Come Rain or Shine, People Line Up for Fiesta Tickets

This morning the rain provided for an interesting opening of Centralized Ticket Sales. I arrived around 8:30 this morning and the Fiesta faithful were lined up ready to grab tickets for their favorite Fiesta events, especially Cornyation.

Anne Cannon, public relations manager, said that about 10 or 11 people were in line when she left at 6:15 yesterday. Upon return at 5 a.m. today the line had grown to about 30 or 40 people. Even with the threat of lightning in the area they held their places in line.

Capital One, the official bank of Fiesta, set up to provide Starbucks coffee for everyone. The Fiesta Commission staff also was out there early in the morning cooking up sausage tacos provided by Kiolbassa. Linda Skop, administrative assistant and all-around go-fer, said Kiolbassa came at 6:30 a.m. and the staff started setting up before the rains hit. The Fiesta Commission definitely provides for their patrons.

To help liven up the activities the mariachi band from Palo Alto College came and entertained everyone waiting for the tickets. Even though their event, PACFest, is free they were here to help celebrate ticket sales with the rest of the Fiesta staff. Vincent Bosquez, director of public relations, handed out medals and t-shirts to those standing in line to make the wait a little more enjoyable. Yes, you can't do a Fiesta event without medals. Jimmy Gonzalez y Grupo Mazz will be headlining their event on Thursday, April 26th. If you've never been before PACFest is a great family-oriented event.

All this and the doors haven't even opened.

Centralized Ticket Sales Opens Friday

It used to be that the day Centralized Ticket Sales opened the lines would form early Friday morning with people trying to be the first in line to purchase tickets for Fiesta events. Of course we all know which tickets people were really after. They were scrambling for those coveted best seats for the Thursday late performance of Cornyation.

Each year the lines started earlier and earlier. I remember when Willie Ramos, a good friend of mine, came straight from a Cher concert to line up just after midnight on Friday morning. I think Willie's desire to be first set the bar higher for others to follow. The next year they started lining up Thursday afternoon to get those prized seats.

This afternoon I got an e-mail from Anne Cannon, public relations director of Fiesta, informing me the first people got in line at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday night. Of course Ashley's Home Stores made their wait a little more comfortable by providing two easy chairs to relax in while they wait for the doors to open at 10 a.m. Friday morning. So I guess the bar has been set even higher for next year's start of Fiesta ticket sales.

Tomorrow the doors will open and people can purchase tickets to all three parades, the Band Festival, many Fiesta events, and of course Cornyation. To help liven up the wait Fiesta Royalty will stage a musical chairs contest right outside the doors with the winning king, queen or princess winning $200 for their selected charity. That's a new one for opening day.

You can get tickets to your favorite Fiesta event at Centralized Ticket Sales located at The Fiesta Store at 2611 Broadway. The hours for ticket sales are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's the best way to plan for events during Fiesta 2007.

Miles and Miles of Texas

While attending the Fiesta Commission's Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday I had the opportunity to chat with a long time friend, Alison Boone, who is also serving as this year's Battle of Flowers Parade Vice President. In the course of the conversation she reminded me of the parade theme this year, "Miles and Miles of Texas."

As soon as she told me the theme, the music of Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel popped into my head. With that kind of a parade theme I started imagining the various float themes to expect during the parade. What could be a more fitting theme for a Texas size parade as the Battle of Flowers parade?

So that resulted in more parade talk as I asked Alison what the theme would be for the high school floats the BOF Association arranges each year in the Public Schools Section with the help of a sponsor, this year's sponsor being AT&T. For those not familiar, the BOF Association selects eight high schools to serve as characters for various floats throughout the parade and, with the help of AT&T, decorates floats representing a particular theme.

This year's Public School Section theme is "Road Trip" with each float depicting a familiar destination when we hit the road traveling the great state of Texas. The destinations selected this year with the respective school are: Under the Friday Night Lights by Lanier, A Day at Grandma's Farm by Warren, Rodeo Round-Up by South San Antonio, Fourth of July Fireworks by Kennedy, Picnic in the Park by Taft, Gone Fishin' by MacArthur, Take Me Out to the Ballgame by Harlandale and Fun at the County Fair by Brackenridge.

I've seen the work these kids put into the costumes and floats and they are really top-notch in bringing out the themes. It'll be great to see them on the parade route along with all the other exciting floats, balloons and bands.

You can get your tickets to the Battle of Flowers Parade by calling (210) 822-2929 or one of the Street Chair Vendors along the parade route through the Street Chair Locator.