Fourth annual Lowrider Day returns to downtown San Jose

Lowriders will cruise into downtown San Jose this weekend, bringing a piece of East San Jose’s Chicano culture to City Hall for an afternoon of custom cars, music and celebration.

San Jose Lowrider Day returns Sunday for its fourth year, marking the anniversary of the City Council’s decision to repeal a decades-old cruising ban. The celebration — hosted by the offices of Councilmembers Anthony Tordillos and Peter Ortiz, as well as the United Lowrider Council of San Jose — will run from noon to 6 p.m. on Santa Clara Street between Third and Seventh streets in front of City Hall. It will feature lowriders, live music, food and local vendors, community resources and performances throughout the afternoon.

At a Tuesday meeting, councilmembers officially proclaimed Sunday as 2026 Lowrider Day. But for members of the United Lowrider Council of San Jose, the annual event is about more than showing off cars.

Ricardo Cortez, a member of the lowrider council who handles history and youth education, said it’s an opportunity to reclaim a culture that has long been stereotyped as criminal and show how lowriding has become an important part of San Jose’s cultural identity. Negative stereotypes can cause people to make assumptions about people simply because of the cars they drive, he said.

“I think it really comes down to being able to take back the negative narratives that have surrounded lowrider culture for a very long time,” Cortez told San Josè Spotlight. “I think every year it gets bigger. It gets more popular.”

The lowrider council has tried to counter negative perceptions through community events and educational presentations at schools and colleges. Cortez teaches students about the origins of lowriding, historically significant cars, hydraulics and San Jose’s role in the culture. He also wrote a children’s book, “The ABCs of Lowriding,” that he uses in his presentations.

“I think a lot of it has to come down to the older generation, meeting the youth where they’re at and trying to inspire them to want to continue this tradition,” Cortez said.

The celebration also represents a shift in the city’s relationship with the culture of lowriders and cruising.

Cruising has been part of Chicano culture since the 1940s, and grew to be a symbol of Mexican American resistance against discrimination during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. But by the 1990s it had become associated nationally with gang violence and illegal activity, leading to cities across the U.S., including San Jose, to create laws prohibiting cruising.

San Jose had a cruising ban for decades before the city council repealed it in 2022, in part due to the efforts of police officer and then-Councilmember Raul Peralez, who experienced discrimination in his youth from the cruising ban.

The annual Lowrider Day grew out of that change, David Polanco, president of the United Lowrider Council of San Jose, said.

“(San Jose is not) the capital of lowriding, but we’re definitely a pillar of lowriding here within the lowrider world,” Polanco told San José Spotlight.

Polanco said the lowrider council has worked to build relationships with city agencies, nonprofits, schools and other community organizations. The group also works with the San Jose Police Department when organizing events and cruises.

Councilmember Ortiz, who grew up in East San Jose, said he remembers seeing lowriders in his neighborhood, particularly around King and Story roads and during Cinco de Mayo and other cultural celebrations.

“We still, unfortunately, have a stigma in the greater community against lowriders,” Ortiz told San José Spotlight.

He said many lowrider and cruising enthusiasts are working professionals with families, adding that public events can help residents see the people behind the cars rather than stereotypes.

For Ortiz, bringing the celebration to City Hall and partnering with SJPD to plan events and organized cruises is part of that shift.

“I’m just excited for our Chicano community to be full front here at City Hall, at the people’s house, to display the beautiful and significance of the Chicano culture here in the city of San Jose,” Ortiz said.

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