Fiesta City or Fiesta Capital (San Antonio nickname)

San Antonio has held an annual Fiesta since the 1890s. One of the many nicknames of the city of San Antonio is “Fiesta City” (or, less frequently, “Fiesta Capital”). The nickname is most frequently used in association with the Fiesta in April, but several San Antonio businesses and organizations have “Fiesta City” in their names.
   
   
Wikipedia: San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio (pronounced /ˌsænænˈtoʊnioʊ/) is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh largest city in the United States. Located in South Texas, the city is a cultural gateway into the American Southwest. San Antonio is the seat of Bexar County with a population of 1,328,984 as of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, as well as the 4th fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000-2006 in terms of percentage. Its metropolitan area has nearly 2 million people and is the 28th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.
 
San Antonio was named for the Portuguese Saint Anthony, whose feast day is on (June 13) when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691. The city has a strong military presence—it is home to Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, and Brooks City-Base, with Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley right outside the city. Furthermore, Kelly Air Force Base (now Port San Antonio) operated out of San Antonio until 1995. San Antonio is home to the South Texas Medical Center, the only medical research and care provider in the South Texas region.
 
Famous for its River Walk, the Alamo, Tejano culture, and home to the SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks, the city is visited by 26 million tourists per year according to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. San Antonio is also home to the first museum of modern art in Texas—the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, as well as one of the more successful National Basketball Association teams in league history, the San Antonio Spurs.
 
Wikipedia: Fiesta San Antonio
“Fiesta San Antonio” (or simply “Fiesta”) is a spring festival with is origins begun in the late 1800’s. A festival begun as a single carnival event in which the citizens of San Antonio, Texas, celebrate and honor the memory of all the heroes of the Texas Revolution, especially the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto, the turn around battle of the revolution. Fiesta was formalised in 1891 by the Battle of Flowers Parade organization and continues in this vain.
 
According to http://www.fiesta-sa.org, Fiesta is the city’s biggest festival. More than three million people take part in Fiesta, and they can choose from over 100 events that contain something to please every age range, pocketbook, and taste.
 
History
Fiesta has been a tradition in the Alamo City since before 1891, when citizens wanted a special celebration to commerate the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo, and honor the fallen soldiers of San Jancinto. In 1891 prominent local women decorated carriages, bicycles with live flowers, met in front of the Alamo and threw the blossoms at one another, thus, creating the first “Battle of Flowers”. The Battle of Flowers Parade (still one of Fiesta’s most popular events) was joined by 1909 with balls, coronations of local “royalty”, a carnival (already established), and many other activities.
 
Events
Today more than 90 local nonprofit groups, members of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, stage 100 events over 10 days with the help of some 75,000 volunteers
 
San Antonio International Airport
GATE 9 – PORTAL BY CESAR MARTINEZ
Fiesta
San Antonio is Fiesta City all year round. However, the biggest Fiesta of them all is the annual spring festival celebrating the history and culture of San Antonio.  It takes place over two weeks in April of every year.  Bursts of confetti, streamers, parades and neon-lit carnival rides inspired the designs in this portal – wall mural, columns and floor.
 
Official San Antonio Destinations Guide
San Antonio
Fiesta Capital of the World
 
RE/MAX FIESTA CITY
3285 Wurzbach Rd
San Antonio,TX 78238
Phone:(210) 333-3331
 
19 April 1939, Port Arthur (TX) News, “Greenie Band Will Play in San Antonio,” pg. 13, col. 3:
Traveling by bus and track, the band is expected to arrive in the fiesta city in midafternoon.
 
22 April 1954, San Antonio (TX) Express, pg. 3B, col. 1 photo caption:
The “costumed” look is the Fiesta look. Nowhere in the Fiesta City are more authentic costumes to be found than those in the collection of Mrs. Charles Schaefer, some of which are on display during this festive week.
 
7 April 1968, San Antonio (TX) Light, “World to Attend S.A.‘s 250th Birthday,” pg. 12, col. 4:
And, where else but in San Antonio, the city named for St. Anthony, the home of the historic Alamo and the fiesta capital of the Southwest, which Will Rogers once called one of the four most distinctive cities in America?
 
21 June 1968, El Paso (TX) Herald-Post, pg. B1, col. 1 ad:
SAN ANTONIO
WORLD’S FAIR
NOW…IN AMERICA’S FIESTA CITY! 
 
Amazon.com
San Antonio: Portrait of the Fiesta City (Paperback)
by Susanna Nawrocki (Author), Gerald Lair (Author), Mark Langford (Photographer)
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Voyageur Press (MN) (Jan 1 1992)
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Inventing the Fiesta City heritage and performance in San Antonio’s public culture
by Laura Elizabeth Ehrisman;  Steven D Hoelscher
Type:  Internet Resource; English
Publisher: 2003.
Editions: 2 Editions
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)—University of Texas at Austin, 2003.
 
IgoUgo
San Antonio: The Fiesta City
An October 2003 travel journal by wildhoney269
Type of Trip: Pleasure
Last Updated: November 7, 2003
 
BNET
Fiesta City honors its past, celebrate its future: San Antonio invites new visitors to share in its history
Parks & Recreation,  Sept, 2005 by Maya Avrasin
(...)
San Antonio’s character lies in its foundation. Never ignoring its tumultuous past, the city’s leaders created monuments, homages and picturesque parks to honor its history. At the same time, San Antonio continues to develop and grow as a city, providing its residents with numerous ways to enjoy its culture, recreation offerings and historical experiences as only the Fiesta City can achieve.
   
Mission Realty
Fiesta Capital    
Written by Randy Watson  
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
What is there in this city that makes it the fiesta capital? History, culture, fun and excitement abound in this city of the Wild West.
 
The city of San Antonio started out as an old Spanish mission in the 18th century.