★★★★★ (5 Stars)

The Alamo during Luminaria

When does the historic Alamo become just a mere backdrop?  Luminaria – Arts Night In San Antonio was one of the best events I have ever been able to attend.  I was very surprised by how well the event was organized considering this was only the 2nd coming of this annual event.

When you think art, various things might come to mind.  Luminaria covers pretty much every aspect imagined.  There were comics, flame throwers, poets, actors, painters, dancers, writers, musicians, sculptors, auteurs all there to entertain the masses.  The only thing I didn’t see were pantomimes, and that may just have been because I missed them.  It’s very difficult to get to see everything going on when there are about 8 main stages with other things to see in areas in-between the stages.

It was just a mecca for all art and I was completely entertained and enthralled the entire time.  It’s nice to see a festival in San Antonio that isn’t focused on food.  If you missed Luminaria this year, don’t next year.  It’s free, and completely entertaining.

★★ (2 Stars)

Bonsai Tree

Sumo Demonstration

Bubbble Tea

This festival wasn’t great.  I was expecting so much more.  I wanted to learn about various Asian cultures and experience various foods that I can’t normally get from just any place.

There seemed to be a BIG martial arts representation at this festival.  And it seemed to lack much else.  There were some dance groups, but it was difficult to see a lot of them because there were so many people and the performers only had 20 minutes of stage time.  So, by the time you found the stage and fought your way through the crowd, you’d catch the very end of the performance.  I think the most entertaining were the Sumo Demonstrations and the Hawaiian dancers, but again it seemed like pure entertainment and lacked any kind of cultural information that would have made the experience more fully understood.

The biggest disappointment was the variety of foods.  The mall’s food court has better variety!  There was no Thai Food (only bubble tea), no Vietnamese food, and the Japanese food was terribly lacking.  Yakisoba and Curry just doesn’t cut it.  Indian and Korean foods looked like the best deal, but they also seemed to have the longest lines;  I mean 50 people deep for the ONE Korean food place at the festival.  All 10 of the other food booths seemed to all have Teriyaki chicken, chicken/beef rice or noodles, and egg rolls.  Nothing special.  And of course the only dimsum I remember seeing was pot stickers.

I did enjoy the Sumo Wrestling, the Bonsai tree exhibit and my bubble tea from Tong’s Thai, but would I go next year? Not likely.  The best thing was that I only spent $28 on admission and food.

– 2009. Year of the Ox.

Edit:
I know in my review I said I wouldn’t go next year, but I think I actually would just to support the fact that they try to reach out to people who haven’t really experienced other cultures.  I just wish it would be a more rounded experience.

★★★★ (4 Stars)

Houston Street Fair - Downtown San Antonio

I wasn’t sure what to expect at The Houston Street Fair & Market.  The Fair takes place on the last Saturday of every month.  I kept hearing about it, but kept forgetting until I’d read about it in the Sunday paper.

In June, they set up a mini rodeo complete with rodeo clowns, bulls, etc. all in the middle of downtown, in front of the Alamo.  I missed it, so I decided I wouldn’t miss the Houston Street Fair in July.

In July, they had a bunch of BMX guys doing tricks on ramps that were set up on S. Alamo.  It was a little surreal to see these guys busting out tricks in front of the Alamo.  What would Davy Crockett think?  It doesn’t matter!  It was fun to see.  In addition to the BMXers, there was plenty of entertainment.  There were three tent areas set up with musicians between 12PM-6PM, the duration of the fair.

There were also local artist/shops set up at tables with their trinkets for sale.  One vendor that stood out made use of old beer bottle caps, painting the insides with various designs and converting them to earrings.   Another vendor was selling those sugared almonds we all enjoy.

What’s a fair without the food?  There was plenty of it!  From hot dog vendors, tacos, and hamburgers; to beer, sausages, and shaved ice.  The Houston Street Fair had it all.

One of the best things about the fair is that admission is free.  And, they typically have free parking at the St. Mary’s Street parking garage at St. Mary’s and Travis, during the fair.  The only thing that was lacking was a farmer’s market area.  If the Houston Street Fair & Market included a section for local produce, it would indeed be complete.