SAN ANTONIO — One of Fiesta's most historic and largest events will go on in 2020, joining the festival at large by holding off until the fall.
Two days after city leaders and Fiesta officials announced the postponement of the days-long event until November, the Battle of Flowers Association – the all-women and all-volunteer group that has been organizing the annual Battle of Flowers Parade since 1891 – announced Sunday afternoon that it plans to hold the parade, which typically attracts crowds in the hundreds of thousands, on Nov. 13.
“We had a big discussion, and a big decision to make,” officials with the association said. “If the Battle of Flowers did not step up, we would not be serving this community.”
The Battle of Flowers Association is a separate entity led by different individuals than those who organize Fiesta.
On Friday morning, Mayor Ron Nirenberg announced Fiesta's postponement of seven months with organizers, saying it was a compromise between wanting to go forward with San Antonio's premiere event and doing its part to mitigate the spread of coronavirus as the number of U.S. cases top 3,000.
As of now, Fiesta is scheduled for Nov. 5 to Nov. 15. At least one event, Fiesta Oyster Bake, won't happen in 2020 after organizers posted an update on social media.
While the Battle of Flowers Association has a date set for the parade, officials say they have yet to determine a concrete date for the band festival.
