San Antonio – When it comes to putting on a party, the city of San Antonio has been perfecting the art for well over 100 years. Since 1891, they’ve been putting on a celebration that can only go by one name: Fiesta. Except for the day it starts in April, which is known as Fiesta Fiesta! Yeah, we’re talking two times the fun. “When I think of Fiesta Fiesta, I think it’s like Christmas Day,” said Jazzlyn Ramirez. “Everyone’s just out there ready. Everyone’s excited.”
Jazzlyn grew up in San Antonio and even has descendants that fought at the Alamo. She holds one of the most sought-after titles in the Alamo City. “My official title is Miss Fiesta San Antonio 2023,” said Jazzlyn. “So as Miss Fiesta, my duties is to be an ambassador of Fiesta and just bring awareness and be a representative to San Antonio.”
But this get together isn’t just a free for all. No, there’s actually much more to this 11-day soiree. “Fiesta is actually known as a party with a purpose,” said Jazzlyn. “So it’s so many nonprofit organizations just coming together, raising money, and each one has an important organization that they support. They can spend the rest of the year focusing on their mission, whatever their mission is. They don’t have to fundraise all year long because they get it all done during Fiesta. So it is great.”
John Meyer has the prestigious title of president of Fiesta, an honor that only comes with a single year term. He too can’t help but express the importance of this party to nonprofits. “We’ve got a hundred different nonprofit organizations that earn almost all their money for the year during Fiesta,” said John. “So that’s their operating money to do whatever their good deed is for the year. The economic impact is $340 million. That’s bigger than the Indianapolis 500, bigger than the Kentucky Derby. But not everybody knows about us.”
Every day of Fiesta there’s some sort of activity, and these events take place all over the city. “Fiesta has always been one of those things, you go to your three events that you always go to and you don’t even know about the rest of it,” said John. “We got a hundred events in 10 days, 11 days. You’ve got events from A&M-San Antonio and Brooks City Base, both on the south side, to a car show in Boerne and Wiener dog races in Helotes. So whatever you want to do, we got.”
“Me personally, whenever I tell people about Fiesta, obviously the parades, the parades are the big hit,” said Jazzlyn. “There’s so much food and drinks and music. It’s just everyone just coming together and it’s so much fun.”
But the one tradition that rules them all at Fiesta, and that’s the medals. “Everyone collects them,” said Jazzlyn. “That’s what everyone in San Antonio does. They collect them, they trade them, they buy them, whatever you can think of. So actually I have my medal here. This is my Miss Fiesta medal, and I do have one for you. You’re very welcome. They can be very heavy. I have bags of medals.”
All right. I got Miss Fiesta gave me my first medal ever. That’s called checking off the bucket list. “I agree,” said Jazzlyn. “Look at that. That looks great.”
“Now you get another medal,” said John. “That’s my president’s medal for the year. Guevara on it and a header bar. We’re not Tommy Bahama here. It’s a little different deal. You’re all decked out. You’re going to need to get a sash.”
When word gets around that you have a personal medal up for grabs, you quickly become a target for the avid collectors at Fiesta. “Some people do,” said Jazzlyn. “Some people are just straight for the medal because everyone loves collecting them. They all have different meanings, they all represent something, they’re all from different organizations. So I have the royalty, the kings, the queens. I have all their medals on here.”
“Organizations have the medals,” said John. “Organizations sell the medals to help raise more money, and some people are just, ‘Hey, I want a medal for me,’ and they go make one.”
You won’t want to muddle your way when it comes to these medals or attending Fiesta because it is a celebration worth getting festive for on The Texas Bucket List! “San Antonio is so unique on its own without Fiesta, and Fiesta is so unique, when you put the two together, it’s amazing,” said John. “So come join us. Come party with a purpose.”
“There are so many cultures just coming together, and it’s definitely something someone needs to experience,” said Jazzlyn. “Just one more thing. After everything, you got to say, ‘Viva Fiesta.’ Okay, so say it with me.”
Viva Fiesta!