HAPPY FIESTA

A Night in Old San Antonio returns to enchant locals with new food and fun this April

Revelers take part in the pageantry at A Night in Old San Antonio

Currently, in homes across the city, locals are busily crafting flower crowns, searching for new guayaberas, and dreaming of chicken on a stick. Fiesta San Antonio is just around the corner, and tickets are now on sale for one of the season’s most popular events.

The planners of A Night in Old San Antonio, affectionately referred to as NIOSA, have revealed the details of this year’s festival. The four-night celebration of Alamo City’s rich cultural heritage will be held April 25 through 28, 5:30-10:30 pm nightly, offering revelers more than 165 food, beverage, and entertainment booths; continuous live music, and the chance to snag up essential Fiesta souvenirs.

As usual, the affair will be held at La Villita Historic Arts Village District, taking full advantage of four acres of puro atmosphere. The grounds will be divided into 14 districts in homage to the city’s diverse identity, from a frontier town done up in Old West duds to a mural-filled zone honoring Spain.

The big news this year is that NIOSA is doing away with wristbands and returning to paper coupons. Although cash is the only accepted currency, ATMS will be scattered across the site so people can purchase sausage and medals to their heart’s content. In honor of its 75th anniversary, the Chili Queens will also return. The vendor’s origins at NIOSA date back to 1947 when volunteers would create replicas of the chili stands that were formerly scattered across Juarez Plaza.

As always, the event will benefit The Conservation Society’s work to preserve the San Antonio area’s historical properties and parks. From 2010 to 2020, NIOSA raised more than $12 million to help the 99-year organization continue its mission.

$20 advance entry tickets are available through April 28 online or at area H-E-B stores, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base, and Randolph Air Force Base. Tickets at the gate are $25, and children 12 and under are free.

event planner fiesta san antonio

Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

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