What am I doing here again?

The History of the Battle of Flowers Parade:

The idea for the first Battle of Flowers Parade was conceived early in 1891 by the wife of a congressman who had seen a similar parade in Spain. She suggested to her friends that a flower parade should be held in San Antonio each year on April 21 in memory of the fallen heroes at the Alamo and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, where Texas had gained its independence from Mexico. These ladies formed the Battle of Flowers Parade committee, enlisted the support of fellow community leaders and the planning began. The first parade had an actual 'flower battle' with half of the fresh-flower-covered carriages, floats and bicycles going in one direction and the other half going in the opposite direction, tossing fresh flowers at each other as they passed.

By 1895 the parade had developed into a weeklong celebration. The first queen and king were added in 1896 and a princess, duchesses and other attendants were added in 1890, but parade royalty was 'hit and miss' until several years later when local organizations took over their selection. In 1901 the parade included its first horseless vehicle. By 1915-16 the parade had grown so much in scope that the floats could no longer be decorated with fresh flowers and artificial flowers were used. In 1976 the tradition of association members wearing yellow dresses and yellow hats on parade day began. In 1991 to celebrate the parade's centennial anniversary, former association presidents arrived in carriages and tossed flowers at each other and spectators as was done in the first parade. Today it includes some 40 flower-covered floats, dozens of military, college and high school bands, cavalcades, horse-drawn carriages, antique cars and giant, helium balloons. The Battle of Flowers Parade has been held every year since its beginning except during war times and originated what we now call Fiesta San Antonio.

Many businesses in San Antonio have given up on keeping this as a normal workday because of the high number of people who call in "sick." My employer is one for whom this is an official holiday. So that's why I'm home during the day on a Friday. As for myself, I've never been to anything involving Fiesta, and I don't plan on ever going. For me, San Antonio is a place to work and to stay as far away from as possible at all other times.