One of the largest free events in Texas—Celebrate San Antonio—happens on New Year’s Eve downtown in the Alamo City. A quarter-million revelers will ring out 2009 and welcome 2010 with live music on four stages (the entrance to HemisFair Park, Market Street and Alamo Street, Maverick Plaza, and the Arneson River Theatre), plus entertainment areas for children and families and numerous food, arts and crafts, specialty-goods, and novelty vendors. This fun-filled fiesta on South Alamo Street between Market and Durango and throughout historic La Villita begins at 6 p.m. The evening’s highlight is the countdown to midnight and the spectacular Fireworks Extravaganza showcasing the Tower of the Americas. CNN gave the festival worldwide coverage in 2006, and Priceline.com recently ranked San Antonio as one of the world’s best New Year’s Eve destinations. Make a night of it, stay downtown at one of this tourist-friendly city’s wonderful accommodations (the Valencia, the St. Anthony, the Menger, the Emily Morgan, the Marriott Rivercenter, the Hilton Palacio del Rio, and a host of others), and dine at one of SA’s noteworthy restaurants—Acenar, Biga on the Banks, Rosario’s, Las Canarias, Ciao Lavanderia, Boudro’s, Bohanan’s, Mi Tierra, and many, many more.
Call the San Antonio Parks Foundation at 210/212-8423; www.celebratesa.org.
