The city has put in the work to make sure you can get downtown and have a safe time while partying with a purpose this year.
SAN ANTONIO — Fiesta season has arrived and many popular events are downtown. Thousands of people who make their way downtown will be met with construction and new safety measures.
Wednesday afternoon, vendors were hard at work setting up for Fiesta De Los Reyes in the Historic Market Square.
The 10-day, free festival kicks off Friday. Monica Hernandez has been selling food at the event for years.
“We were over here last year when the incident happened so it’s too close to home so safety precautions, measures, we’re for it,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez recalled the deadly shooting last April when two young men died and four bystanders were injured.
Since then, the city has worked organizers to ramp up security. Jacob Valenzuela is the Executive Director of the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation.
“It’s just the safest it’s been in a long time,” Valenzuela said.
The Historic Market Square and Milam Park are fenced off. There are six security check points set up where officers may randomly check bags to make sure no one has a gun. Those bags also must be clear.
The security check points are for everyone’s safety to enjoy this event without any worries,” Valenzuela said. “Some additional changes, no outside beverages, no ice chests.”
However, something that has not changed is the ongoing construction around downtown.
“Parking is kind of an issue but we’ll figure it out, everybody will figure it out,” Hernandez said.
The city has set up detours for foot traffic but several roads will be blocked off for drivers.
“There’s really only two streets to get to Market Square so plan ahead, use VIA, ride share,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela said a great tool is this website created by the city. There, you can find downtown parking information, street closures and information on VIA’s park and ride.
Overall, he said he is optimistic about this year’s Fiesta and overall downtown safety. SAPD will have a heavy presence throughout the 11 days.
“I think more people will come out because it’s a safer event,” Valenzuela said.