A Night In Old San Antonio® — Local services in San Antonio

Really needs better crowd control. I understand this is a San Antonio institution but it's getting to the point where so many people attend the event during fiesta that it's verging on dangerous. Safety is a real question mark here. The primary issue is that the venue (la villita) cannot properly accommodate 200,000 people at the same time. The crowds in the streets between the food stands are so voluminous that the masses of people begin to behave more like a liquid than a group of solids. This is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen and it makes one feel unsafe even participating in it. It's not hard to imagine some kind of stampede occurring here if officials fail to take control of the situation in future years. Either there needs to be some method to reduce the volume of people allowed in the venue at the same time or there needs to be a new or expanded venue (hey, what about the huge open grassy field literally 150 away across the street next to the convention center?)

The food here is a bit overpriced, and the number of drunk people capable of spilling beer on you is absurd, but it can be charming at times. Would not ever recommend taking a child or a small person here. You will lose them in the throng.

Overall, this is an event worth seeing if you have never seen it before, but once you've seen it there's no need to go back in...

I want to say a this was the most disappointing experience in my life. I paid $30 in Uber fees to safely attend this event. I prepaid $20 for my entry fee and an additional $50 for food, drinks and memorabilia in advance. I arrived at 5:15 and finally got through the entry gate at 6pm. Then I had to wait an additional 45 minutes to get my prepaid wristband while watching double the line of people that paid cash and got wristbands in front of me. As I assumed…wait until the Internet goes down and we’re all out of luck. What ever you do don’t go to the Arneson theatre Smirnoff booth for a friendly San Antonio Volunteer greeting. She’s about 65 years old with orange hair just passed her shoulders with a festive red flowered embroidered dress who will be quick to tell you that only beer and malt liquor is servered. I hope all know that and she could be gracious to explain why. In all of the world Smirnoff is associated with just plain old Vodka.

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If you haven't done fiesta in San Antonio, this is a must on your list. It takes over la villita downtown and divides the whole section into territories like Irish flats, French Quarter, Frontier town, and plenty of others. It gets crowded real early to the point it's hard to navigate, and the vendors here are incredibly expensive. Great way to make money for the city so I always keep going but expect to be in a crowd and spend some cash. Some of the go-to booths are Maria's tortilla and chicken on a stick. They're a must if you're a...