Freebie of the week: The city of San Jose apparently believes the key to celebrating the holidays is to make sure each and every centimeter of downtown is bathed in jubilant sights and sounds. It’s hard to argue with that. This year, things are getting even brighter. The centerpiece to this bliss is the annual free Christmas in the Park, the 45-year-old celebration that returns to Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 6 p.m. Friday. The walk-through attraction features some 40 musical and animated exhibits, live entertainment, a 60-foot-tall Community Giving Tree, holiday food and drink, and more. The attraction runs through Jan. 1; more information is at christmasinthepark.com. More San Jose holiday fun, of the ticketed variety, is available at the annual Blinky’s Drive-Thru Light Show, a dazzling attraction offered at the nearby Santa Clara County Fairgrounds (admission runs $25-$40 per car; more information is at christmasinthepark.com). Also this year: the brand-new San Jose Holiday Lights show, a five-acre display at Discovery Meadow Park, next to the Children’s Discovery Museum. The ticketed event offers illuminated sculptures, a Christmas scene, a Mexican desert landscape and a garden full of such fanciful attractions as a giant caterpillar and giant candies. The event, part of the city’s Doca Festival, runs through Jan. 4; tickets are $19-$45; go to docafestival.com.
More holiday brilliance: Speaking of brightly lit holiday attractions, one of our favorites sprouts in Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft Garden every year around this time and leaves us speechless with its explosion of colors. The Garden of D’Lights happens in the garden, at 1552 Bancroft Road, through Jan. 11. Now let’s get one thing clear: The garden, a year-round attraction, is a phenomenally beautiful spot on its own and is impressive without a single hanging light bulb. But for the season, the garden and various plant collections have been transformed into, organizers say, a “dazzling, water-wise wonderland illuminated with thousands of colorful lights, sculptures and lasers.” And as if that weren’t enough, the garden is also festooned with works by local artists. During the show times, the site’s nursery is open for shopping, and visitors can enjoy a sip or two of hot cocoa and spiced wine. Self-guided Garden of D’Lights tours are available on select dates, with time slots of 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Admission is $16-$29; go to www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.
The E Train comes home: Her full name is Sheila Cecilia Escovedo but everyone knows her as Sheila E., the extraordinarily talented musician, singer, songwriter, actor and all-around musical dynamo. She grew up in Oakland with a musical legend. Percussionist and bandleader Pete Escovedo is her father, and her family is chock full of musical stars. Though she frequently performs with her dad, Sheila has more than established her fame and reputation on her own terms. Impressing fellow musicians from the very start, she kicked off her career with keyboard wizard George Duke’s band. Her first solo recording, “The Glamorous Life,” brought her mainstream success in the mid-1980s; she’s been nicknamed The Queen of Percussion, boasting a musical resume that covers jazz, funk, R&B, Latin and pop. Her latest album is “Hella FonkE,” which includes the single “Oakland N Da House” and features guest appearances from Too $hort and Trombone Shorty. Sheila E. spotlights the recording when she returns to her East Bay stamping grounds with a three-night, six-show stand with her band, the E-Train, Friday through Sunday at Yoshi’s in Oakland. Tickets are $69-$129. Go to yoshis.com.
In the pink: Motor along with Barbie in her open-air Barbiemobile as she travels from her perfectly pastel fantasy land to the real world outside – where a variety of shocking discoveries await her. The San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Sarah Hicks, will be your musical guide, playing the live score Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt wrote for director Greta Gerwig’s multiple Oscar-nominated film. (It won one, for best original song, for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”) The 2023 movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling plays out on a giant screen over the musicians’ heads. There are two screenings this weekend, one at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the other at 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $29.50-$149, available at sfsymphony.org.
Rockin’ out: If hard-driving blues music with a psychedelic twist is your bag, hurry to The Bistro in Hayward Saturday night to hear the Bluesadelix band play their brand of it from 8 to 11 p.m. The East Bay venue, which bills itself as “a beer drinking pub with a music problem,” has no cover charge for the bands that appear on a near nightly basis. Appetizers are available along with a variety of brews on tap. Formed in 2019, Bluesadelix is made up of five seasoned veterans of the rock, blues and folk music worlds, with songwriters “Papa” Robert Hill and Mark Ungar providing most of the numbers, with support from Deirdre McCarthy, Scott Irwin and Kristoph Klover. The Bistro is at 1001 B St. in Hayward. Visit thebistro.com or www.bluesadelix.com.
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