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New Orleans has its Mardi Gras, New York its New Year's Eve Party, Chicago has its Blues Festival, Milwaukee its Summerfest and Sturgis its annual Motorcycle Rally.

For the city of San Antonio, (never say "San Antone"; that is reserved for song writers and non native Texans) its signature celebration is Fiesta, a city wide party that drew us back to the Alamo City for a second time this year.

San Antonio with a population of over 1.4 million is the seventh largest city in the United States and the second largest in Texas behind Houston and is the most visited with over 260 million tourists annually. Fiesta attracts over 3.5 million of those visitors for an 10 day no stop celebration of the music, food, culture, history, art and dance that gives San Antonio its distinctive Spanish, cowboy, Tex-Mex character. With over 100 scheduled events scattered across countless different venues in the City on the River, it is truly no exaggeration to say that there is something for everyone.

Where else could you attend a parade where the floats really do float on water, an oyster bake where more than 100,000 oysters are served raw, baked or fried in less than 2 days, listen to some of the best Mariachi bands ever assembled, attend the Corynation (the spelling reflects the seriousness of the event) of the King and Queen of the Fiesta and their court?

The list goes on with a concert by the San Antonio Pop Symphony Orchestra, not to be outdone by another concert by the United States Air Force Band of the West entitled, Fiesta in Blue, Latin American Legends, Miss Margaret's Victorian House Tours, a nightly Carnival on the grounds of the Alamodrome, a Cactus & Xerophyte Society State Show & Sale, a Pooch Parade, A Night In Old San Antonio or (NIOSA pronounced nee oh sa) one of the largest food festivals in the nation, a Praise the Dance Festival presenting colorful and authentic Spanish dancing and several military veterans services in the shadow of the Alamo, probably the most hallowed patch of ground in all of Texas. (Gentleman, take your hat off at the Alamo, but never when you are seated in a restaurant. It's a Texas thing!!!) And oh, the restaurants of San Antonio. They will tickle your taste buds til you leave the table touting, "Now that's real Mexican Food!"

One could continue with the Riverwalk Art Show, a Round and Square Dance Show, The Cutting Edge Fiesta® Fashion Show, Fort Sam Houston Fiesta Ceremony & Fireworks Extravaganza and an authentic Mexican rodeo called A Day at Old Mexico’s Charreada, where escaramuza, young ladies in colorful dresses perform precision maneuvers on horseback at breakneck speed while riding side saddle. These are but a small sample of the types of festivities that make Fiesta San Antonio what it is.

The most anticipated of all the events of Fiesta San Antonio however, is the Battle of Flowers Parade which is actually the origin of this much anticipated city wide celebration.

In April of 1891 President Benjamin Harrison came to San Antonio and gave a speech commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto when Texas won its independence from Mexico. Several ladies of society planned a parade of decorated carriages, baby buggies and bicycles covered with live flowers which ended at the Alamo. The social elite of the city joined in the parade and upon reaching Alamo Plaza, the people divided into two teams and started tossing flowers at each other. The rest is history. The flower battle has disappeared but the parade remains and has become the highlight of Fiesta. Soon other activities joined the parade—balls, parties and a carnival. The fiesta was not very old before the crowning of a king was added and royalty became part of the week's activities. Early monarchs were dubbed Selamat (tamales spelled backward), Omala (Alamo backward), King Cotton, Zeus, and Rex which gives you an idea of how serious these revelers took themselves and their royal courts. In 1926, Texas Cavaliers, a social organization of business leaders was formed. The King of Fiesta (Antonio) began to be named from their ranks. The name of the celebration has changed from Carnival to Spring Carnival to Fiesta San Jacinto and, in 1960, to Fiesta San Antonio.

The planning and implementation of Fiesta is the responsibilty of several social organizations in San Antonio. Overseeing this massive effort is a single non profit organization-the Fiesta San Antonio Commision which coordinates over 75,000 men, women and children who donate their time and talents throughout the year to the 100 local nonprofit organizations that stage official Fiesta events.

One of the great aspects of Fiesta San Antonio is that hundreds of city groups such as churches, shelters, Girl and Boy Scouts, educational scholarships, food banks, conservation grants, preservation and museum programs are all recipients of funds generated by the event. Millions of dollars are secured through the sale of grandstand seating along the parade routes for the three major parades: Riverwalk, Battle of the Flowers and the final night parade, Fiesta Flambeau Parade, and without the income generated many of these efforts would go out of business. Your attendance at Fiesta is one of the delightful ways you can donate to organizations that make a true different in the lives of so many people.

Fiesta is scheduled each year in April with actual dates set by the Fiesta San Antonio Commision.
http://www.fiesta-sa.org/events/all-events/

Based on our experiences, your attendence at Fiesta can greatly be enhanced by the following suggestions:
1. Plan ahead. Secure lodging, tickets and schedules for events as soon as possible. The schedule of events for Fiesta 2011 have already been set and are available on the Fiesta San Antonio Commision website
http://www.fiesta-sa.org/

2.Get as close to the downtown Riverwalk area as you can. This is where the many events of Fiesta are held. Needless to say, it is the area that is the most expensive and often booked early. Some folks have been coming to Fiesta for years. Tickets are not required for many events and for those that do, most can be ordered online.

3.Plan to attend a variety of events to get the true feeling of Fiesta
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4.Plan to attend at least two of the three parades and be sure to buy designated seats. Try to get seats as close to the front as possible unless the grandstands are elevated. Then shoot for the middle rows.

5.Finally, it is a Fiesta tradition to dress in bright spring colors with Fiesta regalia from the official Fiesta Store http://fiestastore.fiesta-sa.org/ Don't forget an umbrella for both sun and rain.

During the past 6 years Sara and I have attended countless celebrations from The Great Viking Feast at Leifsburdur on the northern most tip of the island of New Foundland to the Fanasty Fest at Key West on the southern most tip of Florida. We have attended the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky and the Testicle Festival in Clinton, Montana. We have been to the Moose Dropping Festival in Talkeeta, Alaska and the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California just to name a few. Fiesta San Antonio ranks among the best.

We can assure you, if you have ever considered visiting San Antonio, Texas, do it during Fiesta and Viva, Viva, Viva Fiesta. You will not be sorry........................