Fiesta is home to many events and festivities, and A Night in Old San Antonio — known as NIOSA — has long been one of them, bringing thousands of people to La Villita Historic Arts Village.
“It was really fun,” said Esmi Villarreal who attended the event a few years ago.
Villarreal and others in San Antonio learned Tuesday that NIOSA has been paused. Conservation Society President Betty Bueche cited mounting financial pressures, including rising food costs and declining attendance, during a news conference.
“The biggest issue is that our attendance has dropped by 48 percent,” Bueche said.
Some residents said they were confused by the announcement, saying the event often feels packed.
“The pricing of everything is extremely high, and also to the point where the line is so long you can’t really enjoy all the tickets you end up buying,” Villarreal said.
Bueche said NIOSA, the Conservation Society’s biggest fundraiser, has lost money during each of the past four years.
The Conservation Society does more than host NIOSA. It provides educational tours of historic sites for students and offers grants to help restore damaged historic properties.
“go into programs that will benefit school researchers, college students, owners of historic properties,” Bueche said.
Bueche said the organization has reserve funds, so its programs have not yet been affected.
“So far there has not been an impact because we have had reserve funds that we have been able to rely on, and we want to make sure there is not an impact next year,” Bueche said.
Bueche said it would take $600,000 in donations to put on NIOSA in 2027. We planned to ask whether the organization had approached potential donors or received any commitments, but Bueche canceled the interview before we could ask those questions.
Questions also remain about whether NIOSA could return in 2028 and beyond.