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Those new to San Antonio may not be aware of how much downtown changes for the holidays. The city’s Kelly Saunders has this overview, covering everything from river parades to Christmas tree lighting.
“Downtown San Antonio is lighting up for the holidays with free, family-friendly events on the River Walk and at Travis Park, Market Square and La Villita,” Saunders said.
Perhaps the most popular aspect of the holidays in San Antonio are those beautiful River Walk lights.
“The River Walk holiday lights will return Friday November 28. That's the day after Thanksgiving during the Ford Holiday Parade. That evening, we'll have over 200,000 L-E-D lights on the River Walk through January 11. And then also on Friday November 28, the HEB Christmas tree lighting will take place at Travis Park, followed by the opening of a new Christmas tree lot at Travis Park” she said.
Her biggest piece of advice: plan your trip by finding parking beforehand. You can lessen the stress level by planning your route to get downtown. You can also download traffic software to know the least busy routes to get downtown and to your parking garage.
“Downtown gets busy during the holidays, especially on big event days like the day after Thanksgiving. So we definitely recommend planning ahead, and the city offers convenient and affordable parking at garages like the St. Mary's garage and the City Tower garage, and they're both just steps away from the River Walk, Houston Street and Travis Park.”
If you’ve never experienced the holiday fun in downtown, Saunders said, whatever you do, don’t forget Travis Park, where the city’s official Christmas Tree will be lit this Friday night.
“It's in Travis Park, (that) they have a beautiful Christmas tree that's already there at the park, and that will be the official tree-lighting ceremony. There's going to be lots of other entertainment going on that evening along with the tree lighting,” Saunders said. “It's from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The tree lighting is at 6 p.m. They'll also have Santa Claus there, entertainment, food trucks, holiday craft, lots of other fun things going on as well.”
