Holiday Drinks: Mexican Fiesta San Antonio Style

Some Fiesta San Antonio History and Some Cocktails to Celebrate the Occasion

A Mexican Fiesta is a party. Not just a party, but also a festival, a carnival, and a myriad of music combined with a ton of food and drink. Many Mexican Fiestas last for days and usually take a year to organize.

Fiesta San Antonio is an annual event. Falling around April 21, Fiesta celebrations last for 10 days. For San Antonio natives, Fiesta honors the history, culture, and the heroes that defended the Alamo and battled at San Jacinto.

From the early roots of Fiesta until now the celebrations have blossomed into a grand scale operation. A commission of volunteers organizes year round to bring Fiesta San Antonio to fruition.

None of the events are government funded. The Fiesta Commission funds the events of some participating organizations through donations from private citizens, membership dues, corporate participation, and concession sales from the events. The Fiesta Commission also helps organize events that are self-supported.

The Battle of Flowers, one of Fiesta's largest parades, owes its beginnings to a group of local women. In 1891 these women adorned their carriages with flowers and paraded before the Alamo tossing flowers at each other. The women were commemorating the Battle of San Jacinto, which took place on April 21, 1836, and marked Texas winning independence from Mexico. To this day, the Battle of Flowers is still organized and directed by women.

In 1909 John Carrington spearheaded the Order of the Alamo. One of the earliest organizations, the Order of the Alamo members gathers once a year to select the royalty for the next year's festivities. Featured in many events, the court includes a queen, a princess, and 24 duchesses--12 locals and 12 from out of town.

No queen would be complete without her king. Throughout Fiesta San Antonio's history there has been King Cotton, King Selamat (tamales backwards), King Omala (Alamo backwards) and King Antonio. Early in Fiesta's roots there were years where kings were absent from the court. To solve this, John Carrington formed the Texas Cavaliers in 1926. One purpose of the Texas Cavaliers was to select the king.