by Janette Martinez

As SXSW returned to in-person for the first time since COVID-19, one of the biggest and loyal sponsors of the festival made a return as well. During SXSW 2022, there were many events celebrating the diversity and different heritage of SXSW attendees. One of these events was a Bud Light-sponsored fiesta celebrating Latin heritage.

The Bud Light Fiesta took place on top of a 2-story Lone Star Riverboat on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX on Monday, March 14th, 2022. With a company as big as Bud Light, what is a Bud Light sponsored event without free beer? The company was debuting their new, zero-carb beer Bud Light Next, along with their line of hard seltzers. Attendees were given a tote bag as they boarded the boat, which contained Bud Light branded merchandise that included a pair of sunglasses, a koozie, and a T-shirt. With all this free alcohol, the only thing missing was some food to enjoy while drinking. But, as I learned from the bartender, event organizers had planned for there to be tacos, but these tacos never made it to the event.

The boat ride lasted 2 hours, making circles down Lady Bird Lake, located in the downtown Austin area. Other than the free drinks, the event also included entertainment by a DJ, a mariachi band, and Sofia Peña. Sofia is a singer/songwriter from Mexico and has experience touring through Mexico, getting ready for her debut tour in the United States. She is a highly talented singer and attendees were lucky enough to see her talent while she performed a couple of songs with the mariachi band. The mariachi band performed many classic songs that are usually performed by mariachis during Quinceañeras, including “Sergio El Bailador” by Grupo Bronco and “Cielito Lindo,” composed by Quirino Mendoza y Cortéz. While the fiesta had Latinos and non-Latinos in attendance, we were able to come together to celebrate such a rich heritage by drinking a beer together and singing along to these classic songs, even creating a conga line during one of the songs.

As the sun started to set, the boat was anchored by the Congress bridge, where attendees were able to enjoy the emergence of bats from under the bridge, a well-known staple of things to do while on the Congress bridge. Every evening, an estimates 1.5 million female Mexican free-tiled bats emerge from the Ann W. Richards Congress Bridge in downtown Austin. If you ever walk or drive down this bridge in the evening, you will usually see a crowd of people lined up to see the bats emerge. What better way to see these bats than while on a boat on Lady Bird Lake, enjoying some good Bud Light with friends that you just met?

Even with the absence of the tacos, this Bud Light sponsored fiesta celebrating Latin heritage was a fun experience. It allowed Latinos and non-Latinos to mingle, drink a beer together, and get to try out some beers and hard seltzers that they might not have tried before. Attendees were able to listen to music well-known in the Latin community and sing along to some of these classics. We were even able to watch the bats come out from the Congress bridge, something that anyone visiting Austin for the first time should try to do during their visit.