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Tickets are on sale for Monday night's Texas Cavaliers River Parade, the first of three major Fiesta parades.
Tickets for the parade, which begins at 7 p.m. on Monday on the River Walk, were still available on Friday.
The Cavaliers plan to distribute $3 million from ticket proceeds to children's charities, including the Brackenridge Park Conservancy, which will use the funds to help build a naturescape for children.
River Parade Marshal Alcide Longoria said organizers are expecting a big crowd as usual.
"We sell close to 20,000 tickets and there's thousands more people on river level and open seating areas, up on the bridges and streets, just tens of thousands of people," he said. "Hopefully we'll put on a good show for them."
Tickets are required for most prime viewing spots.
The theme is "Centennial: Through the Decades." The theme honors people and events from the past 100 years that have contributed to U.S. culture.
The grand marshal of this year's parade is Leon McNeil, co-leader of City Kids Adventures along with his wife, Leticia.
The nonprofit organization provides nontraditional outdoor recreational opportunities.
Longoria explained how the parade started in the 1940s.
"The inspiration came from Xochimilco, outside Mexico City, where they had some beautiful floats decorated with flowers." he said. "There were some Cavaliers just on vacation down there, saw those floats and thought it would be really cool to come back to San Antonio and throw a parade on the San Antonio River."
The was a solid chance of rain on parade night, but it is a rain-or-shine event.
The Battle of Flowers Parade is April 24, and the Fiesta Flambeau Parade is April 25. Both travel from near San Antonio College to downtown and around the Alamo before exiting the city center on Commerce Street and ending on Santa Rosa Street.
