Fiesta royalty show off their shoes as parade crowds shout “Show us your shoes!” during an annual Battle of Flowers parade.
Jessica Phelps
People attend Fiesta Fiesta, the official kick-off event for Fiesta, at Travis Park in 2025.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Jaz, El Rey Fido Duchess of the Fire Hydrants, sports a flower crown while attending Fiesta Fiesta at Travis Park in 2025.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Duchess of Fantastical Evolution Peyton Monroe Levy, front, waves from her float as it makes its way down Commerce Street during the Battle of Flowers Parade on Friday, April 26, 2024, in downtown San Antonio, Texas.
Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News
With a history spanning more than a century, Fiesta has plenty of traditions.
Along with floral crowns, cascarones and sashes full of medals, Fiesta culture brings out some unique behavior and wardrobe choices every April.
Article continues below this ad
Plenty of those distinctive Fiesta practices will be on display Thursday evening when the 11-day event gets underway with Fiesta Fiesta at Travis Park. The free, family-friendly event officially launches Fiesta, which marks its 135th anniversary this year.
From medals and decorative hats to shoebox floats and chants of “show us your shoes,” San Antonio Explained looks at the various Fiesta customs that make up the annual “party with a purpose.”
ALSO READ: San Antonio Explained: Why cascarones are an Easter and a Fiesta tradition
Chants of “Show us your shoes”
One account says the chant started in the mid-1980s when a royal court preparing to ride in the Battle of Flowers parade inadvertently revealed they weren’t wearing fancy footwear with their sequined attire.
Article continues below this ad
The story goes that when the float carrying a royal court broke down and the young Fiesta royalty lifted their gowns while disembarking the float, they showed nearby spectators the sneakers worn under their ornate gowns. The incident delighted the crowd, sparking cries of “show us your shoes” directed at other royalty in the parade. The other royal courts responded by showing off the sneakers and casual shoes under their gowns.
In the years that followed, such chants grew and more royalty responded. The chants soon became a tradition at Fiesta parades.
Royalty on Fiesta floats expect to show off their shoes, and they’ve become creative with their footwear. Quirky slippers, cowboy boots, decorated sneakers and bedazzled flip-flops have been worn by Fiesta royalty.
Article continues below this ad
Show your shoebox floats
Shoebox floats are made from discarded shoeboxes of various shapes and sizes that are decorated using different materials to fit a chosen theme.
Students in many local elementary schools are assigned to create a float to be showcased in a school parade, mimicking the actual parades taking place during Fiesta.
Some schools host a small festival after the parade, serving food and drinks and inviting mariachis or other musicians to perform.
It’s unclear when the tradition of Fiesta shoebox floats started.
Article continues below this ad
Published reports and archived photos show local students working on the project in the 1980s. Some parents say it likely started in the 1970s, when Fiesta royalty regularly started visiting schools and the shoebox floats helped create a festive atmosphere.
RELATED: See every Fiesta San Antonio poster, from the first in 1981 to 2026
Medal mania
The colorful custom-designed pins have been a part of Fiesta since the 1970s, evolving from the commemorative coins that the Texas Cavaliers started handing out during visits to children’s hospitals in the 1940s, cultural anthropologist Michaele Haynes told Texas Public Radio in 2015.
Article continues below this ad
By the early 1970s, other organizations started handing out similar Fiesta coins, including ones noting the year or a special event. An early version of the medals we know today — decorative pieces of metal attached to a colorful ribbon pin — evolved by the 1980s. Some historians have cited the city’s military presence for influencing the standard design of today’s Fiesta medals, which resemble the hardware worn on military uniforms.
READ MORE: San Antonio Explained: What’s with the excitement over Fiesta medals
Medals grew in popularity through the 1990s, and by the early 2000s, collecting and trading medals had become a beloved Fiesta tradition.
Creating and selling Fiesta medals is a fundraiser for many groups and schools, as well as for businesses that designate a nonprofit to receive proceeds.
Article continues below this ad
A collector often wears medals on a sash draped across their body or around the neck, while others have worn vests or hats to display their collections.
ALSO READ: Express-News Fiesta Medal Contest winners announced for 2026
Tip of the hat
The tradition of wearing a festive Fiesta hat dates to the 1890s, when women would wear their Sunday best to Fiesta events.
Article continues below this ad
“The tradition just kind of developed from there, the hats started off small, and then from there, just like the medals, it just exploded,” Diana Luis, a curatorial researcher at the Institute of Texas Cultures, told Texas Public Radio in 2014.
“And it’s just become whatever you can put on your head and still walk around goes, and each year people make ‘em bigger and better.”
Hats are often bright, have a theme and show off a favorite interest. Fiesta hats honoring the San Antonio Spurs have been longtime favorites. Other popular themes through the years, according to news archives, include tributes to tacos, chicken-on-a-stick and Big Red. And, every year Fiesta revelers will see plenty of hats with medals and flowers stacked high.
Article continues below this ad
The goal of Fiesta hats, like many things associated with the 11-day party, is that there is no such thing as too much.