The 2018 Aqua Faire

The 2018 Mermaid SPLASH Festival is just around the corner and organizers for this year’s Aqua Faire are preparing for a free, family-friendly event that celebrates San Marcos’ arts, culture, heritage and river.

The Aqua Faire will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at San Marcos Plaza Park. The fun will kick into full gear following the Mermaid Promenade.

The San Marcos River serves as the backdrop to this festival that has something for almost everyone.

Live music will kick off at 12:30 p.m. with Bidi Bidi Banda, a Selena tribute band composed of members of some of Austin's premier Latin bands, on the Plaza Park stage. The Bidi Bidi Banda's interpretation of Selena's greatest hits will leave the crowd belting lyrics, and reliving the days of Selena, the queen of Tejano music. Rochelle and the Sidewinders, the all-star blues band that played last year’s Aqua Faire, is returning for another performance on the Plaza Park stage this year from 3 to 4:30 p.m. And local psychedelic Texas folk band The Deer will close out the fair starting at 5:30 and ending 7 p.m.

Dancers Carlos Ventura and Jueleen Ornt dance to Columbian salsa band Cosa Nostra during the 2017 Aqua Faire. This year bands Bidi Bidi Banda, Rochelle and the Sidewinders and The Deer will perform.

The Art Market will be coordinated by the San Marcos Art League again this year. Organizers plan on having 60 artisan vendors from all over the Hill Country for the curated market. All proceeds from the art market vendor fees benefit the San Marcos Art League and their many projects.

New this year is the Mermaid Marketplace, that will have retail and commercial mermaid products for sale, in addition to the handmade, artisan items in the Art Market.

A Mermaid from Adventure Scuba in Plano swims between strands of wild rice in the San Marcos River. Daily Record file photo by Toy Mendez

Festival-goers can also learn about environmental stewardship at the Eco Village, and take part in the variety of interactive activities planned for the whole family. Organizations like the Meadows Center For Water and the Environment, the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association and other organizations that focus on the environmental stewardship of local water resources will have hands-on workshops, presentations by environmental experts and art-inspired learning projects for kids and adults.

Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos ArtSpace program will be coordinating the KIDzone area this year and will have a variety of interactive and fun art projects for children to create during the Aqua Faire, all free of charge.

Also new this year, the Mermaid Society SMTX plans on having Mermaid March maps available for those that would like to take the full tour to see all inaugural mermaid statues that were unveiled during last year's Aqua Faire and now have been placed throughout the city.

Fiona Brown makes friends with Mer-dog Phoebe Nicholson, while her family browses the Artisan Alley hosted by the San Marcos Art League last year and this year. 

Mermaids will also be out and about during the Aqua Faire, sunbathing on the banks of the San Marcos River or perhaps swimming in the crisp 72 degree water - either way, mermaid sightings are a guarantee.

For more information about the Aqua Faire, go to the Mermaid Society SMTX's website. Tanger Outlets is the presenting sponsor of the 2018 Aqua Faire.