Cities on Parade: 300 Years of European Festival Books

Like Europe’s great cities of the 1600s–1800s, San Antonio celebrates on its streets and river and in its parks and squares. From Rodeo’s Cattle Drive and Fiesta’s River Parade to New Year’s Eve fireworks at the Tower of the Americas and Cinco de Mayo mariachi in Market Square, public festivals express the city’s history and identity. 

Rare books invite comparisons between the festivals of today and those organized by the Medici, Bourbons, Habsburgs, and other courts of Europe.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.