Fiesta Oyster Bake is back

Some 75,000 turn out for St. Mary’s event with ‘food, drinks, good vibes’

Denise Fernandez has been volunteering at Fiesta Oyster Bake for nearly three decades.

This year, she chaired one of the oyster shot booths at the music festival sponsored by the St. Mary’s University Alumni Association on the university’s campus.

She was happy to get back to volunteering after two years of being unable to because of cancellations caused by the pandemic.

“It has been just wonderful to see that people are still showing that they are concerned about spreading germs,” said Fernandez, 53, “but we need this. We really need to have this time to celebrate and have some type of normalcy. … And Fiesta is a big part of that.”

Cousins Stephanie Gonzalez, Roxanne Rodriguez and Jose Cuevas met up Saturday to go to Fiesta Oyster Bake. Gonzalez, 34, said the food was her favorite part of the event. Rodriguez, 35, said she has been coming to the event since she was in her 20s and was excited to see it return. Cuevas, 34, said this was his third time out at the event.

“Food, drinks, good vibes — I’m all for it,” he said.

Fiesta Oyster Bake was completely new for Diana Kovpak, 22, and Isabel Carrazana, 21, who both had moved to San Antonio from out of state recently. They met while working at a restaurant.

“Everyone said ‘you have to go to Fiesta’ and said how awesome it is here,” Carrazana said as she and Kovpak shelled and ate their bucket of oysters. “And it is — it’s so much fun.”

Fiesta Oyster Bake chair Mike Martinez said a final head count for the Fiesta mainstay — it’s been around since 1916 — won’t be

Photos by Josie Norris / Staff photographer Diana Kovpak cheers as Isabel Carrazana, both of San Antonio, shucks a tricky oyster Saturday during the 2022 Fiesta Oyster Bake held at St Mary’s University. The event returned after two years of being canceled due to the pandemic.

The event typically grosses between $1.5 million and $2 million, with about 24 percent of that being net revenue that funds 75 scholarships at St. Mary’s.