The 14th Annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza is the largest and longest running mariachi music festival in Texas. Over 1,000 of the greatest mariachi musicians from both sides of the border will participate in concerts and fiestas set along the colorful banks of the River Walk, beneath the grandeur of an 18th-century mission and within the opulent setting of Municipal Auditorium. The extravaganza runs from November 30th through December 6th and includes competitive mariachi group and vocal competitions, mariachi workshops, a mariachi-inspired art exhibit, student mariachi serenades on the River Walk, a celebratory mariachi Mass and a concert featuring el mejor mariachi del mundo Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. Over 15,000 people are expected to celebrate the beautiful culture of mariachi music—come and join them! For a complete schedule of Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza events, visit the festival’s web site at www.mariachimusic.com.
On November 16, 2008, 30,000 registered participants will make the inaugural Rock‘n’Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon the largest in Texas history—and San Antonio is gearing up to celebrate! Cheer participants on as they pass sights like the Alamo, Spanish colonial missions, the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas, the historic King William District and the eclectic arts neighborhood of Southtown. This legendary course will be lined with 70 live bands for fun-filled entertainment at every mile. Make a stop at the Alamodome for a finish-line fiesta and headliner concert featuring 80’s rock legends, The Cult.
So come on down to San Antonio! Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60s and racing events are close to the picturesque River Walk where hotels, restaurants, shops and more await!
The results are in for the Condé Nast Traveler: Readers’ Choice Awards list of “Top 100 Hotels.” Making the list were three San Antonio hotels. The Hotel Contessa and Watermark Hotel & Spa tied for the No. 12 spot, while the Emily Morgan Hotel received praise at the 33rd position. These hotels were ranked among superb properties around the world.
Each year since 1988, Condé Nast Traveler readers complete the Readers’ Choice Survey. In 2008 32,633 responses were tabulated based on the criteria of Rooms, Service, Food, Location & Design.
British musical legends, The Cult, will rock the Alamodome finish line during the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon headliner concert on November 16, 2008. Over 50 live bands will dot the marathon’s route through historic districts, across the River Walk and past eighteenth-century missions. Come for a challenging run or to enjoy a star-studded lineup of musicians. This, along with the city’s cultural appeal and mild fall temperatures has set the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon on pace to sell out with a cap of 30,000 participants—but there are still plenty of spaces left. For more information or to register online for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon, please visit www.RnRsa.com.
Travel + Leisure magazine has named San Antonio as one of America’s favorite cities for the second year in a row. Among the 25 cities featured, San Antonio was considered the most affordable by residents and visitors. The city also ranked well in the categories of ethnic food and cheap eats (2nd), family vacations (5th), historical (5th), Winter/Christmas travel (5th), traffic (5th), and romantic escape (7th). See more of Travel + Leisure’s evaluation of San Antonio at www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/city/san-antonio.
Celebrate San Antonio as the culinary and cultural gateway to Latin America at the New World Wine & Food Festival (November 5-9). The festival offers over 40 events featuring 60 talented chefs and restaurants from San Antonio as well as guest chefs from all over the world. Plus, nearly 300 wineries are expected to participate. From vintner cruises along the River Walk to a black-tie affair, each day features a full slate of food and wine festivities. Now in its eighth year, the festival continues to showcase San Antonio as a premier food and wine destination.
Whether your style is casual or formal, the New World Wine & Food Festival has an event to suit your taste and budget. Savor this sampling of festival events:
Vintner cruises along the San Antonio River Walk will kick things off Wednesday, November 5. Voyages begin at the Hotel Valencia with hors d’oeuvres provided by some of San Antonio’s best restaurants.
The hip, downtown bar Metro will be the site of the Cultural Cocktail on Thursday, November. 6, where mixologists will shake, muddle and pour their way through a spectacular evening using local ingredients. Then, select one of San Antonio’s most acclaimed restaurants for the Winemaker Dinners. This multi-course format is designed to display the variety of each vintner’s wines.
Friday, November 7’s Black Tie gala, will feature a multiple course dinner highlighting the best of San Antonio for an evening of food, wine and entertainment.
Saturday November 8, head to the festival’s pinnacle event, the New World Grand Tasting, in the Grotto of the stunning Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, beneath the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas and aside works of art by local and international artists. Dine with celebrity chefs and mingle with winemakers galore! You’ll want to arrive early and leave late as chefs and winemakers prepare the grandest of fares.
The New World Wine & Food Festival’s finale on Sunday, November 9, welcomes culinary connoisseurs of all ages to Rio Cibolo Ranch for the family-friendly, Totally Tejas event. This culturally-infused fiesta, combines wine and food with hands-on demonstrations, crafts, hayrides, river barge rides and story telling. All other events are for adults 21 and over.
It’s not surprising that San Antonio, a city famed for pivotal battles, has been noted by National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the nation’s “next great adventure towns.” For almost three centuries, San Antonio has been a haven for cultural evolution and deep-rooted beliefs.
Today, this tapestry of lure and excitement lives on—along the banks of the River Walk and in the grandeur of beautifully-preserved Spanish colonial missions. National Geographic Adventure highlighted San Antonio’s upcoming River Walk extension which will lengthen this picturesque attraction from three to 13 miles. The extension will add 460 acres of riverside parkland as well as hike and bike trails. Other highlights included recreation at Government Canyon State Park. This 8,622-acre natural area offers hiking, biking and educational opportunities in a terrain landscaped with Mountain Laurels, Mesquite, Live Oaks and Mexican Buckeye. The canyon was blazed by soldiers stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in the 1850s and is part of Texas’ rich ranching history. National Geographic Adventure also noted the diversity of San Antonio’s attractions, from the northern Hill Country dotted with vineyards to the Blue Star Brewing Co. nestled in a contemporary arts district.
There is so much to do in San Antonio. From themed adventures at SeaWorld San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and area dude ranches to culture-rich attractions like the nation’s largest Mexican market and reused historic breweries, San Antonio is a destination like nowhere else.
The spirits of the dead are alive and well in San Antonio, site of some of the nation’s most thrilling Halloween observances and culturally infused Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations.
During the month of October, San Antonio’s fun-filled attractions, including family favorites SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas offer ghoulish fun and death-defying rides for all ages. Following the haunting, San Antonio revels in the traditions of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic cultures through November 2, with traditional and contemporary Día de los Muertos festivities. Día de los Muertos is a special observance when the souls of the deceased are said to join the living in a festival to eat, drink and rejoice as they did when they were living.
This holiday is great for lovers of culture and history as well as family’s looking for an authentic and themed Halloween celebration. Age-old customs are evident in colorful displays and altares (altars) set up throughout the city. Family and friends of the deceased create these altares, dedicating them to the spirits of their loved ones. Candles, brilliant flowers and photos of loved ones are arranged among incense and ofrendas (offerings) like toys, drinks and favorite foods. Special delicacies such as traditional Mexican mole sauce, tamales, the ritual pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and lustrous sugar skulls are prepared for the offering. Processions to cemeteries are organized, all-night vigils are held and satirical poems, called calaveras (skulls), are read.
Just a Few San Antonio Events:
SeaWorld San Antonio – Howl-o-Scream: See SeaWorld San Antonio’s Fall Schedule.
The fun begins in October when San Antonio’s fun-filled attractions, including family favorites like SeaWorld San Antonio, morph into haunting lands of costumed characters with haunted houses and trick-or-treating.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas - Fright Fest: See Six Flags Fiesta Texas’ Fall Schedule.
It’s thrills by day and chills by night at Six Flags Fiesta Texas’ Fright Fest. The park will transform into a Halloween playground with hair-raising shows, electrifying entertainment, children’s trick-or-tricking and special activities just for kids.
Market Square – Los Altares Del Mercado: October 18 – Nov. 2
Colorful altares decorated with flowers, photographs of loved ones and traditional pan de muerto can be found at Market Square, the nation’s largest Mexican market.
San Antonio Botanical Garden - BOOtanica: October 19
Held in the city’s enchanting Botanical Garden, BOOtanica delights visitors with arts and crafts, pumpkin carving and a costume contest.
San Antonio Zoo - ZooBoo: October 30 - 31
An exciting, safe and non-scary event with trick-or-treating, face painting and a costume contest.
Southwest School of Art & Craft - Día de los Muertos: La Ofrenda: October 30 – November 1
Southwest School of Art & Craft artists, staff, students and friends are invited to bring personal offerings to honor the memory of an ancestor.
SAY Sí – Muertito Fest: November 1
SAY Sí celebrates with its 2nd annual Día de los Muertos Festival featuring altar workshops, music stages, film screenings, community altars, crafts and food booths.
URBAN 15 - Carnival de los Muertos: November 2
URBAN-15 celebrates the joyful memories of departed friends and family in a parade of dancing and drumming by performers in muerto (dead) costumes. Festivities begin in Southtown at 7:00 p.m. and travel to Centro Cultural Aztlan to perform at their Altar Ofrenda at 8:00 p.m.
Mission San José - Día de los Muertos Exhibit and Altar: November 2 - 4
This three-day, park-sponsored event provides activities and programs to explain the history, symbolism and relevance behind Día de los Muertos. Ofrendas will be on display in the visitor center and church.
It’s a world of fun on the River Walk during the International Accordion Festival (October 10 - 12) where squeeze box-driven traditions from across the globe unite for a musical celebration. Held in historic La Villita, an arts village on the banks of the River Walk, the festival will offer three stages set for the sounds of Celtic, Creole, Conjunto and more. Aside from toe-tapping performances; master accordionists, dance instructors and accordion makers will offer workshops to acquaint generations of fans with their diverse arts.
Open-mike sessions, ethnic food booths and plenty of dancing make the accordion festival a wonderful opportunity to experience a San Antonio-style, multicultural fiesta.
• The McNay Art Museum invested $50.8 million into the 45,000-square-foot Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for Exhibitions designed by French architect Jean-Paul Viguier. The added space allows the McNay to host larger exhibitions can be used an upscale meeting venue for groups up to 800.
• The Witte Art Museum’s multi-million dollar expansion will add 30,000 square feet of exhibit, event and restaurant space to the museum’s footprint, a parking facility for more than 300 vehicles and a new area called The Center for Rivers and Aquifers. Until September 2008, the Witte is hosting a monumental exhibit The Genius of Leonardo, an exhibition of 40 machines built by a group of skilled scientists and craftsmen after an in depth study of Da Vinci’s designs.
• The upcoming Briscoe Western Art Museum, scheduled to open in the fall of 2009, will add a new dimension to San Antonio’s art scene along with upscale meeting space. The one-of-a-kind museum will be devoted to celebrating the art, people and history of the great American West with an emphasis on the western art of San Antonio and the South Texas region. Included will be an arts and education center as well as an artist in residence program. A renovation of the former San Antonio Library and Hertzberg Circus Museum, to cost approximately $18 million will provide more than 40,000 square feet of gallery and exhibition areas.
• America’s Largest Latino Museum Opens in San Antonio (2007). Museo Alameda renders the story of Latinos in America, depicting the depth of a culture that has so richly crafted not only San Antonio, but also the character of the nation. As the first organization to sign an affiliation agreement with the Smithsonian Institution, Museo Alameda has access to the Smithsonian’s collections, exhibitions and educational programming.
