San Antonio native, John Watts Nieto remembers coming to Fiesta as a child. It was nice, but nothing he got too worked up over. It took a 10 year absence from the city for him to come back and fall in love with the days-long party. It also took finding his people who--it turned out--were the hat people.
Now each year, John creates a new Fiesta hat. He has gotten San-Antonio famous with his elaborate mutli-foot tall constructions. His hats are so popular that several were chosen to be part of an exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures. His story was referred to Worth Repeating by the ITC's Oral History project.
This story was recorded at the April 4, 2017 Worth Repeating with the theme "It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To." Worth Repeating is Texas Public Radio's live, storytelling event series.
