If there’s one thing I love about San Antonio, it’s the array of organizations and festivals dedicated to celebrating the arts. As a creative, events and organization like First Friday at Blue Star, Muertitos Fest at Say Sí, Second Thursdays at the McNay, Chalk It Up, and Luminaria sing to my soul. And now I’m adding Second Saturdays at Essex Modern City to that list.
I first heard about Essex Modern City and their incredible collection of murals from a friend. When I realized that it is a mere five minutes from my house on the Southeast Side AND that they hold a free monthly family- and pet-friendly event, I couldn’t wait to check it out!
Slated to become an 80,000-square foot mixed-use development, Essex Modern City currently stands as a predominately outdoor space in what was once a pallet-making factory. In an effort to bring awareness to the space, Essex Modern City started curating street artists to create original murals spread throughout the grounds. In addition to the dozens of murals by both local and national artists, they host a free monthly event welcoming the public to take in the art.
This month’s event is an appropriately themed Oktoberfest fall celebration from 6:00-9:00 P.M. on Saturday, October 13th. They’ll have food trucks, pumpkin painting, live art and music, and free beer (and juice boxes!), courtesy of Alamo Beer.
I took my kids back in August, and they had an absolute blast. We went with friends, found easy street parking (I recommend showing up sooner rather than later), and the kids enjoyed with exploring the grounds. They had water-soluble spray paint for painting the parking lot that my kids were all over—last month they had switched to chalk instead. They also had a game on when I went last month (don’t ask me which game—pretty sure it was college football), so there’s something for the male guests who may not be as interested in art.
And there are numerous opportunities for photos, of course. Chances are, you’ve probably seen pictures of Essex Modern City showing up on Instagram (I even hosted a phone photography meetup here). This event is a great opportunity to check out this incredible new space.
If you’re curious about the development plans for Essex Modern City, they have a room open during the event where you can see renderings of what it will be. I’m excited to see how it grows, and they plan on integrating as much of the artwork into the development as possible. It will be bittersweet when these street art events are no longer, but if this is a sign of the magnificent things to come with Essex, I can’t wait.
