Downtown San Jose traditionally starts summer with the Fourth of July festival and ends it with Tapestry Arts in September, and the jazz festival bridges the gap in August. But things have grown busier the past couple of years. Last summer saw the debut of the San Jose Grand Prix, which drew more than 150,000 people downtown in July, and the Dew Action Sports Tour, a September spectacle outside HP Pavilion that drew thousands of fans of extreme sports and alternative music.

Both events are coming back this year. And there will be a new draw this summer: ZeroOne San Jose, a seven-day festival in August celebrating the intersection of art and technology. It could bring 50,000 people downtown for activities and exhibits that promoters say will blanket the area with electricity -- and those blogging homing pigeons, which will be outfitted with sensors and WiFi devices to measure air quality.

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