San Antonio’s 300th Kicks Off New Year’s Eve
San Antonio, a city long known for its rich history and confluence of cultures, officially rings in 2018 in style when it kicks off its year-long 300th anniversary.
Planned for the occasion is an extraordinary New Year’s Eve celebration and free outdoor concert, called Celebrate 300. The special evening will be punctuated by a nearly 30-minute fireworks displaye. The free event will be staged in the heart of downtown at Hemisfair, a newly revitalized park that was home to the 1968 World’s Fair.
Headlining the concert are REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo. The lineup of regional and local talent also includes The Last Bandoleros, Little Joe y la Familia, Bidi Bidi Banda and Sam Riggs.
Celebrate 300 will be unlike any other New Year’s Eve event in San Antonio history. The event footprint occupies a significant portion of Hemisfair, including its Yanaguana Garden, transformed for the evening into the Tricentennial Garden.
“We are looking forward to welcoming and celebrating along with visitors to San Antonio on this historic and significant moment in our city’s history,” said Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio. “2018 will be a significant year as we proudly kick off our Tricentennial and welcome in the next 300 years of San Antonio’s evolution as one of the most authentic cities.”
Originally a remote settlement next to a serpentine river, San Antonio has been a pinnacle of Texas, US and world history. It is now the seventh-largest city in the United States, attracting more than 34.4 million visitors a year. That quiet river has evolved into the River Walk, one of the country’s top tourism destinations, while the area’s first Spanish colonial mission, has become the legendary Alamo.
The city is planning on celebrating all year long with events, activities and initiatives that will carry San Antonio into the next 300 years. The Tricentennial Commemorative Week will be held the first week of May.
