Tuesday, April 8, 2014

King Williams Fair-- San Antonio Fiesta

When we first moved to San Antonio three years ago we kept hearing about a huge event called Fiesta. Fiesta is a huge city wide event that is held for a few weeks, yes, weeks, in the month of April and kids even get a day off of school. There are so many city wide celebrations that take place throughout these weeks that it is hard to choose which ones to attend.

For the past two Fiesta's one event that our family chose to attend was King William's Fair. As stated on their website, 'the King William Fair is the primary fundraising event for the King William Association, a non profit organization which works to preserve and protect the oldest historic district in Texas and promote the unique cultural heritage of San Antonio.'  

The festivities at the King William's Fair begin at 9am with a fun street parade. We always make sure to arrive at least 30 to 40 minutes early so that we get a decent parking spot and get the parade spot we want. The first year we went we sat outside of the fair in a little neighborhood and the second year we sat on the inside of the fair very close to the porta potties. (Sadly my daughter's tummy decided not to feel so well, but I have to say since it was still early the potties were clean).


The parade is fun, bright and colorful. We love the wacky floats that represent many companies throughout San Antonio. My advice is to study the parade route and choose the seat that is near the beginning of the parade; especially if you have kids. The first year we went we were at the beginning of the parade route so the girls got a lot of treats from the people in the parade, but the second year we were near the end of the parade so there were not many goodies left for the kids. 


All types of vendors, from food to crafty ones, line the streets of the Fair. I will be very honest and say that if you want to comfortably look at the vendor booths or/and if you want to eat from the food vendors, go early because these streets and the lines can get ridiculously crowded. 


My favorite part of King Williams Fair is the King's Kingdom Vendor. This is a sectioned off area that has little games and very little rides (maybe 3), live kid music/ entertainment, and a craft station. The only reason why I enjoy this area is for the main craft area. They have a couple of long tables set up with all types of decorating items from fabric to glitter to markers to streamers. Before you go to the table they have people with brown paper bags standing next to little chairs waiting to size your head for the bag. After your head is sized, they shape the bags into big hats for your head. Afterwards, you proceed to the table so you can decorate and jazz up your new hat. Beware, you must be slightly but politely aggressive to help get your child's hat decorated. The King's Kingdom Vendor is a great area for kids, and making the hat can be fun, but the area is small and it gets ridiculously crowded. If you only have one child, it may not seem too bad, but if you have multiple kids it can put a toll on you. 


The past two years I enjoyed King William's Fair, but I think I will skip it this year. With three kids under the age of 10 and one still in a stroller the crowd put a huge toll on me and made it not as enjoyable as I had hoped. If you have kids, my advice is to arrive early, watch the parade, go immediately to the kid area and then grab some food. It is amazing how quickly the streets fill up with people. I do love the ambiance. The houses on each street are so beautiful and I wish that someone would invite me in to take a tour of these homes, but so far none have. The cost to enter King William's Fair is only $10 for ages 15 and up and kids are free. If you have never been to King William's Fair you should at least go one time for the experience, but watch out for the Cascarones -I've linked my Cascarones tutorial so you are ready! 


Written by: Aimee Fauci

43 comments:

  1. Thanks for the advice! I'm looking for some fun fiesta activities for my little one this year and we might have to check this one out :)

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    1. We plan on going to Oyster Bake.. I think that is what it is called. My husband went last year w our older boys while the girls stayed home sick and he was it was VERY family friendly.

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  2. I love Southwestern culture - it's so unique and colorful. I've never been to this city before.

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  3. Oh my, this looks like an unbelievable amount of fun! What great photos ;)

    I am very intrigued by the CascarĂ³n(s), I've never heard of them.. now I want some! Too fun!

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  4. Thanks Aimee, its nice to see your little angels. God bless you all. It's nice to hear about King Williams Fair. #sitsblogging.

    Check out my blog on Govt Jobs

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  5. Oh my gosh, how fun! I love going to parades. The colors are so fun and bright. I can't believe you get weeks of this! :D

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  6. It sounds like a great fair full of lots to do & see, but I understand what you mean about skipping it with the littles if it's super crowded. That's not much fun.

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  7. I love the wacky floats too! What a fun day, and your pictures are great.

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  8. This looks like a blast! We try to travel as much as we can with two little ones but have definitely not made it to Texas. I would love to take my boys there.

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  9. That sounds like fun!! I love how they have a hat decorating station!!!

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  10. That looks like a ton of fun!! I miss going to parades. I grew up going to so many, but we don't really have any where I live anymore.

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  11. I just love taking my kiddos to street festivals!

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  12. You're so lucky to have weather that allows you to do this in April! We're still a couple months away from festivals.

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  13. What a cool hat! Usually you see those made out of balloons but never a brown paper bag. I actually think it's pretty darn cute. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time!

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  14. King William's Parade is one of my favs.

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  15. Oh goodmess, u braved that big crowd with 3 littles? You're inspiring!

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  16. This looks like so much fun! Great pics of the fair, too.

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  17. Food and fairs capture me this time of year. I love to go out to people watch and try the food stands. When it's live music, that makes it even better. Looks like big fun.

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  18. Fiesta sounds like so much fun, for both adults and children! Thanks for sharing your experiences. :)

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  19. That looks like a blast! I would love to be there! Can I just jump in the pix?

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  20. We love celebrating moments like this on the weekends. Very vibrant images.

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  21. Fun! We're going to San Antonio this June with my BIL & SIL who live in Houston. We're taking the kids there and rented a cabin for a few days! Wish this event was going on then.

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    1. Awesome!!!! You will still have fun! You must go to the Market and enjoy a little bit of Mexico and then avoid eating on the Riverwalk... too touristy and $$$, but rather so eat at a tiny Mexican restaurant. Have fun!!!!

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  22. Oh wow! That looks like it was so much fun!!

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  23. Looks like it was such a fun time! I love that hat that your daughter made.

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  24. What a fun event to attend! I love Fiestas or any kind of street festivals

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  25. haven't heard of king williams fair. but it sounds like a fabulous event!! looks like you enjoyed yourselves

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  26. I've never been to San Antonio or Texas. It looks like the festival is a lot of fun!

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    1. You need to visit TX.. TX is where it is at! ;-)

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  27. I love their paper bag hats, they're too cute! - Jenn @ The Rebel Chick

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  28. The San Antonio Fiesta sounds like a lot of fun. I'd like to check it out sometime.

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  29. I love food and fair! It’s so much fun and really relaxing. Of course, you have to deal with the crowd. Especially when you have kids with you, it can easily get challenging to get in and out of the crowd.

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  30. I'd love the food vendors, yum! This looks like a lot of fun and a great day out!

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  31. I really enjoyed reading your posts. Sounds like you had an amazing day with your family. thanks for sharing with us

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  32. The Fair seems to be great fun, but I definitely understand how trying it is to keep up with small children in large crowds. Def takes some of the fun away!

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  33. We LOVE San Antonio and find ourselves traveling there every other month or so. I wish I'd known about the fair earlier. The cascarones would have made it worth the drive! ;)

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  34. This looks like so much fun! And, it really makes me want to get back to San Antonio! I really had a great time the last time we were there.

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  35. Looks like a fun parade and festival! I'm so glad the weather is getting nicer around me and festival season will be starting soon!

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  36. Looks like you guys had a blast. I can't imagine how stressful it would be to have 3 under 10 there though. Enjoy your break.

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  37. I love the painting on the bus! This looks like a really fun event. :)

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  38. I haven't been to a fair since middle school. I think I'm long overdue

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  39. Wow, that must be a huge deal for it to be several weeks long. It looks like a lot of fun and there's plenty to see and do. I've never been to fair that big before!

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