VIVA FIESTA!

San Antonio’s favorite citywide celebration of culture makes its colorful return

One of San Antonio’s most beloved — and intensely colorful — cultural traditions is back in all its glory this year.

After the pandemic upended its planned citywide celebration in 2020, Fiesta returns to San Antonio Thursday, June 17 through Sunday, June 27, and features a (nearly) complete lineup of festival faves.

Beginning in 1891 as a one-parade event honoring the heroes of the Alamo and the defining Battle of San Jacinto, Fiesta has blossomed into a widely anticipated, jubilant annual city festival that celebrates the diverse heritage, culture, and spirit of the Alamo City — and has an economic impact of more than $340 million.

And this year, though some cherished Fiesta fetes won’t be returning — the King William Fair among them — Fiesta promises a packed schedule of more than 100 events guaranteed to get you in the party spirit and celebrating your San Antonio pride.

(Note: Attendees are encouraged to check the Fiesta website for specific COVID-19 safety protocols, as they vary per event. Stay safe out there, San Antonio!)

A full schedule of Fiesta 2021 events is available here and attendees can purchase tickets for specific events online. Following are some highlights of the local festival that are not to be missed.

June 17

Fiesta at Fiesta Hemisfair features live music, Fiesta medal bartering, an arts-and-crafts market, and bites from some of San Antonio’s top culinary talents. 4-10 pm at Hemisfair, 434 S. Alamo St. Admission is free.
Fiesta Carnival, which runs daily throughout Fiesta, comes to life in a wash of dazzling lights, amusement-park rides, and Fiesta foods in this always thrilling fair. Admission is free. 5-11 pm in Alamodome parking lot C, 100 Montana St.

June 18

Crown the King features the public crowning of 72nd Rey Feo Thomas Aguillon, as well as mariachi music, folklorico dancers, and the chance to hobnob with Fiesta royalty. Admission is free. 5:30-7 pm at the Main Plaza, 115 N. Main Ave.
Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square, running through June 27, is a family-friendly event and one of the largest free Fiesta celebrations. It includes tons of live music, more than 30 food booths, an array of fun activities. Admission is free. 10 am-11:59 pm at Market Square, 514 W. Commerce St.

June 19

Juneteenth Festival includes free concerts, a flotilla fish fry, a health fair, kids’ activities, food booths, performances from gospel groups, and more. Admission is free. 11 am-11 pm at Comanche Park, 2600 Rigsby Ave.
Investiture of King Antonio includes the ceremonial crowning of the king with a plumed hat. Admission is free. 8-9 pm, Alamo Plaza, 300 Alamo Plaza.

June 21

Texas Cavaliers River Parade, a Fiesta tradition since 1941, features the best kind of local parade: one on the river! Tickets range from $14-$26. 7-9 pm at the San Antonio River Walk.

June 22

Ford Mariachi Festival features student mariachis from area high schools and local college mariachi programs, as well as folklorico dancers on river floats. Admission is free. 7:30-9:30 pm at the San Antonio River Walk.

June 25

10th Street River Festival, hosted on the historic grounds of the VFW Post 76, includes live music, food nibbles, and cold drinks. Admission is free. Noon-11:59 pm at 10 10th St.

June 26

Fiesta Pooch Parade, a virtual parade featuring Therapy Animals of SA and a live costume contest, is about as cute as it gets. The parade starts at 10 am on Facebook live @therapyanimalssa, and the costume contest begins at noon at the North Park Subaru dealership, 9635 San Pedro Ave.

June 27

La Reina de la Feria de las Flores Reception, which takes place on the final day of Fiesta, is a fundraiser for the queen and includes food, music, and the chance to meet the queen in person. GA tickets are $50 and VIP options are also available. 5-7 pm at Paesanos Riverwalk, 11 W. Crockett St.

San Antonio's favorite annual fest is back!

Courtesy of Fiesta San Antonio

San Antonio's favorite annual fest is back!

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Movie Review

Saoirse Ronan plays a WWII-era mother in melodramatic film Blitz

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Elliott Heffernan and Saoirse Ronan in Blitz.

The horrors of World War II are 80+ years in the past, yet they remain a fascination for many filmmakers. The latest film to tackle the era, Blitz, is centered around the German Blitzkrieg air raids on London in September 1940, but uses a more personal story to illustrate its impact.

Rita (Saoirse Ronan) lives with her 9-year-old son George (Elliott Heffernan) and her father Gerald (Paul Weller) in the lower class neighborhood of Stepney, but no one in the city is immune from the bombs being dropped by the Germans. The government has opened up some of the Underground (aka subway) tunnels for residents to use as bomb shelters, but the haphazard nature of their availability leads Rita to send George to safety in the countryside to protect him.

George, who is biracial, experiences racist abuse on the train, and instead of remaining with the other children to their destination, he jumps off and tries to make his way back to London. Meanwhile, Rita is doing her best to keep her mind off of George’s absence, working at a munition factory and volunteering at a bomb shelter, not knowing that George has put himself back in danger.

Written and directed by Steve McQueen, the film should be one that elicits emotions relatively easily, with ordinary people dealing with the effects of war and a mother separated from her only child. And while all the elements are present, there’s that certain something missing that leaves the story somewhat uninvolving. McQueen makes you want to see George make it back safely and for Rita to be reunited with him, but there is a degree of sentimentality that’s missing from the film as a whole.

Instead of going down that road, McQueen puts a big focus on the racism and bigotry experienced by various people in the film. Flashbacks give a sense of what George and his dad, Marcus (CJ Beckford), went through prior to the war, and Ife (Benjamin Clementine), a warden who tries to help George find his way home, encounters it multiple times while just doing his duty. While McQueen’s point — that people of color still had to endure acts of hatred in a time when people should have been coming together — is valuable, his methods of showing it are often heavy-handed.

Still, the film is well-made and remains visually engaging throughout. The combination of practical sets and CGI put the viewer right in the middle of the bombed-out London, and there are few missteps with how the city is presented. And even though the main mother-son story is only lightly effective, the trials and tribulations that each go through individually are interesting and occasionally suspenseful.

Ronan is a fantastic actor who might get nominated for an Oscar yet again for her other recent film, The Outrun, but this role pales in comparison. Whether it’s because the 30-year-old is a bit young to be fully believable in a mother role or because of the storytelling missteps, she’s merely good instead of great here. Heffernan does a solid job in his film debut, reacting ably to McQueen putting him through his paces.

Blitz joins the seemingly never-ending well of stories from World War II, and while it doesn’t succeed as mightily as other notable war films, it never becomes anything less than watchable. The family story at its center could have been more heartfelt, but McQueen is still a great filmmaker with a flair for visual composition.

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Blitz is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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