Crews are finalizing everything for the fourth annual Fiesta de la Flor, set to be one of Corpus Christi’s largest festivals yet again.
And pulling off this big event is no easy task. It takes a year of planning and 700 volunteers. Organizers started immediately after last year’s festival.
Overseeing the event is, Paulette Kluge, Chief Executive Officer with the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“The people that are going to greet you welcome you give you a program those are volunteers. Those are people in our community that help us put this festival on. Thank goodness for them or it would not go. It wouldn’t go,“ Kluge said.
For the past three days volunteers, contractors, work crews, and more have been setting up the stage, putting up the tents, making sure that the area will be safe and fun for the more than 50,000 people who will attend the event honoring slain Tejano star Selena Quintanilla.
The electricity needed to run this event could power a small school.
“Generator after generator after generator and it takes all of that to power all of the lights and the sound and the flying screens,“ said Kluge.
Contractors have laid more than 1000 yards of cable and have used 300 safety ramps to protect people from tripping.
But the volunteers won’t work this event alone. Paramedics will be on bikes making sure that everybody is safe.
Last year they had plenty of people suffer from dehydration and heat exhaustion. This year they have all the tools needed to handle any kind of emergency.
The police department will also be on hand. They have called in officers who would normally be off duty to increase police presence. They will even use their new Skywatch surveillance camera to make sure that everyone is safe.
Gates open for Fiesta De La Flor Friday at 5:30.
