The Texas Cavaliers have ordered up some magnificent weather tonight for the Texas Cavaliers River Parade, the largest regularly scheduled water parade in the country and the beginning of Fiesta Week, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Parade Marshal Clyde Johnson IV says the parade will mark the city's Tricentennial celebration with the theme 'Magnificent Missions.'
"The Spanish Catholic priests who came to this area and lived with the Indians, and they had the 'mission' to create a civilization here, and they created San Antonio 300 years ago."
The River Parade, which is the first of the three big parades of Fiesta Week, will be taking a slightly different route tonight, beginning and ending at the wharf at the Tobin Center, but still floating down through Rivercenter Mall's lagoon.
Johnson says there will be plenty of sparkle to tonight's parade."They have invested $60,000 in LED lights, so it is going to be a much more lit up parade," he said. "It'll be a show."
Johnson says in addition being a major event in the Fiesta calendar, the parade will benefit some sixty children's charities.
"This also represents the mission of the Cavaliers to support children's charities," he said. "There are sixty, but our charitiable honoree which will receive $651,000 today, is the Children's Hospital of San Antoino."
He says the Grand Marshal of the parade is Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, whose office oversees the Alamo.
Johnson points out that Fiesta was created as a way to honor the Alamo defenders.
"We wanted him to come and see our parade and see how we honor those guys, and be a part of it."The parade, as always, will begin at 7:30.