Fiesta 2021 Unveils Latest Poster Design

May 24, 2021 - San Antonio

By B. Kay Richter, Staff Writer | San Antonio Sentinel

Fiesta 2021 announced their agenda for the summer with the calendar dates of June 17-27. The annual celebration, which was forced to go virtual last year due to the pandemic, unveiled its 2021 Fiesta Poster design during a formal ceremony at the Witte Museum on Wednesday, May 12. 

The 2021 Fiesta Poster design is the work of San Antonio artist Andy Benavides. A native of San Antonio who grew up hearing all of the stories, folklore, history and opinions about the Alamo, pro and con, Benavides said he wanted his design to be rooted in history but reflective of the city in the 21st century. 

"From the classic 1960 John Wayne flick where they got it completely wrong to the infinite amount of stories and folklore that seem to always be conflicting, I wanted to keep the design simple and to the point," Benavides said in a press release. "Previous poster designs I found always had an Alamo element, but often under the shadow of festive design ingredients. Based on what I learned, the Battle of the Alamo was the inspiration for the first Battle of Flowers in 1891."

The universal appeal of the city-wide celebration — which also remains one of the city’s largest fund-raisers for nonprofits — is the inspiration behind the design of the 2021 Fiesta Poster design. 

"Fiesta for me is about color, be it the people, decor or the attire of those attending. In this case color was my go-to as a representation of celebration. I've noticed that people forget their differences and who they are or aren't and what they look like under the magic of Fiesta. Fiesta is truly an all-inclusive event," Benavides said in a press release.

Benavides did not use a random selection of colors when creating the design for the poster. Each band of the Alamo’s rainbow reflects a certain element within Fiesta’s origin. 

"The Battle of the Alamo lasted 13 days, hence the 13 purple flowers within the corona reference; flowers because they can be for a funeral or a celebration, but ultimately a sign of hope and rejuvenation," Benavides said. "The radiating colors total 18, which are intended to represent the 18-minute battle of San Jacinto. A battle comes with tragedy, so it was important for me to represent this event in a celebration of colors that emit the same magic a rainbow celebrates after a rain. This color celebration was for lives lost and those that lived to tell that story."

Overall, Benavides said that Fiesta is a great event which the city of San Antonio celebrates every year.

"We are unique to the rest of the world and I'm confident that Fiesta will live on through its all-inclusive energy well into the future,” Benavides said. “Let's just say that my poster with its rainbow of colors should be the rainbow that will lead our city's event through this pandemic and into a future of unity, growth and, of course, my personal favorites, arts and culture." 

For more information, visit www.fiestasanantonio.org.

B. Kay Richter is a San Antonio-based writer and photographer. She has been the Co-Editor of the San Antonio Sentinel since January 2020. Reach her at bkay@sasentinel.com.