Fiesta 2014 could expand to 18 days

Paul Brown,5, sleeps while drummers in a marching band pass by on Broadway during the 2013 Battle of Flowers parade. Brown was sleeping in the arms of his grandmother Dawn Brown. "He's all partied out," Brown said. less Paul Brown,5, sleeps while drummers in a marching band pass by on Broadway during the 2013 Battle of Flowers parade. Brown was sleeping in the arms of his grandmother Dawn Brown. "He's all partied out," Brown ... more Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 77 Caption Close Fiesta 2014 could expand to 18 days 1 / 77 Back to Gallery

Can't get enough of Fiesta? Just wait until next year's edition of the citywide celebration, when it could almost double in length.

Officials from the Fiesta San Antonio Commission met with city staffers Wednesday to brief them on a proposal to expand the year's biggest party from 11 days to a marathon 18. Instead of kicking off on April 17 as initially planned, Fiesta 2014 would start April 10 and run through April 27.

The commission wants to supersize next year's Fiesta because Easter falls on April 20 — smack in the middle of what would be the opening weekend.

"Easter weekend is such a big celebration here in San Antonio, and we want to respect what people do during that holiday time with their families," said John R. Melleky, CEO of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission.

According to Melleky, the commission contacted all 100 organizations that run Fiesta events, asking them if they wanted to reschedule.

Fiesta Oyster Bake, one of the opening weekend's biggest events, chose to move to Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12.

"There's no way we could have held the Oyster Bake on (the St. Mary's University) campus over Easter weekend," said Steve Rosenauer, executive director of the event.

He noted that the organization had been aware of the conflict for some time and already had contacted the commission about holding Oyster Bake April 11-12, even though it wouldn't have taken place during the official Fiesta schedule.

"We're very happy that now we'll officially be included in Fiesta," he said.

A Taste of New Orleans, another major opening weekend event, also asked to move up a week while a third, Fiesta Arts Fair, has asked to remain on the weekend of April 19 and 20, Melleky said. Calls to both organizations were not returned.

Because April 13 is Palm Sunday, several church festivals have asked to move to the final weekend of Fiesta.

None of these changes is official yet. Once city staff has reviewed the proposal, it will be presented to the City Council for consideration. Melleky said he hopes this will happen within the next couple of weeks.

Part of that time will be spent by city staff confirming whether the facilities where these events are held will be available on the new dates.

"It all comes down to whether we have the venues," Melleky said.

For example, the commission is considering running the Fiesta Carnival on the weekdays between what now would be the first and second weekends of Fiesta. But the carnival is held in Parking Lot C of the Alamodome and, if the Alamodome is hosting events on those dates, the parking lot likely will not be available. (As of Wednesday, the dome's website didn't list any scheduled events for April 2014.)

Likewise, A Taste of New Orleans will be able to move to the opening weekend only if the Sunken Garden Theater is available.

District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal, whose downtown district is home to most of Fiesta's large-scale events, said he has no objection to expanding Fiesta to a half-month.

"I'm not opposed to it, especially if it's done to accommodate Easter," he said. "I still want to see" the proposal.

Larry Benson, El Rey Feo 2013, said the expanded dates would be good for the city, but hard on Fiesta royalty.

"It'll make Fiesta an even bigger deal, but we did 120 events in 11 days (in 2013), and on a couple of those days, I was really dragging," he said. "Having more days might give you the opportunity to attend more events, but that's going to be tough on the kings."

Those hoping the proposal will mean more opportunities to catch the popular Cornyation production at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre are out of luck. According to director/coordinator Ray Chavez, the show will not expand to fill the extra days.

"Since we are a totally volunteer organization, I don't feel I can tax the cast any more," he said via email. "Doing two shows nightly for three days in a row is pretty exhausting. I think we are at our max."

The last time Easter and Fiesta overlapped was in 2003. According to Melleky, that year several nonprofit organizations ran into difficulties with logistics.

"People couldn't get to events, crowds were smaller, and they didn't make as much money to put back into the community."

rmarini@express-news.net