What's new with security at Fiesta San Antonio 2025
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The Fiesta de los Reyes event at Market Square in 2023. Photo: Megan Stringer/Axios
Fiesta San Antonio partygoers will see several new security measures this year amid high-profile incidents at large gatherings recently.
Why it matters: 2024 was the second year in a row that a free Fiesta event was marred by a shooting. Officials also pointed to the terrorist attack in New Orleans amid New Year's Eve celebrations this year.
What they're saying: "Because of the events that have been happening around the world (where) people are losing their lives — people driving into crowds, people shooting up in crowds — there was a lot of concern coming into this season," San Antonio police chief William McManus told reporters Monday.
- "There's nowhere you'll be able to look at any Fiesta event and not see a police officer" this year, he added.
The big picture: Police "absolutely" have to be more aware of security at large events than in the past, McManus tells Axios.
Context: The shooting at the annual Fiesta de los Reyes event at Market Square last year left two people dead and four bystanders injured. In 2023, a man was shot and critically injured at the same event.
- The New Year's Bourbon Street pickup truck attack this year killed 15 people and injured dozens more.
Zoom in: For the first time, organizers of every Fiesta event this year had to submit a crisis communications plan that outlined safety policies and protocol in the event that something goes awry, Trish DeBerry, CEO of Centro San Antonio, tells Axios.
Organizers of Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square say they will:
- Enforce a security perimeter with bag screening; in the past, partygoers could simply walk into Market Square.
- Ensure bags are no larger than 12-by-6-by-12, and encourage clear bags. Backpacks and weapons are explicitly prohibited.
- End the event earlier — hours now run until 10 or 11pm, rather than midnight.
Reality check: McManus says people will be turned away if they don't follow the bag policy.
Plus: The 130 ambassadors with Centro San Antonio, who are downtown 24-7, received "enhanced" security training ahead of Fiesta, DeBerry told reporters.
- Centro also added safety administrators, who are retired or former police officers trained in de-escalation techniques.
- And new downtown security cameras powered by artificial intelligence will be in effect during Fiesta, DeBerry added.
Between the lines: There will also be safety barriers in place meant to prevent vehicle attacks, McManus tells Axios, adding that the barriers were in place for this year's MLK March and NCAA Final Four events.
The bottom line: "We have the tools in place, and we have the personnel in place, to make sure that we're being proactive and we're not being reactive," DeBerry said Monday.