Santa Clara Scores Touchdown as Families Flock to Free Field Day at Levi’s Stadium

Thousands of people turned out to Celebrate Santa Clara at Levi's Stadium on Feb. 28 to enjoy games, music and the community.

Initial estimates are that 10K-15K Santa Clara residents partied at the city’s special 2026 “Celebrate Santa Clara: A Day on the Field” at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 28. The sports event was exclusive—and free—to them.

“Santa Clara built this stadium, we own it, and it’s time our community gets to experience it in a meaningful way,” said Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor. “Our public deserves it.”

It was a significant investment in the public. The Stadium Authority allocated $1 million in Authority Discretionary Funds for the event. An additional $150,000 came from sponsorship funding, with Prologis as lead sponsor. The actual cost is still being tallied.

SPONSORED

Sud and Anuja Bokare, born in India, brought their seven-year-old son.

“It’s our first time to see how the stadium looks,” said Anuja. “We never thought we’d actually get to go out on the field. Tickets are always very expensive, but this event is free, just paying for parking [$11.75]. That’s really cool.”

Native Californians Leanne and Calvin Schumacher live a ten-minute walk away. They were sitting with their two-year-old son on the turf in the middle of the field, resting and watching the action around them—from tug-of-war to frisbee. They previously attended a 49ers game and Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts.

“We’re excited to come on the field for the first time with our little one,” said Leanne. “It’s even better than what we expected—fun activities, good music, lots of families—we’d come back!”

Jason Mattier, a driver engineer for the Santa Clara Fire Department, Station 1, played in a soccer skirmish pitting the fire department against the police (FD 1, PD 0).

“I’ve worked a lot of events at Levi’s Stadium,” said Mattier, who has been with SCFD for 17 years, “so to be one of the players on the field was pretty special. I feel blessed to work with the City and to get to do things like this.”

Kevin and Maria C., originally from Mexico, appreciated the city-sponsored event as well as earlier opportunities for their two children to attend 49ers kids’ events.

“We’re fans of the 49ers. It’s awesome to have them in town. They do a lot of community outreach, and we appreciate that,” said Kevin. “And maybe next year, they’ll win!”

Celebrate Santa Clara was presented to City Council at its Oct. 21, 2025, meeting and planned under the auspices of the ad hoc Economic Development and Marketing Committee. Production partner Walk Talkin International was notified of the event date on Feb. 3.

“This has been an incredible effort in a short amount of time, and I can say with confidence, we have extremely talented and hard-working staff in the City of Santa Clara,” said Grogan.

Confirming the event date was tricky, requiring coordination with the National Football League, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, and Forty Niners Management Company LLC. Demobilization after Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 had to be sped up so the event could occur by Feb. 28, allowing enough time to establish and grow the grass field required for the FIFA Men’s World Cup matches June 13-July 1.

“I lived in other cities all over the South Bay, and I really like Santa Clara,” said Alyssa Jimenez, enjoying the family outing with her husband and kids. “A day like this makes it more of a community.”

“This field has seen greatness, but tonight the greatness is Santa Clara!” said Mayor Gillmor before the dancing started under a full moon.

Truth be told, you did not even need to know a football from a soccer ball to enjoy the great, family-focused day on the field at Levi’s Stadium.