 SPRING BRINGS
FIESTA AND MORE
Arts also are highlighted
as the weather warms
By LEIGH BALDWIN
Spring is in the air in San Antonio, and
that means just one thing: Fiesta. Say what
you will about our city’s annual bacchanal,
it just wouldn’t be San Antonio without
Fiesta’s vibrant, frenetic, historic celebration
of our diverse culture and heritage. For
more than 100 years (118, to be precise)
more than three million people converge
on San Antonio each April for the biggest
party of the year.
According to the Fiesta Commission’s
Anne Keever Cannon,“Fiesta 2009 will be
bigger than ever, with a record 108
events taking place all over the city and
beyond. More than half of these Fiesta
events have free admission. That makes
Fiesta San Antonio a great inexpensive
source of entertainment this April.”
Old favorites are back again this year —
the three major parades, including the
night River Parade; food and culture festivals
like Taste of New Orleans, Night in Old
San Antonio and the St.Mary’s Oyster Bake;
as well as concerts of all types throughout
the city. But every year brings new twists to
the Fiesta line-up,and 2009 is no exception.
The Fiesta San Antonio Commission,
the nonprofit organization that coordinates
all things Fiesta, marks its 50th
anniversary in 2009. To celebrate, the
official start of Fiesta is being moved up
from Friday morning (April 17) to
Thursday evening (April 16). The special
new extravaganza, called “Fiesta Fiesta!” takes place in front of the
Alamo with live music on three stages,
food and beverage booths and a spectacular
fireworks finale.
As if extending Fiesta by another
evening and adding a fabulous new
event weren’t enough good news, there
are a few more special highlights to mark
on your calendars. Tee Off Fiesta: Golf
with Royalty is a golf tournament pitting
Fiesta kings and queens against the public
to raise scholarship money. Tee Off is
sponsored by El Consejo de Reyes Feos
Anteriores and takes place the Monday
before Fiesta, April 13.
Chips ‘n’ Salsa, sponsored by San
Antonio Youth Centers, combines a “casino
night” with salsa dancing and lessons at
El Tropicano Hotel on April 18. And don’t
forget that This Hallowed Ground,a guided
walking tour of the Alamo sponsored by
the Alamo Chapter of the Sons of the
Republic of Texas, returns on April 18.
You can find a full calendar of events
at www.fiesta-sa.org.
 Can’t wait until April for a downtown
arts and culture fix? The San Antonio
Symphony starts off March strong with
Five by Design, conducted by Ken David-Masur and the high-energy show Club
Swing, on March 6, 7 and 8. Featured will
be some of the greatest hits from 1937 to
1955, including work by Benny Goodman
and Louis Prima. The Majestic Theatre will
also be rocking that weekend, with performances
of One Night of Queen and
The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Opera
back to back.
San Antonio’s wildly successful arts
night, Luminaria, pioneered by Mayor
Hardberger and the city’s artists last year,
returns on Saturday, March 14. More than
40 nonprofit organizations, representing
every major discipline of the arts —
dance,theater,spoken word,music,paintings,
film and more — mean there will be
something for every kind of art lover.
Luminaria is celebrated citywide during
the day and downtown in a carnivallike
atmosphere from 6 p.m. to midnight.
Many of the city’s museums will premier
special exhibitions that weekend,including
the Witte Museum. The Witte will be giving
away 400 free tickets to see GENOME: The
Secret of How Life Works on March 14 on a
first come, first served basis.
The San Antonio Museum of Art will be
debuting work by two prominent San
Antonio artists, Vincent Valdez and John
Hernandez. Valdez will be displaying the
1950s ice cream truck he painted with a
mural of the ‘50s displacement of a Los
Angeles Chicano community by the
developers that built Dodger Stadium.
The piece was commissioned by the
Grammy Award-winning musician Ry
Cooder and corresponds with his album
Chavez Ravine. The truck will be surrounded
by an installation of Hernandez’s
vibrant, fanciful paintings and sculptures,
a project called Zoe’s Room. Both installations
open to the public on March 14.
April brings one of the most acclaimed
stage plays of recent years to the Majestic
Theatre. Pete Morgan’s Frost/Nixon, with
Stacey Keach and Alan Cox in the starring
roles, will depict the televised interview of
the disgraced former U.S. president by the
British talk-show host David Frost. Critics
have called it gripping and wildly entertaining.
The play runs April 7-12.
For art lovers, partygoers, heritage
buffs and just plain big fans of our wonderful
city, there really isn’t anything like
spring in San Antonio. Be sure to get out
there and be a part of it all!
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