A.B. Quintanilla and sons on stage at Fiesta de la Flor in Corpus Christi April 17-18. Courtesy photo
With the first Fiesta de la Flor now in the history books as being supremely successful, the second Corpus Christi Selena celebration has been set for May 6-7, 2016. Even after adding 2,000 tickets to Saturday sales — which were gone in an hour — the event sold out both Friday and Saturday, leaving many fans standing outside the gates but still jamming to the music.
Not even the cloudy skies or bouts of rain April 17-18 dampened the spirits of the thousands of Selena fans who converged on North Bayfront Park to celebrate the life of Tejano Queen Selena Quintanilla-Perez. The line to get into the festival stretched along Shoreline Boulevard for blocks.
“The response to Fiesta de la Flor exceeded our expectations,” said Ashley Simper, communications director for the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It was a signature event for Corpus Christi and the CVB. It was so rewarding to see all of that hard work come together and witness people having the type of experience we wanted them to have. More importantly, to know it will continue to be what Selena deserves, which is really what we wanted.”
The CVB worked closely with Selena’s family and lead sponsor CITGO to organize the event, which filled hotel rooms across the city with Selena fans from around the world.
“Fiesta de la Flor had such a global appeal,” Simper said. “We had media outlets from all over the world, and to have them here covering something so positive and putting Corpus Christi in the global spotlight for something so positive was just amazing.”
So amazing, Simper said, that the CVB crew stood with tears in their eyes during the finale as thousands of happy people cheered the sights and sounds of a Selena video against the backdrop of live music and a fireworks display.
“It was overwhelming to see all that work come together and see all those people screaming and having such an incredible time,” she said. “This is a game changer for our community. The CVB wants this community to know how thankful we are to them for embracing Fiesta de la Flor. It has really helped to create such a pride of place.”
