Mostly sunny and 77 today, dropping to 55 after dark. It's a workday Thursday, so the useful moves are a lunch-break Harvest Festival at SJSU with free food and DJ sets from 11, then an evening with real choices: The Temptations & Four Tops at the Mountain Winery, two stand-up shows in San Jose, and a Moon Festival celebration for families at 4.

Today's field guide

Harvest Festival at lunch, Alum Rock if the afternoon opens up, Motown in Saratoga at 7:30

Treat the first two as opportunistic on a workday: the SJSU Harvest Festival runs free food, DJ sets, and henna in the garden from 11, and Alum Rock Park's trails and mineral springs are there if your afternoon frees up. The evening is the anchor, with The Temptations & Four Tops singing Motown classics at the Mountain Winery at 7:30 and La Fondue's tableside cheese or chocolate pots in the same town. Nirvana Soul covers specialty coffee and a sweet treat in the morning, and Sri Radha's in Milpitas handles a plant-based lunch.

Tonight's pick

Matt Mathews

7:00 PM · Center for the Performing Arts · San Jose

Matt Mathews is a comedian and singer/songwriter whose act runs on raw honesty, quick wit and Southern charm, and he's billed as one of comedy's fastest-rising stars. That's a good reason to catch him in a performing-arts hall before that description stops being true.

Also on the calendar

Two family stops lead (Moon Festival lanterns and mooncakes at Cambrian at 4, pirate science at Calabazas with desk tickets 30 minutes ahead), then poetry, stand-up and a beginner dance lesson from 7. Open the full calendar →

Around town on r/SanJose

Photos from downtown's El Grito celebration are up, the San Jose Museum of Art has a waterways climate-and-art symposium set for October 16 and 17, an affordable-homes project near Tamien Station is slated to start construction next year, and someone wants to recreate Mommy's Bánh Mi's green sauce.