{"id":256482,"date":"2026-04-19T04:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T04:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/256482\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T04:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T04:23:08","slug":"organization-celebrates-40-years-of-bringing-a-taste-of-new-orleans-to-san-antonio-during-fiesta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/256482\/","title":{"rendered":"Organization celebrates 40 years of bringing a \u201cTaste of New Orleans\u201d to San Antonio during Fiesta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Revelers hit the dance floor Saturday afternoon at Sunken Garden Theater, as the music got turned up during the Taste of New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">There were gray skies and cool winds, but the Taste was still serving up Fiesta fun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The Zulu Association said the group kept a close eye on the weather, and despite the temperature being a lot cooler than usual, the food selection could help keep things in balance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe know it is chillier, but that just means you eat more spicy food,\u201d said Tremell Brown, the association\u2019s marketing chairman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Cajun food vendors from San Antonio and beyond were in attendance, including first-time vendor Yardbird Wings from the Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Yardbird owner Andrae Baker said he knew he had to showcase at the event, so he partnered up with Mark\u2019s Outing, which has booths set up at the Sunken Gardens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThe taste, as far as I know, it\u2019s really a place where everybody gets together to kind of show off the different talents in their foods that they present to the people,\u201d Baker said. \u201cSo, we wanted to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Long-time attendee Vallerie Hartfield said the San Antonio Zulu Association knows how to throw a party that people want to attend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI do make a point to come,\u201d Hartfield said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very wonderful time. And you hear our Louisiana music, which I am a Louisiana person. So I love it out here.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Hartfield said the music and the food were her favorite parts of the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The association joined the Fiesta Commission as a participating member organization in the 1980\u2019s, according to its website, and hosted its Fiesta West event shortly after joining.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">That event soon became what we now know as The Taste of New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Brown said the group pulls out all the stops every Fiesta to show San Antonio gratitude for making it one of the season\u2019s prime events and helping fund scholarships for deserving recipients. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe\u2019re blessed to have a community like San Antonio. That\u2019s 40 years of them supporting what we believe in,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019re not out here by ourselves, so we\u2019re always glad to see the community show up and give back in a very special way with us, and we feel fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The association crowned and introduced a Zulu King, Danny Peters, for the first time to celebrate the milestone anniversary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Brown said, after 40 years, naming a Zulu King further demonstrates the association\u2019s commitment to the public and community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cEvery time they see our Zulu King, they\u2019ll understand that we\u2019ve been here for a long time and we\u2019re looking for another 40 more years,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Brown said the Taste of New Orleans provides between 20-30 different scholarships each year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Recipients are young men and women who Brown said show themselves as emerging leaders and desire to be stewards of vocational-skilled professions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The recipients are recognized every May during the association\u2019s scholarship luncheon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Read also:<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Revelers hit the dance floor Saturday afternoon at Sunken Garden Theater, as the music got&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[27489,7185,59031,842,82,84,83,94753,96560],"class_list":{"0":"post-256482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-brackenridge-park","9":"tag-fiesta","10":"tag-fiesta-2026","11":"tag-north-side","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","14":"tag-san-antonio-news","15":"tag-san-antonio-zulu-association","16":"tag-taste-of-new-orleans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256482","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=256482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}