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The building that we are standing in front of is the cradle of Texas liberty, The Alamo.
The boys that are here, assembled, are the fifth through eighth graders from our all
boys school here, the San Antonio Academy of Texas. We've been in existence since 1886.
We are symbolically guarding the Alamo today as part of the ceremony of The Battle of Flowers.
The boys will take the flowers from the floats and carry them up towards the front of the
Alamo where they will be laid to rest in the grassy area in front of the Alamo to commemorate
the brave men who fought here, and died, in 1836. Fiesta started in 1891 with the Battle
of the Flowers Association and then they created The Battle of Flowers parade. They wanted
to honor the heros of San Jacinto and the Battle of the Alamo. It is the third oldest
parade in the country behind the Tournament of Roses parade and Mardi Gras. It is the
largest parade in the world that is run solely by women. They do all the organizing and the
decorating, everything. There are over 200 active members that participate in putting
on the parade and then we have another 200 honorary members and they're women who have
served for at least 25 years in our organization. The parade takes its name from the very first
event, and it was truly a battle of flowers... There were horse-drawn carriages, be-decked
with flowers, and the women threw them at each other as they passed in front of the
Alamo... Now, we take the tribute... Each float or entry will give a tribute of flowers
that is placed in front of the Alamo. The whole mission of the Battle of Flowers is
to keep Texas History alive. So, we also have an oratorial contest that is for colleges
and universities...and we have an essay contest...for seventh grade students because they study
Texas history in the seventh grade in Texas. And, uh, the real focus of our parade is on
the public schools and the education. So, we have, uh...we rotate the high schools in
terms of their bands and their pep squads and we provide them with floats. Everyone
asks us the question about the yellow dresses and the yellow hats...and there really is
no good story...We started with the yellow dresses...so it would be easy to identify
and then the yellow hats, um, some years later... But, again, there's no really good, fun story.
It's just, it happened...You know, it's great to work for the Fiesta San Antonio Commission
and to really build this festival. It is one of the tenth largest festivals in the country.
And with that in mind we are trying to build it because in three years, in 2016, it will
be the 125th anniversary of Fiesta. So, what we really want to do is take it and really
showcase the culture of San Antonio. This city has so much to offer in terms of culture,
history, the river, the missions... It all combines in this 11 day period known as Fiesta.
VIVA FIESTA!