The 6th Annual Martial Cottle Park Fall Festival, one of San Jose’s largest vendor markets, brought together community to celebrate Santa Clara Valley’s agricultural heritage and welcome the fall season to the South Bay Area on Oct. 1.

Activities for all ages were accessible throughout the day,  including kids’ activities, arts and craft workshops, food trucks, live music and an array of family entertainment.   

San Jose Made, an organization that supports Bay Area small businesses and brands, has helped gather vendors for the festival’s maker and artisan market since 2016, according to its website. With San Jose Made’s help, the festival featured 117 vendors, according to San Jose Made’s website. 

Rhuamia Lucero attended the festival as a vendor through San Jose Made. She owns an online shop called LeveeRoad that sells handmade and upcycled leather jewelry, driftwood art and home decor items from Fremont.

To Lucero, the festival was an opportunity to increase her brand visibility in the San Jose area by providing a pop-up space for a reasonable price. 

“We have not explored coming out towards San Jose, so that’s why we decided to try this event out,” Lucero said. “So far, the festival is very nice — there’s a lot of foot traffic since we have a lot of families. There are a lot of things for people to see and do because we have a large variety of vendors. It’s kind of something for everyone, including pets.”

Another vendor, Jasmine Carson, owner of The Little Forest Ceramic Shop —an online shop that sells ceramics and hydroponically grown plants — said the event has helped her gain more followers on social media through the large amount of foot traffic the festival brings. 

“Last year, I was recommended to attend the San Jose Made Holiday Festival, which was one of the biggest events that I have ever done, and the result was really good,” Carson said. “I remember getting a lot of followers and being able to boost my brand awareness thanks to that. So definitely for the Fall Festival, I have decided to join, too. This event will help me get customers’ feedback in terms of price, so I’ll be able to widen my market.”

Fall Festival attendee Elaine Li said she came to the festival because she just needed something to do on the weekend.

“I actually come to a lot of these. I just like seeing things that other people create,” Li said. “[We need] more events like this because it’s nice to show people that you don’t need to go to a big-brand store to buy your everyday things.”

 Taylor Chase and her friend, Natsuki Keckler, said they came to the festival to check it out and support small businesses. 

“I love it when big events are happening in the community,” Chase said. “ I just want to go out and see what’s going on. “

“I like the idea of having more festivals like this because I get to see and support a lot of small businesses I didn’t know about before,” Keckler said.

Amanda Phakonekham said she went to the festival because she wanted to hang out with her friend.

“I really love seeing everyone gather together and hang out,” Phakonekham said. “I came across a free activity where we made corn husk dolls and asked if there was an age limit, and they said no, anyone could make these. It makes me feel so happy to be involved.”