San Antonians who love Fiesta also love the Fiesta kings and queens. Did you know that Fiesta has nine official "royalty" members? Naming all of them is kind of like remembering the names of the seven dwarfs (though the queens are MUCH prettier!). In order of when they became official royalty, they are:

• The Queen of the Order of the Alamo. The organization celebrated its centennial last year. The 101st queen will be crowned the Wednesday of Fiesta week.
  
• King Antonio LXVIII. The first King Antonio was crowned about a century ago. The Texas Cavaliers (who also do the River Parade) have chosen this king every year since 1927. The investiture takes place April 17 in front of the Alamo.
  
• La Reina de la Feria de las Flores. Since 1947 this queen has been chosen through fundraising for scholarships. The 2010 La Reina was crowned in October.
  
• El Rey Feo LXII. The "Ugly King" also earns his crown by raising money for scholarships. Since 1947 the sponsoring organization has given more than $3 million to local students. The incoming king's crowning takes place at La Noche del Rey, April 16 at Main Plaza in front of San Fernando Cathedral.
  
• Miss Fiesta San Antonio. The first Miss Fiesta was chosen in 1949 by Reynolds Andricks, the man who also created the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. Miss Fiesta is now chosen in a scholarship pageant. The 2010 pageant takes place Feb. 13 at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre. Tickets are $20 each, available at the Majestic Theatre box office or through TicketMaster.
• Queen of Soul. The city's African-American community created this royalty position in 1970. She's been an official royalty member since 1973. The 2010 Queen of Soul will be crowned March 27 at the Carver Cultural Center in a pageant that starts promptly at 8:01 p.m.
  
• Miss San Antonio. This queen is part of the Miss America organization. The Miss Bexar County organization has been crowning a queen since the 1930s. She became an official Fiesta queen in the 1970s. Miss San Antonio 2011 will be chosen in a pageant that takes place April 23 at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre.
  
• Woman's Club Teen Queen. The San Antonio Woman's Club began its tradition of choosing a Teenage Queen in 1981. The new queen will be crowned at the San Pedro Playhouse April 18.
  
• Charro Queen. This young woman represents the Associacion de Charros de San Antonio, which sponsors A Day in Old Mexico and Charreada. That's a Mexican-style rodeo. The queen rides in the Escamurza, a group of young women who execute precision horseback movements while riding sidesaddle. The 2010 queen's coronation is scheduled for Feb. 20.

The coronations are all great events, and some of them are fundraisers. Two, the King Antonio investiture and the Teen Queen coronation, are free. So include at least one of them in your pre-Fiesta and Fiesta schedule!

The cool interactive map for the two big Fiesta street parades is now active.

Need chairs for the Battle of Flowers or Fiesta Flambeau parades? Pretend your cursor is a float (or not!). Move it down the red parade route, and you'll see the street names for each block. Click, and you'll see the contact information for the nonprofit groups selling chairs in that area.

More than 100 small groups--Scout troops, PTAs, church groups, civic clubs and more--raise thousands of dollars each year through their street chair sales. For many it's their biggest fundraiser. Tickets are $10 each again this year.

It's a great system. But it's not perfect. The Fiesta Commission gets calls each year from folks wondering why most front-row seats are already gone, even when people call really early. That's because many of the organizations have been selling the chairs for years, and they have a lot of steady customers. It's the free enterprise system at work!

We encourage everyone to keep the street chair contact info handy after Fiesta and make a call in December or early January for the next year. But keep in mind that the contact person may change during that time.

Oh, and make another note. Fiesta dates for 2011 don't follow the normal pattern of including April 21, San Jacinto Day. To avoid a conflict with Good Friday, Fiesta in 2011 will be April 7-17.

We had a news conference this morning at St. Philip's College to welcome AT&T back as "another jewel in the Fiesta Crown."

Fiesta San Antonio Commission President Mary Begia introduced Chris Penrose, vice president and general manager for AT&T South Texas at the conference. He explained that AT&T focuses on promoting education. As a Fiesta sponsor, the company will work with the commission to reach out to students and parents.

For example, AT&T volunteers will visit schools with Miss Fiesta San Antonio throughout the school year.

The Fiesta Commission thanks Dr. Adena Williams Loston, the St. Philip's president, Matari Jones-Gunter and J.D. for playing host in the beautiful new Center for Health Professions.

To stress Fiesta and AT&T's education connection, Jessica Ramirez (Miss Fiesta San Antonio 2009) talked about how her pageant scholarship had helped her finish college at Our Lady of the Lake University. Second Princess Jaime Lalley and three contestants from the 2010 Miss Fiesta Pageant were on hand, too. And Dr. Loston introduced two St. Philip's students who had received scholarships.

St. Philip's is one of the 100 nonprofit organizations that belong to the Fiesta Commission. It does the St. Philip's College CultureFest and Rib Cookoff on the Thursday of Fiesta week--April 22 this year.

It's getting really busy here at the Fiesta Commission office. As soon as San Antonians put away their Christmas decorations, thoughts turn to Fiesta. Our phones have been busy--people are calling about street chairs for the Battle of Flowers and Flambeau parades, among other things.

(More than 100 small nonprofits, like Scout Troops and civic clubs, will start selling the seats at the end of this month. That's when the parade route map will go live again, too.)

Last night we had a very successful Mardi Gras gala with about 300 people attending at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel. The proceeds will go into the Fiesta Commission Charitable Foundation. That organization donates its funds to Fiesta member organizations that are 501(c)(3)s.

We're planning a Jan. 22 news conference at St. Philip's College (Culture Fest & Rib Cookoff) with officials from AT&T, a Fiesta corporate partner. We'll be talking about how the commission and the company are joining forces to promote the value of education to San Antonio students and their parents.

Our volunteer coordinator and our merchandise manager are scheduling volunteers like mad. Those dedicated folks are folding t-shirts, putting price tags on merchandise and making items for sale in The Fiesta Store. The store opens officially Feb. 17, with a grand opening Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. But if you just have to have a Fiesta item before that, we'll take you into the store to shop. You can't see the merchandise with the 2010 poster image yet. But we still have lots of things for sale.

If you want to become a special part of Fiesta, join the commission as an individual or business member. You can get 15 percent off of all official merchandise sold here. We've seen people who have saved enough with that discount to make up their membership fee! Our staff and volunteers will send you other member benefits as soon as we have your information and payment.

After January, things will really start jumping. We're planning our annual Poster Unveiling ceremony. It's set for Feb. 16 at the St. Anthony Hotel. We invite all of our members to this great party. So join soon, and you can attend!

We'll keep you posted on other news as it happens.

Fiesta event organizations are looking for vendors and entertainers.

Some of those nonprofit groups are, anyway. Fiesta San Antonio 2010 is to feature more than 100 events over 11 days. Of those, these feature entertainment or include vendor booths:

• Fiesta Fiesta at the Alamo
• Fiesta Carnival (also hires vendors for the Battle of Flowers and Fiesta Flambeau parades)
  
• Fiestas Fantasias at Market Square
• Fiesta Oyster Bake
• A Taste of New Orleans
• San Antonio Fiesta Women's Soccer Tournament
• Fiesta Arts Fair
  
• Fiesta de los Ninos
• Fiesta Nueva at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
• Family Funday Sunday at Clark High School
• Fiesta de la Familia at St. Gregory Roman Catholic Church
• San Jose Mission Fest at Mission San Jose
• St. Philip's College Culture Fest & Rib Cookoff
  
• Fiesta San Fernando
• King William Fair
  
• St. Luke's Fiesta Finale

You can find contact information for some of those organizations on our Fiesta Vendors and Fiesta Entertainers pages. You can learn about others on our Event Links page.