Since the early 1950's when the display was originally set-up on the front lawn of the Lima Family Mortuary through it's placement on the front lawn of City Hall during the 1970's and where it has been since 1980, in downtown San Jose's Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park, the Christmas in the Park display is a tradition for our community. It remained a tradition in 2020, but for safety reasons it pivoted to a drive thru holiday experience at History Park in San Jose.
Guests still saw all of the whimsical displays, hundreds of decorated Christmas trees and even some new amazing light features that added to the enjoyment of the event. The setting for our event in 2020, History Park, is an amazing venue. Through 32 original and reproduction homes, businesses and landmarks, History Park reveals Santa Clara Valley’s past. The 14-acre site offers the "charm and ambiance of times gone by" and creates a perfect site for our event.
Due to the change and other COVID-19 issues, our non-profit was projecting a severe loss in revenue for 2020. Sponsorships, concessions, ride revenue and the majority of vendor booth fees were drastically reduced or disappear all together. In order to make up for the projected shortfall, and to make certain we can be around for a triumphant return in 2021, we were forced to move to a paid admission model for our event in 2020. In addition to selling tickets, we were able to provide over two thousand tickets to families in need through a grant from Google and from ticket buyers that chose to donate a second ticket.