Final preparations are underway for tonight’s big New Year’s Eve party downtown and it really is big — more than 250,000 people are expected at Celebrate San Antonio.
The San Antonio Parks Foundation is putting finishing touches on the event. Alamo Street is closed between Market and Cesar Chavez. The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m. this evening, immediately after the Alamo Bowl pep rally at the Arneson River Theatre.
There will be three stages, which will be filled with music. One at the Arneson River Theatre, another at Maverick Plaza in La Villita, and the main stage under the archway to Hemisfair Park.
San Antonio Parks Foundation President and CEO, Noah Almanza, said this is planned as a family friendly event. “You can find, or expect to find, at the three live stages, food, drinks, different musical acts, caricature artists, and different things going on around the footprint that we occupy,” said Almanza.
The honor of starting the fireworks show was decided by an auction put together by the Parks Foundation, and that honor will go to the Wellmed Medical Management Inc., whose bid of $3,300 proved to be the winner. Wellmed’s Dan Calderon said the Parks Foundation did good work promoting outdoor activity and outdoor fitness, and they wanted to support them. “Our company is all about [the] fitness and health for seniors. We are doctors who take care of seniors. And the Parks Foundation has helped make the parks more accessible to everyone, including the patients that we serve,” said Calderon.
Dr. Joseph Gonzales will do the honors of starting the fireworks show at midnight.
More details are available at http://www.saparksfoundation.org/celebrate_sa.html.
Happy New Year!
