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UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures

The University of Texas at San Antonio will present the first Asian Festival since the onset of the pandemic. The one-day performance, entertainment, and food event will celebrate the diverse Asian diaspora represented in South Texas and San Antonio.

The festival features authentic food, multicultural performances, music, games, art, fashion, crafts, and more.

The festival will showcase Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. The 2023 festival will be the first of an annual celebration of the contributions of the AAPI community to all aspects of Texas cultures.

Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil presents Bazzar

Cirque du Soleil will showcase the outer limits of collective imagination, wonder, and emotional response as it presents the spectacular stage extravaganza, Bazzar. This will be Cirque du Soleil’s first return to San Antonio since 2006 and it will be the first time the city welcomes a Big Top show.

Bazzar is a dazzling homage to the Cirque du Soleil legacy that will highlight its awe-inspiring acrobatic displays, adroit dancers and talented musicians. Inspired by a traditional Middle Eastern bazaar, the production captures the bustling kinetic environment of the centuries-old, open-air market setting through its ensemble of diverse characters.

Photo courtesy of Alamo Heights Night

Alamo Heights Night

Alamo Heights Night will feature entertainment for the entire family. Guests can savor traditional fiesta fare plus food from some of San Antonio's favorite restaurants. There will also be activities for kids and live music on two stages.

Photo courtesy of San Antonio Book Festival

San Antonio Book Festival

The 2023 San Antonio Book Festival will include 100 notable local, regional, and national authors. This year’s lineup includes nationally renowned authors like Kiese Laymon, Geraldine Brooks, Melissa de la Cruz, Matthew Desmond, and more.

The festival will kick off officially with an opening ceremony featuring remarks from SABF’s executive director and Mayor Ron Nirenberg. The event features a full day of author presentations, panel discussions, book sales, signings, children’s and teen activities, and food trucks. It showcases debut authors and established writers, introducing attendees to new literary talents and connecting them with their favorite authors.

The festival takes place at the Central Library and UTSA Southwest Campus in downtown San Antonio.

Photo courtesy of San Antonio Parks Foundation

San Antonio Parks Foundation presents 16th Annual Fest of Tails Kite Festival & Dog Fair

The San Antonio Parks Foundation in partnership with the City of San Antonio will present the 16th Annual Fest of Tails. The kite festival and dog fair offers kite demonstrations and family kite flying, live entertainment, various food options, a variety of vendors, and more. For dog enthusiasts, pet products, treats, and clothing will be available for purchase. Information on pet registration, vaccinations, rescues, and more, will also be available through various participating animal welfare organizations and businesses.

Photo by Deen van Meer

Broadway in San Antonio presents Disney's Frozen

Broadway Dallas presents Disney's Frozen

Frozen features the songs you know and love from the original Oscar®-winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez. An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical: It’s moving. It’s spectacular. And above all, it’s pure Broadway joy.

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6 splurge-worthy spas for max relaxation in San Antonio

Weekend plans sorted

It can be difficult to embark on a "treat yourself" spree when tallying up the costs of self-care. Skimming the extensive (and often expensive) menu of available services at any given spa, special treatments can feel like a waste of money. Thankfully for San Antonians, we're surrounded by local spas offering much more than the standard massage or facial. From award-winning hotel spas to salons offering boutique beauty services, here are six San Antonio spas where the end result is worth every penny.

Mokara Spa
As the city's only Forbes four-star spa, the Mokara is widely recognized as one of the best spas in the world, not just San Antonio. And you don't have to be a hotel guest to enjoy a service at the 17,000 square foot spa itself, where prices will cost $100 and up, depending on the service. Spring for the signature facial treatment, where a trained esthetician will customize a skincare regimen to your own personal needs. They also have treatments like body wraps, pedicures, manicures, massages, customized spa packages, and more. Book a service here.

Loma de Vida Spa
Looking for a way to treat a mom-to-be in your life for Mother's Day? Treat her to the Babymoon experience at La Cantera Resort's Loma de Vida spa. The experience include's a couples massage, a baby belly facial for the mom in question, and a chance for her to take some time to float peacefully in the spa's outdoor pool and enjoy lunch or a snack in one of the private cabanas. The entire experience is $555, but the spa offers weekday discounts and those Hill Country views are worth it. Book a service here.

The Thompson San Antonio Hotel Spa
It's hard not to feel like Goldilocks when entering the Thompson Hotel spa, because everything is justright from the second you walk in. Pricing for spa services range upwards from $100, but the spa offers some cost-effective spa packages (the Relax and Recharge package includes a 50-minute massage and 50-minute facial for $350, for example), or the Thompson Hotel spa membership, which includes benefits like 2 complimentary day passes a month for friends and family, 20 percent off spa services, and more. Book a service here.

The Spa at Eilan
If you're looking for a couple's treatment, the Eilan spa has a lot of options, from the Soothe for Two Rasul service (essentially a private steam and aromatherapy session), a couple's hot stone massage, or a men's facial. The spa at Eilan also has a wide assortment of spa packages that include a facial and massage in the set price. If you've never tried a body wrap before, the Eilan spa has a signature Hanakasumi body treatment, which features the calming scents of cherry blossom and lotus flower. Prices start around $110, and you can book a service here.

Folawns Medical Spa and Salon
If you're feeling a bit sluggish after a long week, you might want to try something other than a standard facial or massage. Folawns Medical Spa and Salon offers vitamin B12 shots that'll give you a boost that's both more natural and more convenient than having to stop at Starbucks. For only $20 a shot, it also helps boost your immunity, too. Folawns also offers other treatments like hydrafacials, IV treatments, laser hair removal and more. Book a service here.

Beauty Haus SA
Have you ever felt like you walked straight into a TikTok reel? Beauty Haus SA's got you covered on that front, but they aren't just about the 'gram: The talented staff offers a wide assortment of relaxing treatments, from massages and facials to lash lifts, brow tints, lip plumpers, and more. This writer tried her first ever lash lift and tint at Beauty Haus. They're not kidding when they say you won't need mascara for at least 4-6 weeks, as long as you apply castor oil to your lashes. The starting price for the lash lift and tint starts at $75 dollars (prices vary based on the technician) but it's definitely a nice confidence booster. Book a service here.

New Hill Country wine school teaches Texans how to become aficionados

TASTING NOTES

Texan wine enthusiasts and beginners wanting to test their skills or develop them further can now do so at a new Hill Country wine school led by an award-winning winery out in Hye, Texas.

William Chris Wine Co. (WCWC) has opened their William Chris Wine School with Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) classes and a one-of-a-kind ambassador certification course beginning in April. The school is offering these courses not only to educate fellow Texans about the intricacies of wine, but also to provide inspirational experiences that help ignite their passion for it.

“WSET courses are designed to inspire and empower anyone looking to develop their wine knowledge—regardless of prior experience, and from enthusiasts to professionals,” said Director of Education Kelsey Kramer in a press release. “So, we encourage anyone to sign up for our WSET courses no matter their current level of wine knowledge.”

WCWC is the first Texas winery to provide these educational courses to industry peers and enthusiasts. They’ll offer two WSET level tracks with multiple classes; their beginner-level WSET Level 1 classes are open for registration for April 15 and May 15. The WSET Level 2 Award in Wines courses are for more experienced aficionados, and are centered around trying new wines from all over the world while also educating on wine theory, grape-growing techniques, and more. The level two classes are scheduled for May, June, and July.

Kramer added that over half of the William Chris team have successfully passed the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines courses.

“Our ultimate goal, as always, is to increase the standard of knowledge for those in the Texas wine industry,” she said. “Anyone who participates in a course with us supports this goal and the future success of the industry as a whole.”

Though Texas wine is not included in the WSET curriculum, the wine school has their own solution for that. They are offering an exclusive Texas Wine Ambassador Certification program that focuses solely on wine-making and grape-growing in our own state. Their first certification class is scheduled for April 22.

More information about the William Chris Wine School and its classes can be found on their website.

Goofiness keeps Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves light on its feet

Movie Review

In the franchise world in which we now live, movie studios are always looking for the next big thing that will ensure fans come flocking to the theater. The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons has gotten a pop cultural boost in recent years thanks to the Netflix show Stranger Things, and now – just shy of its 50th anniversary – it's getting its own blockbuster movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

The film premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) as the festival's opening pick. The somewhat complex story centers on two of the titular thieves, Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), who lead a group of rogues who make a living by stealing, but only from those who deserve it. One such altruistic mission, a relic that can bring back the dead, leads to the pair getting caught and put in jail, separating Edgin from his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman).

Michelle Rodriguez and Chris Pine in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Michelle Rodriguez and Chris Pine in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Fellow thief Forge (Hugh Grant) agrees to look after her, but after a daring escape, Edgin and Holga discover that Forge is even more of a scoundrel than they thought, rising to the title of Lord in their absence with the help of the sorceress Sofina (Daisy Head), and poisoning Kira’s mind against them. They must gather the rest of the team, including Simon (Justice Smith) and Doric (Sophia Lillis), to try to take him down and recover the relic once and for all.

Written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, with help from co-writer Michael Gilio, the film has the unenviable task of turning the famously dense game into something that pleases both fanatics and those unfamiliar with its many characters, creatures, and locations. It’s clear the filmmakers are trying to strike a balance between the two, loading the story with terms they barely attempt to explain while at the same time making the movie as goofy as possible.

Only the second of those two approaches truly works. The problem the filmmakers run into is that this is an introductory film that barely seems to care about introducing its characters. A lengthy speech by Edgin at the beginning attempts to do that, but is staged in such a way that the humor of sequence takes precedence over the details of the people. The only reason the characters wind up likable is because of the sheer amount of time spent with them and the actors’ performances.

Well, that and the comedy sprinkled throughout the film. If Daley, Goldstein, and Gilio do anything right, it’s not taking the material too seriously. The world has already seen Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, so adding in funny elements like the wise-cracking Edgin, a supremely fat dragon, and more keeps the film from getting lost in its own minutiae. Not all the jokes land, but 75-80 percent of them do, which is enough to keep the film buoyant.

Pine, as he’s shown in the recent Star Trek and Wonder Woman films, has charm to spare. He occupies this particular role extremely well, and so even if you can’t remember his character’s name, his performance carries the film. Rodriguez is an acquired taste, but her surly demeanor and physical prowess works for her here. The supporting actors shine at times, but the film doesn’t showcase them enough to make them stand out.

While miles better than the reviled 2000 Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves is a merely okay beginning for a possible new franchise. There’s some excitement to be had and it stays light on its feet thanks to the comedy, but more attention paid to the story is warranted if they decide to make sequels.

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opens in theaters on March 31.