Variety is the spice of life, right? It’s also what makes San Jose Jazz’s annual Summer Fest — which has been drawing thousands of fans from around the Bay Area for more than three decades — such a success.

Diversity abounds at the festival, in the audience for sure, but also in the music programmed by the undauntable Bruce Labadie and his successor as artistic director, Christian Vela. Even the stages themselves seem to have their own wildly different personalities.

On Friday night, the McDonald’s Blues/Big Easy stage at the southern end of Plaza Park was like a backyard barbecue, with the relaxed crowd swaying and putting their hands up to the accordion and rubboard sounds of “Jambalaya (On the Bayou).” The PG&E Latin Tropical Stage, wedged onto Park Avenue, was all about Souldies, with the crowd dancing close at sunset like they were in someone’s basement dance party with the lights turned low.

People dance at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) 

The big party was at the Jay Paul Main Stage, where the brass-driven sound of the Soul Rebels got the crowd on their feet and set the tone for a festive weekend — and they pretty much stayed there, as the vibe shifted from New Orleans to the electro-funk of Zapp. Now led by Lester Troutman, the family band had the crowd out of their seats and screaming for their 90-minute set, punctuated by performances by Tuxedo, the funk duo made up of Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One.

You’d think the Summer Fest crowd would be exhausted by the time “More Bounce to the Ounce” finished and Zapp departed the stage, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, it was another vibe switch, as a crowd — and a surprisingly older one — packed Club Regent at the Signia by Hilton at 11 p.m. to hear the silky voice of Gretchen Parlato, who was playing her second show of the night with her quartet.

“Every year, this is really one of the marquee events we have,” San Jose Councilmember Anthony Tordillos said at a pre-festival reception he co-hosted with Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, state Sen. Dave Cortese and San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson at the Spartan Village on the Paseo. “The energy it drives downtown is incredible.”

Adi Oasis performs at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) 

That energy could be expected to continue throughout the weekend on all eight stages, including the intimate SJZ Break Room, and free stages at the San Jose Museum of Art featuring the genre’s “next generation” and the Applied Materials Swing Stage at San Pedro Square Market.

Saturday’s headliners included the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Orquesta Akokán, Jubu Smith and the legendary Patti LaBelle, performing on the main stage at 8 p.m. Sunday’s lineup includes the Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra, the Marcus Shelby Nonet performing “Birth of the Cool Revisited,” and Cory Wong and the Charles Brown Project featuring Nicolas Bearde. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will close out the main stage at 6 p.m.

The full schedule, as well as tickets and passes, is available at summerfest.sanjosejazz.org.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (RIVER PARK): The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy has tapped Heather Lerner as its new executive director, succeeding Jason Su, who held the position since 2019. Lerner is no stranger to San Jose parks. She served as executive director of Happy Hollow Foundation from 2009 to 2018, helping raise funds for the beloved park and zoo as it transformed into its modern form.

While she moved on to other opportunities, Lerner kept an eye on San Jose parks. When she served as president of the Rotary Club of San Jose in 2024-25, Lerner championed the restoration of the koi ponds and taiko bridge at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelley Park. That project was completed earlier this year. Lerner was there for the ribbon-cutting.

Now, she’s taking on San Jose’s sprawling downtown park, which has had its bright moments and challenges in recent years. Recently, she gained an interesting perspective on the park as she kayaked the Guadalupe River with GRPC board member Carl Salas, launching from an area near Santa Clara Street recently revitalized with a mural.

“What excites me about Guadalupe River Park is that it’s not just a park — it’s a journey,” she said. “I’ve spent much of my career thinking about how places can become experiences, and the Guadalupe offers an extraordinary canvas: a beautiful linear path connecting attractions, discoveries, and places to linger. I see enormous potential to create a journey people anticipate, explore, remember, and want to experience again.”

HOIST ONE FOR HISTORY: If you like wine and beer and saving San Jose’s history, not only are you a good person in my book, you’re also the target audience for the Preservation Action Council of San Jose’s upcoming fundraiser. The Preservation Pour on Aug. 16 will be a benefit tasting event with offerings from eight local wineries and beers from Hapa’s Brewery.

It all takes place at FoundSJ, Preservation Action Council’s great new retail outlet at 57 Barack Obama Boulevard, and ticketed guests will get some exclusive shopping opportunities. The event runs from 2 to 5 p.m., and tickets are available for $95 at preservation.org/pour.

‘RIDE’ GETS EXTENDED: Audiences have been having a good time at “Ride the Cyclone,” the summer musical at San Jose’s City Lights Theatre Company about a Canadian choir group that winds up in a kind of purgatory after being killed in a rollercoaster accident. Sounds a little weird, right? Well, would you have thought a musical about Henry VIII’s wives would be a hit?

Thanks to excellent ticket sales, four performances have been added to the run: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27, 8 p.m. Aug 28-29 and 2 p.m. Aug. 30. Get more information and tickets at www.cltc.org/cyclone.

STAGE NOTES: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has brought on Jeffrey Lo, a talented playwright and stage director, as its new associate artistic director to work with Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli.

“TheatreWorks has long been a true artistic home for me,” Lo said, adding that he’s excited to be stepping into a bigger role with TheatreWorks’ New Works Department. “From the Susan Fairbrook Core Writers Group to the New Works Festival, I am incredibly proud of our contributions to the development of the next generation of plays and playwrights and am looking forward to carrying on that tradition of creation and innovation in my new role.”

Lo, who received the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Award in 2014, began working with TheatreWorks in 2010 and most recently served as its associate producer of casting and literary management.