With new restaurant openings, amazing events on the calendar, and an entire new park opening next month, 2023 is a year of exciting growth at Hemisfair! And we can’t wait for our Downtown neighbors to celebrate with us!
Introducing Civic Park
We know great cities deserve great public spaces, and that’s why we have been meticulously planning and creating Civic Park -- San Antonio’s version of Central Park. Civic Park is the large area in Hemisfair between the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and S. Alamo Street. And it's going to be awesome! It will include five interactive water features called 'The Springs', The Great Lawn where some of San Antonio's most popular events will take place, a public restroom building, The Peggy Mays Family Gardens, and the majority of the Promenade, which is lined with trees that have been growing since 2018.
Here are a some of the amazing things this urban park will do for our city:
It will be a pedestrian connection between downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods of Lavaca and King William.
It will be sustainable -- we are using nuisance water found under downtown buildings for irrigation and water features (see more about this below).
It will provide shade and offset the urban heat island effect (we are planting 200+ trees that have been growing since 2018).
It will be a space for large-scale events in the heart of Downtown.
It will transform the site of the 1968 World's Fair into a space that both San Antonio residents and visitors can enjoy for generations to come!
Civic Park will be the grandest of Hemisfair's three-park series, and will be a beautiful urban greenspace in the heart of San Antonio. The park will offer enriching and captivating experiences that will draw people together and strengthen our community. Whether you are attending a large-scale event, playing a pick-up Frisbee game, or dipping your toes in The Springs, it's likely you'll enjoy your visits to Civic Park.
Civic Park ribbon cutting
The Grand Opening of Civic Park is coming up! It will be on Friday, September 29 in conjunction with the 40th Annual Jazz’SAlive festival, hosted by San Antonio Parks Foundation.
To kick off the festivities, we will be having our official ribbon cutting ceremony at 4:30 p.m. with Mayor Ron Nirenberg in attendance. The ceremony will be hosted at The Springs – our beautiful interactive water feature at Civic Park that utilizes nuisance water for sustainability.
Künstler Tap Haus is a local woman-and-veteran owned brewery that brings a German flair to Hemisfair's Yanaguana Garden by showcasing Künstler Brewing’s award-winning beers, signature bratwurst, draft cocktails, quick bites, and to-go foods.
Stay tuned for more restaurants to come, including Bombay Bicycle Club which will open by September.
Learn more about our food and beverage options here.
Get Fit at Hemisfair
Thanks to our sponsor HealthTexas, we are now offering Get Fit at Hemisfair programming: a wide variety of free community workouts from Yoga, to HIT workouts, for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy! You can learn more about this programming here.
In addition to the Get Fit programming, Hemisfair is also home to EnergyX Fitness, which offers all kinds of fitness classes and personal training.
What’s Coming Up?
There are always things to do in Hemisfair, but occasionally we host some pretty big San Antonio events. Here are a few that are coming up in 2023:
40th Annual Jazz’SAlive
The San Antonio Parks Foundation, in partnership with The City of San Antonio and Michelob Ultra, present the 40th Annual Jazz’SAlive Festival on September 29 & 30 to celebrate 40 years of Jazz’SAlive and the Grand Opening of Civic Park at Hemisfair!
Dia de los Muertos Fest
Día de los Muertos is a San Antonio beloved cultural event. Muertos Fest returns to Hemisfair for an eleventh year of celebration with a two-day festival on October 28 and 29. Our loved ones are still with us at Día de los Muertos.
DiwaliSA
Experience India's authentic traditions and culture at DiwaliSA on November 4. This unique and unforgettable celebration at Hemisfair features traditional Indian dance, entertainment, food, and merchant booths, and ends with a spectacular display of fireworks.
SA Veterans Day at Hemisfair
The third annual SA Veterans Day at Hemisfair will honor our veterans with live entertainment and fun, interactive activities for the whole family on November 11. Veteran-embracing organizations and businesses will be present to offer resources and services. Attendees will enjoy activities for people of all ages and abilities, living history exhibits, and the newly opened Civic Park.
When ever you’re looking for something fun to do nearby, check out our calendar -- it's full of events for the whole family to enjoy.
We hope to see you soon!
We love having you as our neighbors, and we hope to see you take advantage of the amenities we have to offer! Great cities have great downtowns, and great downtowns have great urban parks. That’s why our vision is to create one of the world’s great public places in San Antonio.
We're making good use of 'nuisance water'!
Nuisance water is water that is collected from a French drain system below the Convention Center, air conditioning concentrate, and any water runoff falling from the roofs of surrounding buildings. It previously flowed into the city's stormwater collection system. Now that water will be treated and used for Civic Park's irrigation and water features. This innovative way of utilizing water will allow Civic Park to stay green year-round without relying on San Antonio’s drinking water.
Fun fact: Every day, we use 18,000 gallons of treated water to water our newly planted and existing trees in Civic Park!
Eat and drink at Hemisfair!
Did you know that the theme of the 1968 World’s Fair was “The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas?” From French pastries at Commonwealth Coffeehouse and Bakery to authentic Neapolitan pizza from Dough Pizzeria Napoletana - we are keeping the theme alive with the food and beverage options at Hemisfair!
In addition to Commonwealth and Dough, Hemisfair has been home to ReRooted: 210 Urban Winery, Box Street All Day, Lick Honest Ice Creams, Paleteria, and the newly opened Künstler Tap Haus.
Lauren Leija is the Communications Coordinator at Hemisfair
Eat and drink in Hemisfair!
Phase 1 of Civic Park is opening soon
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