SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio River Walk is well known for its Christmas lights, over a hundred thousand lights hang from the Cyprus trees downtown, but the festive displays are not limited to downtown. The River Authority hosted a tribute to the "River of Lights" in the Museum Reach on Saturday.
Santa broke out his cowboy hat and boots at this year's River of Lights event at the River Walk's Lock & Dam in the Museum Reach.
"We're going for a cowboy Christmas.” Said San Antonio River Authority Event Specialist Mark Hansen.
“So, we have cowboy Santa taking photos. We have Santa's Longhorns. And then some of the live music is country Christmas acoustic," Hansen said.
The San Antonio River Authority has been holding the event for ten years, but they missed two years during the pandemic.
"After pictures with Santa I think we're going to go check out some more stuff and have a couple people meeting us here today," Antoinette Walder said as she waited in line for Santa with her two-year-old.
There was more than a country music Christmas on offer though, Christmas jazz and classics played while guests enjoyed a pop-up market, cookie making stations, and of course, the snow.
"Snow is fun,” Walder said. “My daughter's never seen snow before."
The River Authority brought in 50,000 pounds of snow for the play area and snow slide.
"It's a little steeper. Also, a little bit slippery," 10-year-old Landin Santiago said about the slide.
Rene Peña says that made it the perfect outing for his family.
"There's a lot of fun for the kiddos but for the whole family. Food trucks out here." Peña said.
He says he and his wife regularly take their five-month-old and five-year-old for walks along the River Walk's Museum Reach, but this was their first chance to stop for an event.
"There's nothing like coming downtown and kind of just experiencing the downtown fun," Peña said.
The lights on the River Walk will remain on into the first week of January.