The 2027 Fiesta Flambeau Parade will be out of this world, thanks to the “Cosmic Nights: A Universe of Lights” theme, which was announced Wednesday morning.
“Our theme is space related and when it comes to the floats, the sky’s the limit,” said Sal Gutierrez, president of the Fiesta Flambeau Parade Association, which produces the parade. “Or, should I say the solar system’s the limit.”
Fiesta Flambeau is often billed as the largest illuminated night parade in the nation.
As in years past, parade participants will be encouraged to design their floats to follow the theme.
“It could be anything from space travel to the Space Shuttle to astronauts to aliens,” Gutierrez said. “We just want them to be creative.”
The theme was picked from suggestions submitted by association members and others with the final selection made by the board of directors.
Gutierrez said the space theme reflects a renewed interest in space exploration by NASA, SpaceX and other entities.
A poster contest to support the parade will take place Sept. 23 in the planetarium of the Scobee Education Center on the campus of San Antonio College.
“We’re going to invite local artists to bring an unfinished poster to the center where we’ll give them time to complete their work,” he said. “Members, guests and other visitors will then vote on the winner.”
The 79th Fiesta Flambeau Parade is scheduled for April 24, with the vanguard kicking off at 7:15 p.m. followed by the parade at 7:45 p.m.
More than 750,000 spectators typically line the Flambeau parade route, which is still up in the air. According to Gutierrez, organizers are still debating whether to return the parade to its familiar Broadway route or continue on last year’s route that began near San Antonio College.
He said he expects a final decision in November.
San Antonio’s first, unnamed night parade took place on April 24, 1948, and it wasn’t until the 1951 edition that the moniker Fiesta Flambeau was used. That parade featured 50 floats, 30 bands and 10,000 torches as “a streak of moving lights through the heart of the celebrating city,” according to the next day’s San Antonio Express.
Tickets for the 2027 parade will go on sale early next year at flambeau.org.