The party doesn't end when Fiesta closes on Sunday, in fact, it ramps up, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
City officials say nearly 100 diplomats from 15 nations will gather in San Antonio next week for 'Commemorative Week,' the highlight of the city's yearlong Tricentennial celebration.
"San Antonio will shine on the world stage during Tricentennial Commemorative Week. As we reflect on San Antonio’s history and distinctive culture, we will look at new ways to partner with our sister cities and strengthen our economic and cultural ties to the global community,” said Carlos Contreras, Executive Director of the Tricentennial Commission.
The two big days next week are May 1 and May 5.On May 1, 1718, Spanish Governor Martin de Alarcon officially authorized the Mission de San Antonio de Valero. Though not at the site it occupies today, the mission, which was named in honor of the San Antonio River and the Marquess de Valero, it later became the Alamo. It was the first Spanish Catholic presence in what would become Texas.
May 5, 1718 is the date considered to be San Antonio's founding.
Alarcon established the Presidio San Antonio de Bejar, the first civilian settlement in the area. About thirty families were settled in the new city, which was named in honor of Viceroy Balthasar Manuel de Zúñiga y Guzmán Sotomayor y Sarmiento, second son of the Duke of Béjar.
“San Antonio engages with its international partners in a relevant and intentional way as part of our ongoing public diplomacy and international relations strategy. The Tricentennial is an opportunity yet again to bring the world to San Antonio and take San Antonio to the world,” said Shahrzad Dowlatshahi, the City’s Chief Diplomacy and Protocol Officer.
The delegation will also mark May 2nd as being the thirtieth anniversary of the Sister City relationship between San Antonio and Kuomomoto Japan. That relationship is widely credited with laying the groundwork for the decision by Toyota to locate its factory in San Antonio fifteen years later.