Despite Texas A&M University-San Antonio being closed for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, the campus will hold a one-time special celebration, Fall Festival de Cascarones presents Saluting America’s Military, AKA Fall Fiesta, on Nov. 15.
The event will combine two traditional campus events — Fall Fest and Festival de Cascarones, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — with the Celebrate America’s Military ceremony.
All of Fall Fest’s usual activities are to be accompanied by the Cascarones Smash, a lively assortment of new Fiesta events, as well as a number of events for Celebrate America’s Military week. Country singer Kevin Fowler will headline the event.
Student organizations who signed up to participate in the Festival de Cascarones will be attending, and another chance to apply as a vendor will open in August.
Abigail Montanez, manager of Event Services, said that the Event Services committee is working hard to make Fall Fiesta something for everyone. It will combine the highlights of each event to create a unique experience for the community.
“The events will be drawing different crowds than they normally would have been if they were in April,” Montanez said. “Now we will be incorporating those who would normally come to Fall Fest and to Celebrate America’s Military, as well as those that are interested in the fiesta. So we’re incorporating aspects of each of those into this one event.”
Each of the events has its own style, but at their core are two important aspects: community and tradition.
Fall Fest has been a staple of Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s fall semester since 2009. Celebrate America’s Military is a long-standing San Antonio event celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall. And while the Festival de Cascarones is relatively new to A&M-San Antonio, it’s part of the time-honored Fiesta tradition that goes back to 1891.
Dr. Jeanette De Diemar, vice president of University Advancement, described the importance of tradition and what Fall Fiesta represents.
“It’s more than just an event. It’s a tradition and a way of connecting our community with our students at the university,” De Diemar said. “How do you find a way to continue with a tradition in uncertain times? You try to plan as best as you can in times of uncertainty, and I think what continues to be is that we plan the best that we can in hopes that we’ll be able to deliver activities post-COVID-19.”
For more information about Fall Fiesta, visit the campus’s Fall Fiesta page here.
