Tourist-laden San Antonio is heavy with map-wielding visitors, keen to get their fix of the sights. It’s a beautiful place with a number of historic attractions, and also offers hundreds of events and festivals every year to keep the keen hordes coming.
The annual Day of the Dead celebrations (or Dia de los Muertos if your Spanish is good!) is a unique and unusual spectacle in which the city honours the Hispanic celebration of the deceased. During this festival, families remember their dearly departed and pay homage to loved ones by dressing up and wearing garish and ghastly make up. Across a number of events in the city, you can see a range of traditional festivities, with processions, workshops, authentic dress, altar-building, education and entertainment. It’s a great combination of culture and fun and is a truly authentic taste of Hispanic life.
Mala Luna Music Festival offers a great selection of musicians and performers for two whole days, with big-name headliners along with the best of the region’s young and upcoming talent. Previous performers here have included names such as Travis Scott, Steve Aoki, Kaskade and G-Eazy. The festival seeks to provide the best artists and promote new names in a chilled-out setting, so if you like relaxing vibes and emerging artists, this is for you!
The Annual Asian Festival, which is now in its 30th year, offers attendees a glimpse of traditional Asian traditions, tastes and culture. For one jam-packed day, Texans can experience and learn all about the history and heritage of places as diverse and different as Laos, Thailand, Korea, Japan, the Philippines and more. It’s a family-friendly affair and offers music, performances, food, fashion, arts, crafts and plenty of smiling faces. There are interactive cooking demonstrations, henna, three stages of entertainment, exhibitions, workshops and more.
Fiesta San Antonio also celebrates the diversity of the city and is one of the best festivals in the region, with a great history of fantastic entertainment and education. It includes three major parades, all of which are colourful and crazy, while there is plenty of music in the form of blues, jazz, mariachi, pop and traditional Tejano. The event also includes ample portions of belly-busting treats from a range of cuisines along with flowers, lights, traditional dress, animals, concerts and live performances.