I just finished reading a press release providing information about this year's Fiesta and and details regarding the newly relocated Carnival.  For those who might have missed that last point, the Carnival was relocated from its prior location across from Market Square to the Lot C of the Alamodome.  This was to accomodate a need for more room for growth of the Carnival in years to come.

The release provided information about crime in and around the Carnival and information on alcohol related issues associated with Fiesta. Aside from a stabbing death that occurred as the Carnival was closing one night, crime in and around the Carnival was down from prior years.  This is attributed to the ability to control and contain the Carnival with increased police presence at the entrances and throughout the Carnival.  That resulted in a 66 percent reduction in crime associated with the Carnival.  Officials are also reporting that next year will result in improvements in the overall safey plan based on lessons learned from this year's Carnival.

With regards to alcohol, proactive work by the Fiesta Commission and event organizers help provide a decrease in underage drinking at many Fiesta events.  Throughout the year TABC provided seminars and workshops for organizations to help control and manage underage drinking.  This proactive work, sponsored by the Fiesta Commission, helped organizations educate their staff and volunteers on proper procedures and things to watch for.

That's great news for Fiesta 2008 and can only provide a great foundation for future Fiesta years as staff, law enforcement and volunteers take the lessons of the past Fiesta and develop improvements for next year's Fiesta.  It also helps point towards a safer Fiesta for everyone to enjoy.

Sandwiched between the Battle of Flowers and Fiesta Flambeau parade are two of the funkiest parades of Fiesta, the Fiesta Pooch Parade and the King William Parade.  Each cater to a different audience and happen early in the morning.  They make up the diversity of Fiesta in every sense of the word.

The Fiesta Pooch Parade gathers at the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool and is made up of every breed of canine found in San Antonio.  Over 800 dogs and their owners make the leisure stroll throughout Alamo Heights Saturday morning at 8 a.m. There are contests for all kinds of awards, including a look-a-like contest which brings out some very unusual styles for the dogs and their owners.  The entire event benefits the Delta Society.

Across town in the King William District is the King William Parade which kicks off the King William Fair at 9 a.m.  The parade is a collection of everything from the usual royalty to the most absurb concepts.  You'll find floats that seem like a collection of whatever was lying around the yard highlighting some particular cause or issue.  An architectural firm in San Antonio marches as a unit with objects of all kinds of shapes and sizes.  As your scratching your head trying to figure out what the significance is, the firm pulls together and assembles some incredible structure from the mish-mash of objects.

As with all things of Fiesta, there's a parade for everyone.

Last night I had the privilege of viewing the Coronation of the Order of the Alamo and Fiesta Cornyation, both in the same night.  I have to say that both were quite a treat and demonstrate the diversity and variety that is Fiesta.

The Coronation of the Court of Palatial Elegance was held in Municipal Auditorium with plenty of pomp and splendor.  From wonderful images of the opening procession to the views of the magnificent gowns worn by each of the members of the court the Coronation provides a great time for San Antonio to enjoy the elegance of the event.  Talking to visitors today who had never seen the Coronation before reminded me of how much Fiesta has to offer.  Each duchess showed great pose and charm as they walked down the ramps and bowed to their dukes.

The final charm was in seeing the Queen enter under the outstretched sabers of the Texas A&M Ross Volunteers.  Prior to her entry the Princess was preceeded by the Texas Boys Choir from Fort Worth heralding with song "Honor."

From there I joined friends at the Empire Theater for the raucous run of Fiesta Cornyation with the Court of Salacious Runaway Projects.  There San Antonio gets a chance to laugh at itself as each designer provides a wild musical act spoofing some particular event or news item.

There were skits making fun of the many projects dotting downtown San Antonio as well as a hilarious spoof of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby quests.  Each act is designed by local artists with a script crafted to bring out the irony of the event or issue.  The performers are all volunteer and put in countless hours to make it the hottest show in Fiesta.

Once again, Fiesta shows that we can all have fun during the ten day party.

This year as I was wandering around during Fiesta I had the chance to talk to several folks from out of town visiting during Fiesta.  Of course they asked about the medals everyone was wearing and what they were about.  I always wondered what people visiting thought about our strange Fiesta tradition of looking like third world generals.  Surely they think we San Antonians must be crazy to walk around with more bling on than we can possibly wear.

Some people make it a point when collecting medals to always have them given to them.  They feel proud when they don't have to pay for the bling, sort of a symbol of pride.  Let me offer some advice to you the next time you collect a medal.  Remember that when you purchase that medal the proceeds go back to the organization to help benefit their programs or projects.  That's what Fiesta is really all about.  It's more than just a party.  It's possibly one of the biggest fundraisers for many non-profit organizations in San Antonio.

Those street chairs you sit in to watch the parade help benefit Scout troops, church youth groups, youth sports programs and many more worthy causes.  The bleachers help provide funds for scholarships, as well as the oysters you consume during the biggest bake in the country.  The anticuchos and calf fries help preserve some of San Antonio's cherished history.

Fiesta was founded with a purpose of bringing together non-profit organizations in one big celebration to commemorate the Battle of San Jacinto.  Entry as a participating member organization requires that the organization be a non-profit group.  None of the money goes into anyone's pocket.  It's used to provide much needed community support after the last cascaron is cracked.

So the next time you go searching for a medal, thinking about purchasing it instead.  Help make Fiesta the party that keeps on giving.

This morning under some Chamber of Commerce weather Fiesta 2008 officially began with the Opening Ceremonies.  Alamo Plaza was full of kings, queens, military ambassadors, dignitaries and hundreds of Fiesta patrons ready to begin the ten days of fun and excitement.  KABB, the official parade TV station, broadcast the event live.

Of course the real fun of Opening Ceremonies was the collection of medals of all shapes, sizes and designs.  Medals swapping was the action of the morning.  Judge Susan Reed topped last year's handcuff medal with a new design befitting of her position as District Attorney.  The slogan for the medal is "Do the Crime! Do the Time!"

As is always the case, the military ambassadors were beseiged with medal seekers looking for the coveted military medals. They should be around at many of the events so if you see them, spend some time thanking them for their service to our country.

There are many other events planned for today including Fiestas Fantasias, Fiesta Oysterbake, the coronation of El Rey Feo LX, and the WEBB party tonight at the San Antonio Museum of Art.  Tomorrow proves to be an even busier day.  Find your favorite event in the the Schedule of Events.

If you're heading downtown for the Fiesta Carnival don't look around the Market Square area for the rides and attractions.  After many years at the same location the Carnival has moved.  It's located in Lot C of the Alamodome this year.  With all the new construction and changes in downtown San Antonio and the increased size and added attractions for the Carnival a new home had to be found.

Change can be a good thing and I think this is a great change for the Carnival.  It now has a lot more room to expand and grow.  The location can be controlled much more easily.  There will be new attractions and an expanded children's area.  This is a great change for the Carnival and Fiesta.

In the past it was very difficult to control access to the Carnival since there really never was a true entrance or exit to the Carnival.  That has changed with the new location.  The entire area will be fenced and there is only a few entrances and exits to the Carnival which will allow for better security within the Carnival area and surrounding streets.

Check out the Carnival this year during Fiesta.  Opening Ceremonies for the Carnival are set for Wednesday, April 16, at 5 p.m.  There will be free entertainment every day.  There's even more information about specials and attractions at the Carnival in the official press release.

Fiesta is less than a week away and its time to prepare for all the fun and excitement.  The best way to get in the Fiesta spirit is to attend the Opening Ceremonies Friday morning at 9 a.m. in Alamo Plaza.  This year's special guests are Sen. John Cornyn and Texas First Lady Anita Perry.  They will join Fiesta President John Steen and many other local guests to kick off the ten day festival.

Of course there's more than speeches that make the Opening Ceremonies a special event.  All the military ambassadors and Fiesta royalty will be in attendance, including Billy Atwell, King Antonio LXXXVI and Fernando Reyes, El Rey Feo LX.  Those two kings will help kick off the week of casual dress by cutting the tie and cracking a cascaron with the presidents of the Greater San Antonio and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

But probably the best reason to come to Alamo Plaza at such an early hour on that first Friday of Fiesta is the exchange of medals.  Yes, people start lining up at 7:30 a.m. to trade medals and look for new and exciting ones to add to their collections.  Medal trading before the Opening Ceremonies has become one of Fiesta's informal traditions as people look for the formal medals of the military to the outlandish styles of pooches, margaritas and cockroaches.

At the end of the festivities the crowd gets into the act by annointing each other with confetti from cascarones provided by the Fiesta Commission.  It's a great way to start the week of fun.  See you there.

It wouldn't be Fiesta without a sash or vest full of medals.  This year the Fiesta Store has the largest stock of medals by the various events than any other year.  Tina Flatten, Store Manager, said there are medals from over 50 different organizations on sale.

You can find medals for all the parades and many of the events in stock at the store.  This year's NIOSA medal is an especially popular medal.  Of course you can also get the official poster medal commissioned by the Fiesta Commission.

Purchasing the medals is easy to do.  A special display case holds all the medals for your inspection and there's a handy form you can fill out to help speed the checkout at the register.  Sales for the medals provide funds for the various non-profit member organizations.  Those funds help support projects and provide services back to the community.

Stop by the Fiesta Store and fill out your sash or vest with the finest Fiesta bling.  With Fiesta only a week away now is the best time.

Fiesta event ticket sales start tomorrow at The Fiesta Store, 2611 Broadway. But even if you started out right now, you wouldn't be first in line.

The line started Wednesday afternoon when two Cornyation lovers arrived and pitched their tent. That's right--a tent, right on our front lawn. Those two hold the record for early arrivals--they showed up on Wednesday last year, too.

They weren't alone. Half a dozen other folks arrived during the night. They set up folding chairs as place holders, then took off for a while.

At about 8 a.m. some folks from Santikos, the official Fiesta movie theatre, arrived with eight comfortable theatre seats for those early birds. They're enjoying popcorn from Santikos, too.

KENS-5 has already shown up to talk to folks. We expect other stations will stop by tonight or tomorrow morning.

And those in line at about 7 or 8 a.m. tomorrow will get breakfast sausage courtesy of Kiolbassa Sausage and Starbucks coffee served by employees of Capital One Bank, the official Fiesta bank.

Then, at 10 a.m. the store doors will open. Customers can purchase bleacher-seat tickets for the three major parades; Battle of Flowers Band Festival tickets; and other event admissions including, of course, Cornyation (while they last).

So come on down!

The Fiesta Store at 2611 Broadway is open for business. And there are no lines! And the shelves are full!

But it won't be long before the crowds start coming. Traffic increases sharply when the Fiesta San Antonio Commission begins selling Fiesta event tickets. Those sales will start March 28.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. It's your one-stop shopping spot for all official Fiesta San Antonio merchandise--T-shirts, polo shirts, hats, posters, tote bags, jewelry, event pins and medals and lots more.

If you don't have time to visit the store, you can shop online.

More than a dozen local companies have scheduled corporate sales in March and April. Fiesta Store volunteers take all kinds of merchandise right to the company for anywhere from a few hours to the whole workday. For information on corporate sales you can call Tina Flatten at (210) 227-5191.

The store will remain open through about mid-May. But don't wait! Visit us now!