Well, will you look at that? It feels like we barely got to know 2023, and the future’s here already. Fortunately, there are some things to look forward to in 2024, and a few to look back on.
• For starters, Apple’s iconic Macintosh computer is celebrating its 40th anniversary in January. The Computer History Museum opened a pop-up exhibit, “Hello. The Mac@40,” in mid-December that will be up through Feb. 25 with artifacts from the museum’s collection and unique items on loan from some Apple alums. But the big event will be “Insanely Great” on Jan. 24 — an in-person discussion moderated by David Pogue and featuring insider stories about the computer’s development and earliest days from people including Andy Hertzfeld, Bill Atkinson, Susan Kare, Steve Capps, Mike Murray, and Andy Cunningham.
• That’s not the only big anniversary happening this year, as the San Jose Earthquakes will be celebrating their 50th throughout the year. The team already announced that the Quakes Foundation and PG&E are teaming up to donate $200,000 — enough for 50,000 meals — to fight food insecurity this year and has unveiled a massive community art project to put up 50 soccer-based murals around Northern California between now and the World Cup in 2026.
On Feb. 18, the Quakes have a 50th anniversary launch party at San Pedro Square Market where the team will reveal its new jersey, aka “The 50 Kit.” Fans can enjoy live music, mingle with Quakes players and alumni, and get a first chance to buy Gary Singh’s new book on the team’s first 50 years. June 27-30 will be the 50th anniversary weekend, highlighted by the June 29 “California Clásico” game at Stanford Stadium against the L.A. Galaxy.
• The San Jose Giants’ home opener isn’t until April 5, but if you need a baseball fix before that, there’s always the annual Hot Stove Banquet on Jan. 9 at Villa Ragusa in Campbell. Oakland A’s broadcaster Chris Townsend will emcee the evening, which will honor Ritch Price — a head coach at Menlo College, De Anza College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Kansas University — with the Mark Marquess Lifetime Achievement Award. Chicago Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner and A’s pitcher Lucas Erceg will lead a roster of more than two dozen honorees with levels ranging from the Majors down to high school. Get tickets at hotstovescv.org.
• San Jose Jazz will be bringing more original music to our ears, thanks to the continuation of the Jazz Aid Fund which is providing a total of $20,000 in grants to 20 Bay Area musicians. Six of them — Marcus Shelby, Chika Di, Dahveed Behroozi, Hristo Vitchev, Ayo Brame and Sundra Manning — will premiere their newly commissioned work live in a series of shows at the SJZ Break Room in downtown San Jose as part of the venue’s Winter Sessions, Feb. 2-March 9.
And don’t forget we’ll have Summer Fest returning to Plaza de Cesar Chavez and other downtown venues Aug. 9-11.
• Cinequest is coming back this year with an interesting triple bill. Movie fans can enjoy the film festival when it returns to downtown San Jose on March 7-17. Then from March 21-31, spotlight films and events will be offered virtually through the Cinejoy platform. Tickets for both go on sale Feb. 1 at cinequest.org.
In the summer, Cinequest will return to the ShowPlace ICON theater in Mountain View for an Aug. 22-28 festival. Why the split session? A large number of mainstream films were delayed because of the actors’ and writers’ strikes and the Mountain View theater won’t have screens to spare in March.
• Car lovers can plan on heading back to the Santa Clara Convention Center for the Silicon Valley Auto Show, which drives into town Feb. 16-18. Tickets went on sale Christmas Day at www.svautoshow.com.
• It looks like Viva CalleSJ will be back in the spring, closing miles of streets to vehicles and opening them up to walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters. Organizers are hoping to raise enough money to hold three events between April and September. So far, two dates have been tentatively set, April 21 and Sept. 8.
• There’ll be plenty of running to be done in San Jose with the Shamrock Run (March 16), Japantown Fun Run/Walk (April 21), the San Jose Half Marathon (June 2), the Bloom Energy/Tarana Wireless Stars and Strides Run (June 29) and the Rock ‘n’ Roll 5K/10K and half-marathon (Oct. 5-6).
• So what else does 2024 have in store? Well, it’s a big election year and while we don’t have a woman running for San Jose mayor this time around, it marks the 50th anniversary since Janet Gray Hayes was elected as the first woman to lead to a major U.S. city. It’s also the 90th birthday of the San Jose Civic Auditorium, which is easily the city’s oldest and most storied performance venue. And the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot turns 20 on Thanksgiving Day, which means anyone who’s run the 5K each year will hit the 100K mark.
And speaking of anniversaries, Greenlee’s Bakery on The Alameda in San Jose will be celebrating 100 years in business this year. Sounds like a good reason to stock up on cinnamon bread. Have a happy and safe new year!
