SAN ANTONIO – Fiesta De Los Reyes will soon be back in full swing, but this year, visitors will notice some big changes.<\/p>\n
The San Antonio City Council approved a $5 entry fee during peak hours in a 7\u20134 vote. The decision follows a chaotic and deadly incident at the 2024 event, where two people were killed, something city leaders say must never happen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one single death at an event like that can truly scare families from coming back,\u201d said San Antonio District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur.<\/p>\n
The popular event is organized by the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation, which has already increased security measures in 2025, in response to security concerns like 2024’s shooting, but those added precautions come at a cost.<\/p>\n
It’s why they are requesting a $5 fee at the gate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to charge; we tried to keep the actual festival free,\u201d said Elaine De Los Santos, interim executive director of the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation.<\/p>\n
Still, not everyone is on board. Some Fiesta-goers say the added fee on top of parking, food, and other costs could make attending more difficult, especially for large families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we decide to go someplace, if we go as a family, there\u2019s often maybe 20 of us,\u201d said Sylvia Vasquez. \u201cMaybe we just go once, or maybe just a few of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vendors are also concerned that the change could impact business during one of their busiest times of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all depend on the revenues that come in during Fiesta week,\u201d said Thelma Gonzalez, owner of G\u2019s Gonzalez Gift Shop.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the fee will help offset roughly $200,000 in security costs. That includes installing four gated entry points with handheld metal detectors, staffing perimeter fencing, and covering a $50,000 insurance policy for the 10-day event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf those types of incidents wouldn\u2019t have happened with those fatal shootings, then we wouldn\u2019t have had to get a huge insurance policy,\u201d said De Los Santos.<\/p>\n
As for wait times, organizers are encouraging attendees to plan ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely urge people to go online, just go through security, show us your little QR code, and then you\u2019re off to go,\u201d said Santos.<\/p>\n
The $5 fee won\u2019t apply all day. Visitors 13 and older will need to pay after 6 p.m. on most weekdays and after 1 p.m. on weekends. Anyone already inside before those times can stay without paying.<\/p>\n
As in previous years, the city will also provide SAFD officers for security.<\/p>\n
Fiesta officially kicks off next Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO – Fiesta De Los Reyes will soon be back in full swing, but this year, visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-243255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-san-antonio","9":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","10":"tag-san-antonio-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}