First of all, where in the heck are the restrooms??? This event was held in Hemisfair Park and…read morethere were NO restrooms, porta potties, or otherwise. I asked someone where the restrooms were and they told me across the street at La Villita. I ran across the street, only to find the place deserted and the restrooms locked up. I ran to the nearest hotel and relieved myself there (inside the hotel restroom of course, not outside the hotel). Now that I've relieved myself, I'm back at the event in Hemisfair Park. Here are the things I liked: The entertainment on the main stage. I got to experience the dancing, the culture, and traditions of the Indian people. Lots of different dance performances happening all night on the main stage. They were all very well choreographed and fun to watch. There were plenty of Indian food booths and beer available. All of them took cash and credit cards - you don't have to stand in line to buy tickets and then stand in line again to buy food or drinks. Ya' gotta appreciate that folks. Then there's the dance floor in the middle of the park with an awesome DJ playing a mix of American and Indian tunes. This part was really fun, everyone was dancing and having a great time. Make sure you stay for the fireworks. Here are the things I didn't like: The crowds. It wasn't as bad as NIOSA, but it was still pretty crowded. The lines for the food booths weren't long, but it was difficult trying to determine who was in line, who was standing around, and who was just walking through. But pretty much any festival is this way I guess. And I think I mentioned this before... where in the heck are the restrooms???

Namaste! This San Antonio celebration is such a great way…read moreto take in San Antonio's Indian and Hindu heritage! Diwali is a huge celebration in India, and this evening-time celebration is a fantastic scene. Expect lots of beautiful colors, where local Indians bring out their brightest saris and coolest jewelry. They do some music, and dancing, so kick off them shoes and participate in some Bollywood dance numbers while you take in the lights and music of the subcontinent. They always have food trucks and local Indian community members serving up copious quantities of Briyani, curries and chutneys. Be sure to get some Lhassi, a yogurt drink. They've moved this festival around downtown a bunch since San Antonio started doing it- so check the Current if you're looking for the when and where. My favorite Diwali moment was when they had the celebration at the Hemisfair, and they sold cheap little boats with candles that celebrants launched into the fountains, and they did a laser light show to some Asha Bhosle music! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Be sure to check out this annual celebration. It'll take you straight from San Antonio to Mumbai!

I think if you want to see the basic mechanics and setup of how this event works, you can refer to…read morethe other reviews. This is the most expensive of all Fiesta Events, as far as admission. The $100 dollar per ticket price tag includes four drink tickets, an unlimited sampling of all food items. There is no on-site parking, ride share options are relegated to certain areas. Three pick up and drop off locations throughout the event transport you by charter bus to the event. I'm probably stating the obvious at this point. I can only explain why my experience was underwhelming. Firstly heeding the advice of other Yelpers I got here early. Initially all the lines were at a minimal. I made a beeline for The Orginal Donut Shop only to find a health inspector, who (in)conveniently decided to check foods right at opening time. Whilst waiting people began filing in, adding to the already growing manicotti moshpit. By seven o' clock most lines wrapped around walkways. The result were patrons pushing, grinding and bumping their way through. A huge factor was the spacing of booths. This created traffic and you couldn't tell where one line began and another one ended. It was a huge clusterFUDGE! The thinking by fiesta goers is that the exorbitant price will filter out people, the elements that make the other events unpleasant; ie. overcrowding. This could not be further from the truth. On the contrary quarters were very tight. Anywhere you stand is to be in someone's way. In addition performance stages were brilliantly placed nearby food and drink booths. For example The Spazzmatics were performing right next to a barbecue and an Italian food vendor. It's like you could get a slider and rock out to Devo's" Whip it" at the same time. This made absolutely no logistical sense. I read another review that said that this is a classy affair. To me that is very subjective. It has more to do with selection than presentation. At that capacity most of the businesses were not out of the ordinary. In addition some vendors offered healthy sized samplings, like the Snooze Eatery A.M. But for the most part samples were bite size. I saw people wait an eternity in line just for a meatball. I'm wondering in the VIP area, which I never saw, if the selection was much better? Krispy Kreme did offer a donut shish kabob. And on the drink end I must confess I'm not into wine. Nor the spirits for that matter. I fancy myself a beer drinker and the selection would shock even Howard Stern. Mind you HEB was giving away free wine samples. But on the beer front they only had Stella Artois, Bud light and Karbach, which is basically Budweiser. For future reference they should at least raise their beer profile. Otherwise just serve me a Mickey's Bigmouth in a brown paper bag. Factoring in everything the vibe was very frat house meets a food sampling at HEB Central Marketplace. I understand that this event is for a good cause. I definitely would not take that away from them. However this event made me miss the grit, the campiness of all other fiesta events. The irony of fiesta is that it embraces royalty then mocks it. At this event fiesta-goers bask in class, status and super cool Stella Artois glasses, courtesy of the VIP section. Will I ever attend this again? Let's say as a San Antonian I have a Fiesta Check Off list. "Taste of the Northside." I did it. Now scratch it off.

Why haven't I ever been to this event?? It's awesome!! $85 presage, $100 at the door for general…read moreadmission. I'm told VIP status is $250, but that is unconfirmed at this time. I'm happy with general admission: 5 drink tickets and all you can eat from 50 or so restaurants. Fast food types all the way to Mimosa and Tejas de Brazil, Texas Roadhouse, sushi zushi, too many to name. Some are true sample size, others are fill-you-up size. You can go back as many times as you wants. So if you just have a few favorites, knock yourself out. Me, I eat it all. Ha, ha. Alcohol: Deep Eddy vodka, Avon tequila, serving full size margaritas for 2 tickets. By the way, more drink tickets can be bought 2 for $15, after you blow your free five tickets. Yeah, baby. Go there next year. By the way, all proceeds benefit the Brighton Center, doing good for children with various disabilities. 04/24/19 We like the way they opened it up in the back. How does Sonterra really feel about all of us tromping on their golf course? Anyway, it was the usual great event. Beer, wine and cocktail stations abound! They were everywhere. Each cocktail station prepared a different drink. The standouts: watermelon margarita, creamitini and the como la flor (yes, for Selena). They topped it with a small flower. Among the food: the Rustic, Kirby's, Pesto, So Hill Cafe, the Hollow, Cover 3, Maggiano's, Whiskey Cake, so, so many others. Music on at least 3 stages. Photo booths. What we really like is that you can park at various locations and be shuttled in. A bit of an adventure last night, though. Our bus driver wasn't too sure about how to get to some of the parking venues. One of the riders moved up by the driver to guide him. It is pretty dark out there. All in all, another great experience. If I may state however, more trash cans are needed as well as a more frequent emptying of them. Go there.

First time with a small group of friends. A once try kinda thing. The characters did a good job…read more I've been to many haunted houses and hayrides up north to show a little bit of my background of scary and it wasn't but it was entertaining with a couple surprise startles that were fun. Atmosphere was nice . Parking was good. Easy to find. This is more of a beginner/ kids kinda haunted hayride. There is a story teller in the hayride which is nice and interactive for the audience in the tractor. Wish that they had a little more scary like chainsaw noise, light up the dead bodies with a red or colored light to set the mood to make it more visible and creepy. Just needs a little more tweaking but it is still fun and entertaining for a one time event.

Spooky, creative and fun! Excellent actors, set up and props! Fun and unique experience perfect for…read moreages 8 and up! Fun for the whole family!

No direction. Line hasn't moved for digital tickets. No signs for pre purchased tickets and line is…read morenot moving. No line barriers. It's 5 pm and No announcements. Ridiculous.

26 Apr 2023 Well, the layout is pretty much back to normal…read more However, the ongoing construction along Nueva St. has made a casualty of Clown Alley. I briefly spoke with a NIOSA official who said some hard decisions had had to be made about the reduction of booths. It appears the Clown Alley games were the victims. The carnival-like food was still there, as well as karaoke was back!! I sang three songs. Yes, I'm addicted. I was sad about the games. Up until seven or so years ago, we had chaired the Wiffle Waffle game booth for about 20+ years. Frontier Town was back in all its glory. Shypokes, yum. Fast Draw suds. Beers were on the small size. I don't drink here, just eat. The anticuchos were freakin' tender and delicious. Chicken fajita taco pretty good with pico. Quesadillas were on corn. Good, but a little greasy. Hey, it's NIOSA! We were there at opening and stayed a couple of hours. When we left, you could still walk around reasonably well. People were still behaving. Ha, ha. We were so happy to be back to paper tickets and not the weird bracelets! Go there and support a good cause.

27 May 2023 The 2023…read morepresentation is pretty good. Holding it at the downtown UTSA campus serves it well. The green space outside of what I'll call the student union building (SUB) was put to good use. A few food trucks lined the north side, the main stage was to the south, with a smaller ground-level stage in front of it and a martial arts demonstration area was to the west, just outside the SUB. The main stage had two large screens on either side, so all could see the performers. We saw Betty Soo and her band from Austin. They were terrific. She has a fairly large band and her voice is great to listen to. Many food vendors were present along the east side. Hawaiian, Chinese. Godai was there serving three different sushi rolls and squid salad. Yum. We got spicy crab rolls. One of the garage levels also housed several food vendors. Sari Sari was there, as was Sichuan House. A booth was making fresh lemonade. Kettle corn, of course. Yum. A large tent in the green space was for the non-food vendors: clothes, hats, purses, jewelry and various trinkets. I found some Croc charms that I can use on my Casetify Pushin phone case. Three for $5. Not bad. Cool stuff. You could tell that UTSA put some serious thought into the layout and it turned out well. Plenty of shade and benches, tables throughout. They must have a print shop. The signs identifying each vendor were uniform and easy to read. Bonuses were free water (several stations) and the restrooms in the SUB were open to the public. The SUB was open anyway until 5pm. Coffee could be bought at the coffee station. It's never too hot for coffee. Ha, ha. The alcohol situation was interesting. Individual kegs were found along the walkways and you just bought from them. We hope the festival stays here. Go next year.

I lied variety of Asian cooking and Korean, hot food and pastry a good location from my home easy…read moreto get to prices are very reasonable

thoroughly enjoyed the last day of fiesta ! in previous…read morereviews seating is somewhat limited, (we were there from 1-4p ) but it's all in the shade. Only Couple things could've left out. The mutton busting and grito calls: too many participants and disorganized, but everything else was great: The horses, the costumes. But the rodeo didn't start till after 3:30. ( they need to advertise this : if I had known, would've arrived a bit later) , but couldn't stay til 7p Vendors were great : food was delicious

It was our first time to go to this event and pat probably our last. The event is advertised as…read morerunning from noon to 6pm. Yes, you can get in about 11:30am, park your car and grab a seat. Then wait a long time for anything to happen. You can watch them ready the grounds for the horses and riders. Makes you think the show is about to start. Not really. Too many gaps between the bits of entertainment. A few youngsters come out and take a few laps and bow to the crowd. We clap because what else do we have? Seating ran out very quickly with people asking 'is that spot saved'? Remember parking? There is no help upon entry. When we left, we had to wait for someone to leave because people had parked any which way, blocking all manner of folks. Very frustrating. As the whole event was. Many people left about the same time we left.

Pretty good event. Lots of food and drink and good music. It started off a little slow. Guess…read morepeople were gauging the weather. After 1:00, it got pretty crowded. I was working in the Yelp booth, which was pretty fun. The kids were enjoying the games we had set up. A business owner came by and said how much she appreciated Yelp and because of our word of mouth through reviews, her business had doubled. We are validated!!

H-E-L-L-Z Y-E-S I…read morehad started to write a novel as a review about last year's event, but it doesn't need to be that elaborate. If there's only ONE event that you decide to participate in this Culinaria season, make sure it's this one! My favorite thing about this event: you pay the flat rate for your ticket but once you're in, it's ALL inclusive! Pro tips: Bring sunscreen, guard your dogs from peoples giant feet, bring your collapsible lawn chairs, and be sure to get there early!! BURGERS - a bunch of different kinds. Represented were hot spots like Cured, Luke, Earth Burger, Arcade, and several others. The burger samples are on the cutest, tiniest buns, which helps to not get full so fast. BBQ - underrepresented, IMHO, but what was there (Kiolbassa sausage, pulled pork) was good. Keep an eye out for the "mud bugs" from Luke if that's your sort of thing. Things tend to run out pretty early so again, get there early! BEER - there was definitely beer but also present were the ever-so-necessary various wines and Lime-a-Ritas in multiple flavors. Huge kudos to HEB for their major contributions to this event! You could definitely tell they were one of the major sponsors. If there's a vacation wheel, take it for a spin. I did and I won a free $100 restaurant gift card out of it :)

What an amazing event! We started off the evening with a spot at the La Cantera Mall where a…read moreshuttle bus picked us up within 5 minutes and took us to the resort. From there, it was a quick walk up to the Topaz pool where music, food and drinks were served al Fresca by the pool. Being able to sample quick bites from renowned local San Antonio restaurants was such a pleasure! Some offerings included Grayze, Belgian Frites, Kirby's, H-E-B, Topaz and many more! French and Spanish champagne along with mixed sampling were available at your convenience. The gorgeous view of the pool and sunset with the ambience of music and chatter made the entire event fun, relaxing and a great party!

This event was spectacular, from start to finish the event ran smoothly - tequila, food, and…read moreentertainment were plentiful the entire evening. I've been to a few culinaria events before and I had stopped going due to food/drinks running out early and being smushed against a crowd of people with little to no walking room.That was not the case for the Tequila event. I almost don't want to share how much fun this was because I want to attend again next year and I hope the event is organized in the same way and has the same amount of people! Guests were instructed to park in the La Cantera Mall parking lot where a shuttle picked us up promptly (they ran every few minutes). Once we arrived at the hotel's banquet room there we were greeted by friendly staff and (this is the best part) there were several people at the registration table to make the check in process run smoothly and get people checked in quickly! Thank you for having appropriate lighting inside the ballroom. I hate it when they put the lights on full blast and it ruins the ambiance. The room was set up with dozens of food and alcohol tasting booths. I appreciated that we were not crushed together like sardines instead and that there was plenty of room to walk around and enjoy your beverage/food. My only recommendation is to have more high top tables even though everyone was so friendly and welcoming to strangers joining them at open spaces at the tables. Let me start off by saying wow, the food and drinks were delicious. Each vendor came with a quality dish and I appreciate that they spent time educating the audience on the ingredients and the process of the tequila and mezcal. Not only did they have straight tequila and mezcal tastings they also had cocktails available to try and let me tell you they had some truly tasty cocktails. I had several throughout the night that I loved but the two favorites for me were the La Fogata margarita (after all these years they still hold up in quality and taste) and Patron's Pomegranate Hibiscus Margarita (it has kombucha in it!) - I went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths. The ingredients in each of those cocktails really highlights and complements the tequila. Some of the food highlights included: Jason Dady's Street Corn in a Cup (Simple yet bursting with flavor) Vegetarian Mole Enchiladas Tacos Al Pastor Throughout the evening they had a band play and a lovely dance folklorico (traditional Mexican dance) performance. Thank you, Fernanda, for coordinating our attendance. I had a fabulous time and we stayed until the lights came on!