In a state known for its love of football, homecoming week events are commonplace this time of year at high schools and universities. But in Texas only one college campus invites student groups to pull together and decorate golf carts for a campus parade.
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) parade custom dates back 40 years and gives students the chance to show off their imaginations and design skills. The decorations are always inventive—from airplanes to army tanks to Transformers to our favorite, a cart adorned with a massive Día de los Muertos-inspired Rowdy the Roadrunner skull.
For many years the event was held in the winter, but with the arrival of college football in 2011, the popular UTSA homecoming event became a full-on fall tradition. Now the parade is used to kick off an outdoor festival, BestFest, featuring free carnival rides and approximately 100 fiesta-style booths through which student organizations sell street food and non-alcoholic drinks to their peers, alumni, faculty, and staff. There are games and things like henna tattoos on offer, too, and an alumni-sponsored Biergarten is available in a roped off section.
It’s a family-friendly occasion, with kids, tweens and teens joining in for the festivities, and the community is welcome to attend. Live music and fireworks round out the evening, which is held on a parking lot on UTSA’s main campus, just off 1604 in San Antonio.
Alas, BestFest 2017 was held on Friday, October 20, so the event has passed for this year. But given the creativity of the golf carts (way to go, Roadrunners!) and the beautiful booths and friendly faces we encountered at the event, we wanted to give our Wildflowers a look at what BestFest is all about.
A collection of additional photos and mini-videos can be found on Instagram, too: @WildflowerTXMag.
Story by Pamela Price
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Want to stay up-to-date with what’s happening at UTSA? Follow the university’s official Facebook page and the UTSA Student Activities Facebook page.
