• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
    • Editorial Independence Policy
    • Corrections & Clarifications
  • Who we are
  • About us

San Antonio Heron

Telling the complete downtown story

  • Development
  • Housing
  • Neighborhoods
  • Food & Drink

Medals, chickens-on-a-stick, Chick-fil-A cows mark Fiesta’s official start

April 18, 2019 By Gaige Davila 1 Comment

FacebookTweetPrintEmail
Florencio Alcala shows his many Fiesta medals during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron

A windy, humid morning turned into a breezy, sunny afternoon in time for Fiesta’s official opening event, Fiesta Fiesta, Thursday at Hemisfair.

Through the crowd of a few tens of thousand and fluttering confetti were local groups and national businesses giving away or selling Fiesta medals; beer stands and paleta carts; meandering kings and queens of Fiesta (official or self-proclaimed); towering flower crowns; and, of course, people eating the much-loved chicken-on-a-stick.

More noticeable than the bass thumping from the stage at Nueva and South Alamo streets were the clanging of Fiesta medals. Some patrons wore more than a hundred on a single sash or Spurs jersey. Though you can never exactly discern whose medals in the crowd were making noise, the 3-foot-high hats some wore were likely a good place to start.

Joelle Valadez poses with her chicken-on-a-stick Thursday during Fiesta Fiesta at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron V. FINSTER | HERON

Life-long San Antonio resident Teresa Gonzalez wore a hat adorned with yellow and pink flowers and ribbons.

“I love seeing other people’s creativity,” Gonzalez said. “I think San Antonio has a lot of creative people.”

Gonzalez’s hat was made by Rebecca Medina, artist and owner of Rebecca Medina Dolls.

“There’s all types of culture,” said Medina “All walks of life enjoy Fiesta, whatever Fiesta means.”

Medina’s hat, which she made in six hours, featured a Bud Light can, an avocado, a miniature bottle of Tajin spice, and a papier-mâché doll smoking a thin cigarette whose smoke was made of cotton, while holding a chicken on a stick.

At one point, two Chick-fil-A cows danced defiantly while wearing sandwich board signs that read “Koma Más Poyo.” Earlier in the day, the City Council considered a re-vote on the portion of the San Antonio International Airport concession contract that barred Chick-fil-A. But the council ultimately decided to stick with its original decision.

Mike and Rosario Monreal watched as children and parents played in Yanaguana Garden. The couple volunteered at Fiesta events for nearly 30 years, including many A Night in Old San Antonios. Between the two, they have more than 2,000 medals. These days, they’ve dialed it down a few notches—they come only to enjoy Fiesta events with just a few medals on each of their shirts.

“We’re done volunteering,” Rosario said laughing. “We’ll let the new kids take over.”

Fiesta continues through Sunday, April 29. View the full schedule here.

Chick-fil-A cows dance during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. V. Finster | Heron
A papier-mâché doll sits on top of Rebecca Medina’s Fiesta hat during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Garrett Heath wears a whole chicken-on-a-stick outfit during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Daniel Garcia-Casillas, marketing specialist with San Antonio Public Library, wears a Selena Fiesta hat during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Uriel Diaz, Riverwalk Prince 2019, wears a Fiesta hat topped with Selena during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair Park. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Jesus Archuluta wears a hat with a specific message during Fiesta Fiesta on Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Rosemary Cardenas holds her “SHOW ME YOUR BOOZE” hat during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair Photo by V. Finster | Heron
[/media-credit] Jacob Diaz (from left), Anthony Diaz and Maria Vega show-off their Fiesta flair during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron
Diana Lozano shows the back of her Fiesta sign during Fiesta Fiesta Thursday at Hemisfair. Photo by V. Finster | Heron

Contact Gaige Davila: 956-372-4776 | gaige@saheron.com | @gaigedavila on Twitter

FacebookTweetPrintEmail

Filed Under: Fiesta

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

Primary Sidebar

Share

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Deep Dives

How municipal bonds work, and a brief history of them in San Antonio

Olivo: How McKee-Rodriguez’s support for a luxury housing project helps shape the Decade of Downtown

The Lofts at River North are under construction at Broadway and Jones Avenue in July.

Analysis: It’s time to call BS on ‘workforce housing’

Copyright © 2023 San Antonio Heron · Site maintained by hmt3design.com

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!