Culinaria 2019

How to do San Antonio's signature food and wine festival like a pro

Culinaria is San Antonio's can't-miss food event.

San Antonio’s biggest food festival is saying “cheers to 20 years.” For its 20th anniversary edition, taking place September 26-29 at La Cantera Resort & Spa, Culinaria Wine + Food Festival promises a blowout party with a jam-packed schedule and a new twist on one of its most popular events.

Tickets are now on sale for marquee events, like the tequila-fueled Arte Agave on September 27 and the Grand Tasting on September 28, all of which benefit Culinaria's nonprofit work to promote San Antonio as a culinary destination through educational program and other initiatives.

First-timers and out-of-towners should not come unprepared. Here are tips to make the most of the one of Alamo City's biggest culinary events of the year.

Arrive early
While the chefs prepare for large crowds at each event, popular bites can be gobbled up quickly. Line up at the start time to make sure you get your fill of every bite from San Antonio’s premier restaurants.

Slow your roll
From the sparkling wines at Bubbles — Culinaria’s poolside opening night party — to Arte Agave, the wine and spirits will be flowing every night. Don’t let a hangover keep you from taking advantage of every moment. Drink lots of water, and savor the nuances of every glass. This is a marathon not a sprint.

Dress to impress
While some food festivals are an excuse to break out the flip-flops, most of the evening events at Culinaria are elegant affairs. Bring crisp button-ups, sports coats, and cocktail dresses. And don't forget your mask — after a 10-year absence, Culinaria is bringing back a masquerade component to the Grand Tasting. September 29’s casual backyard soiree, Burgers & Beers, is the exception to this rule, but no one ever turns their nose up at someone in seersucker.

Learn something
In addition to the big events, Culinaria is filled with educational opportunities. By all means, visitors should make a quick trip to check out downtown San Antonio, but they should also make time for wine and cocktail classes, a chef roundtable discussion on media and food, and a seminar on Southern suppers.

The full schedule for Culinaria Wine + Food Festival, excluding sold-out events, is as follows:

Bubbles — September 26, 7-10 pm, $75
Arte Agave — September 27, 7-10 pm, $75
Hole in Wine Golf Tournament — September 28, 7:30 am
Cadillac Class Series — September 28, 11 am-3 pm, $25 each
The Grand Tasting Masquerade — September 28, 7-10 pm, $100
Burgers & Beer — September 29, 1-5 pm, $65

You can purchase tickets to individual events or splurge on select packages with access to multiple happenings.

charity festivals

SPARE ART

North San Antonio gets crafty with new creative supplies shop

Photo by Ismael Rodriguez.

Local nonprofit Spare Parts recently opened its brick-and-mortar center for creative reuse.

One local nonprofit organization has spent years getting environmental accountability and community education down to a fine art. And now it’s getting crafty with a new brick-and-mortar shop in North San Antonio aimed to help locals to go green.

Spare Parts was founded in 2010 by executive director and longtime arts educator Mary Elizabeth Cantú to provide a creative spark for area students and schools lacking arts funding and resources. Through a variety of educational programs, public art exhibitions, events, and the organization’s traveling Mini Art Museum, Spare Parts has enlightened thousands of students and San Antonians, all while fostering reuse practices and sustainability, a key tenet of the nonprofit.

Spare Parts’ latest endeavor is another artistic triumph. Its new center for creative reuse, located at 13451 Wetmore Rd., is nothing less than a crafter’s delight. The shop features an impressive array of “pre-loved” and price-reduced artsy merchandise — from paint supplies and paper crafts to sewing items, beading and jewelry, school and office supplies, vintage gadgets, and crafting kits — all of which has been rescued from area landfills.

Cantú notes that proceeds from the new Spare Parts’ shop will enable the organization to further increase creative and educational experiences for San Antonio students and families. But even more so, she hopes the shop will help locals embrace the concept that one person’s trash can be another’s artistic treasure.

“There really isn’t any more room in the world for this stuff. Buying pre-loved at places like Spare Parts or other stores is a way to reduce the amount of things [people] feel that they need,” Cantú said in a recent interview with the San Antonio Sentinel. “We’re challenging people to rethink things around them, buy pre-loved, and find a way to be creative in their lives.”

In the time of COVID-19, however, getting the creative juices flowing isn’t as simple as popping into the Spare Parts shop. Though the center for creative reuse is open, the store is currently offering only weekend curbside pickup of items ordered through its website. But crafters shouldn’t despair, as Spare Parts is offering private in-person shopping experiences in the new year, with the first planned for January 16 and 17.

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