The Plaza is interestingly different without Music In The Park and tons of people. It's beautiful with lots of sunlight, benches and a gorgeous fountain area. Several cool restaurants are nearby and it's a pretty neat place to simply hang out at.
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Review from jenn w.
Great park that hosts great events. In the summer there is Music in the Park, and in the winter there is Christmas in the Park. I love lounging out in the grass and watching bands play for free during Music in the Park. It is also located in a great area of downtown San Jose so it is close to many hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. And on warm days, it is perfect to take the kids to play in the fountains.
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Review from Katelyn A.
San Jose, CA
7/18/2008
Nice little park in the center of downtown with lots of nearby dinning. Just attended music in the park, it was awesome! Ludo and Flogging molly, free, on a lawn chair!
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Review from HELEN M.
San Jose, CA
8/16/2009
Love to go to this plaza..Whether it be to just people watch, or listen to music in the park. Its a fun, quaint place to just chill out.
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Review from Carolen M.
Walnut Creek, CA
2/1/2010
Such a nice day today in San Jose. After grabbing a drink at Philz, instead of sitting inside the coffee shop, we decided to take our drinks and enjoy the sunshine. We walked to the Plaza where the fountains were on and people were lounging on the benches. We found a bench where there was sunshine since there was a good cool breeze. This is a great place to people watch. There were a couple of skate boarders who were trying to jump the steps. Across the street there was a dance show and the kids were practicing outside. There was a disgruntled big boned guy on the phone complaining about something to a person named "Stephanie" on the other end. He came from the Tech Museum and we just assumed he was denied the chance to sit in the captain's chair in the Star Trek Exhibit. A lot of characters in one spot! Quite a great way to spend an afternoon with a great guy, hot cocoa, and a sunshine filled day.
