Puro San Antonio
¡Viva Fiesta!
One of the most wonderful charms that makes San Antonio unique is the season of Fiesta! Every April rolls around bringing cascarones cracking and covering the ground with confetti, parades celebrating tradition, nights of endless drinks and every kind of food on sticks, clinks and pings of the Fiesta medal collectors, the crowning of King Antonio and El Rey Feo, and unlimited amonts of fun with friends, family, and all of San Antonio! Ever since I was little, I can remember looking forward to the fun and celebration of fiesta in San Antonio. Eating over priced foods, listening to live music and cheering during the parade, "Show Me Your Shoes!!". This year was no different. Not skipping a beat or missing a step in the festivities, I tried to attend all that I could.
We began our Fiesta with Oyster Bake at St. Mary's University on a rainy Friday night. Usually, Fiesta festivities are packed and there is rarely space to comfortably walk around. However, being that we chose a evening that everyone anticipated rain, there was lots of room and space making this year's experience awesome! That wasn't the only epic factor though. Visiting the Y100 tent to see if they had koozies as our hands were beginning to freeze from our beverages, we ended up signing up for a chance at winning Spurs tickets AND a meet and greet with FRANKIE BALLARD that evening! Oh, did I mention the endless supply of beet for the night? Yeah. Let's just say the opening ceremonies to our Fiesta began appropriately and to our liking. The first image (from left to right) I captured of Brittany cheering as Frankie Ballard played a song she favored. I love her genuine excitement and the light that shines from behind her. The middle photograph is of ET (Itiel) holding up the Frankie Ballard head on a stick posing diagonally from the stage that he was performing on at the time. Just a silly in the moment kind of photograph. The last photograph is the nicest stranger I have met in quite a while. If you do not know me, I love talking to strangers. Yes, I know it is not what my parents taught me, however, strangers are fascinating, inciteful people. This beautiful lady was working one of the games in the carnival section that we happened to stumble across. As I spoke with her breifly, she revealed that a family member had pasted away not too long ago. I asked if I could take her photograph and trusting me completely in that moment she said sure. I love this photograph for two reasons; personally and compositionally. Personally, obviously, because it captures that story and moment for me and my friends who were there simply having a pue moment with another person; sharing in their memory. Compositionally because of the lighting that shines and overtakes the photograph. It is stunning, compliments her, and, for me, symbolizes a sense of spirituality being soft, warm lighting.
Next on our Fiesta list was Taste of New Orleans. Introduced to us last year, we defintitely planned on attending this wonderfully lively event. Cajun foods, BBQ, live jazz/pop music playing endlessly, bustling crowds dancing, singing, and stuffing their faces with delicious treats, this SAZA Inc. tradition proved in not being a lackluster event. The photograph below is of Ryan, my handsome boyfriend, who happened to get an Iron Man Dr. Pepper can which, to Ryan, was like hitting a gold mine. Giddy and overly excited for a Dr. Pepper, he insisted on me capturing the moment as he sipped on his Iron Man adorned soda. I love the detail on the soda can itself and his delighted glimmer knowing that I was taking his photograph and that he was showing off his awesome purchase. Needless to say, I cannot wait till next year to attend this fantastic event again!
The next day, we began by sleeping in, a well respected tradition in celebrating a good night (or two) before. Never leaving a day empty or dry, Fiesta provided a small celebration of art. The Deco District Arts & Music Festival was taking place and so we decided to venture out to take a look see, as we have never partaken in the event before. Artists and craftsmen (& women) displayed their one-of-a-kind creations lining the streets and few parking lots with food and drink booths dispersed in between. A couple of stages with live bands and DJs captivating the crowds, it made our Sunday perfect, wrapping up the first Fiesta weekend.
Last, but not in the very least, our final official Fiesta event we attended was the Battle of Flowers parade. The day parade, in my experiences, have been filled with lively marching bands, colorful and extravagant themed floats, attempting to collect medals from everyone and anyone, whilst trying to get a sneak under the dresses of our crowned duchesses, princesses, and crowned royals to see what kind of shoes they have chosen to wear (which each year seem to become more ornate, fantastic, and lavish then previous royals). A time to relax and sit back while cheering on for every float that comes your way, displaying your enthusiasm for our wonderful city, I, on the other hand, tend to be plagued by the crazy humidity that is San Antonio as my hair begins to protest against me demonstrating just how close I can get to having an afro. Nevertheless, the parade is a cherished tradition spent with family as we continue to favor our beloved city and all that it brings to us. As it is a decently involved parade, I took tons of photographs. Featured in this post are three of those that I really enjoy. The first of my two cousins and two brothers; the second of a huge USA flag balloon that I really found beautiful as the soft sun rays shone through illuminating its color; and the third of one of the many color guard teams that were representing their school.
Once again, THANK YOU for taking some time out of your day to read my post and look at some of my photographs. I hope that you have enjoyed them (and continue to). Please feel free to COMMENT, SHARE, and send me a MESSAGE which you can find under the ABOUT tab in CONTACT. Make sure to explore the rest of the site!! There are a few new additions to LIFE TREASURES and SPECIAL MOMENTS. Thanks again! Keep coming back now, ya hear.
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