Fiesta De Los Reyes has kicked into high gear at Market Square in Downtown San Antonio for Fiesta.
Isaiah Alonzo/Isaiah Alonzo for MySA
Fiesta has been an annual celebration in the Alamo City for 135 years, generally growing more beloved throughout the decades. But will it carry on to the next generation of young San Antonians, or is the clock ticking on Fiesta?
NIOSA treasurer DeAnna Keesee — who’s been with the event for 41 years — told MySA she has recently noticed the average age of eventgoers ticking upwards.
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“I’ve noticed throughout the years it used to be a lot younger crowd,” she said. “As I’ve gotten older, it seems like the age of the crowd continues to be more my age as it’s moving up, and I’m at the end of the Baby Boomers, more of a Gen X-er. So … I believe there’s more Gen X-ers and Millennials … coming to the event now. The Gen Z-ers seem to be staying away, because I’ve noticed they’re not wanting to drink the alcohol as much as the older people.”
Gen Z is less likely to drink alcohol. What does that mean for Fiesta?
Although some data show drinking alcohol is on the rise across the country, other reports suggest that for Gen Z, it’s the opposite. Numbers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reveal that in 2024, alcohol use had a significant dip amongst 12th and 10th graders in lifetime, past 12-month use, and past 30-day use. The NIDA says this is part of a larger trend since 2000, with past 12-month drinking sliding from 73 percent of 12th graders in 2000 to only 42 percent of them in 2024. For 10th graders, the stat dropped from 65 percent to 26 percent, and 8th graders saw a 30 percent decrease over the 24-year period.
These days, many Gen Z-ers are still under 21, which may contribute to some of the hesitance to drink alcohol. However, a 2023 Gallup survey found that only 62 percent of adults under age 35 drink, down from 72 percent in the early 2000s. Additionally, “fewer than four in 10 young adults (38%) now appear to be regular drinkers, on par with older adults (40%) but trailing middle-aged adults (48%). This pattern is a change from two decades ago, when younger adults were the most likely to be regular drinkers and older adults the least.”
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In 2025, a Gen Z columnist for USA Today wrote they’re “rapidly becoming a more reclusive generation, and one that socializes differently,” chalking it up partly to the COVID-19 pandemic among other factors. According to the columnist, “it is becoming clear that young people are going out less and staying in more, in part because we are less inclined to drink alcohol.”
Keesee told MySA that this year, NIOSA is introducing nonalcoholic beer to the beverage lineup as another way for non-drinkers to join in on the event. Meanwhile, when MySA visited the 77-year-old Fiesta store Amols’, owner Jeffrey Weiss said he thinks the celebration is here to stay.
“There’s so many events that don’t just involve, you know, partying and drinking, although those are some of the better-known events,” Weiss said. “And I think there’s a feeling. I feel it here. You feel it in the store … It’s like Christmas came around a second time. You just feel this sort of spirit, this energy in the air.”
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How does Gen Z do Fiesta in San Antonio?
Weiss has a point — search for Fiesta videos on TikTok and there’s no shortage of Gen Z San Antonians headed to Market Square and posting their outfits beforehand. Plus, plenty of viral moments have stemmed from Fiesta, like one partygoer dressed as Batman, also known as the hero San Antonio deserves. Additionally, Gen Z doesn’t have a massive footprint in the city anyway, with only 16 percent of the population between ages 20 and 29.
It feels safe to say that the people who love Fiesta and grew up with it are going to be out there no matter what, and that goes for any age. The celebration may change throughout the years, but that’s been true since it began in 1891, so what else is new?