14 Things San Antonio Locals Don’t Like About Fiesta
San Antonio’s biggest party of the year is on its way; April 19th-29th, 2018 to be exact. People from all over travel to San Antonio, Texas to join in on the 10 days/nights of festivities; though many make it a yearly tradition to celebrate Fiesta, there are many locals that DISLIKE quite a few things about the city’s bash 10 day bash. I reached out to my readers, friends, and acquaintances to find out what they didn’t like about Fiesta. Here are 14 things don’t like about like about Fiesta:
- Port-o-potties. Not only are the lines usually long to use one, most of the time they are extremely filthy, without toilet paper, and the stench of them lingers on the street they are on.
- Outrageous beer, food, water, and event prices. Enjoying Fiesta with the family is definitely not an inexpensive way to dine and have fun downtown during the festivities. Unless you plan on splurging and spending a pretty penny, better think twice about going if you’re on a budget.
- Parents with very young children and babies. In many opinions, unless it’s a kid-friendly event, pushing your strollers through the Fiesta crowd is not safe and you don’t want your little ones to get beer spilled on them or burnt with a cigarette.
- Parking. With streets closing, parking areas limited, parking garage fees get pretty expensive. Some places charge $20 and up for parking and still far from the festivities.
- The food lines at NIOSA. One of the most popular Fiesta foods is the chicken on a stick which happens to usually have the longest line to get one. People have waited up to 2 and half hours just to get this fiesta favorite.
- Crowded streets. Not only do the downtown streets of San Antonio become extremely crowded, they also get a ridiculous amount of trash on them which lead to the street smelling like beer, garbage, and difficult to keep your new pair of sandals (chanclas) clean.
- Non-tippers. If you plan on staying in a hotel, visiting the local restaurants and bars, don’t forget to tip those that take care of you. Those that work in the hospitality industry in the downtown area during fiesta usually have to spend more money on parking, deal with more traffic, and intoxicated rudeness from patrons. TIP!
- Rude and careless people. All walks of life from all over the city come out to party. With things like being frustrated with parking issues, or people just being impatient with the crowds and long lines etc., Fiesta has had a history of fights, people being careless and spilling beer on others, and some really bad body odor when the weather is warm.
- Traffic. With daily and nightly parades, food booth setups, and closed roads, you may want to think about getting a ride to Fiesta, park and ride with Via, Uber, Lyft, or getting to your event early. Sadly, those that work downtown have to deal with the never ending traffic issues for two weeks.
- Provocative attire (to put it politely.) Whether the fiesta events you are attending are kid-friendly or not, there will always be those that like to show a lot skin when wearing their party attire, unfortunately there isn’t a dress code for fiesta. And for those that love shopping, fiesta is usually a time to hit the stores for fun outfits and cute sandals.
- Unhealthy food. With all the fried food on a stick, beer, tacos, burgers, cotton candy, and funnel cakes, if you are on a strict diet or an organic eater, better eat before you hit the streets of downtown.
- Safety on the streets. If you plan on drinking it up at fiesta please get a designated driver. Drunk driving isn’t safe for anyone and you want to be alive and well to enjoy fiesta next year.
- Hangovers. (Or in Tex-Mex: La Cruda.) San Antonio likes to have a good time and sometimes during fiesta, they have a little too much to drink. I would never wish a hangover on anyone; it’s the worst feeling ever.
- Working! Not getting enough days off to sleep in and hit up the Market Square for brunch the next day.
Viva Fiesta!
