The Spiritlandia Day of the Dead river parade is still scheduled to air on national TV, but those who attended the event at the San Antonio River Walk expressed frustration, saying it was disorganized and disappointing.
A parade Thursday night that was supposed to feature up to 26 barges decorated with colorful lights, flowers and calaveras, instead included less than half a dozen, according to people who purchased tickets for the event. In a statement, organizers cited “unavoidable interruptions” due to light rain and “difficulties of safely filming the nationwide television broadcast.”
The Day of the Dead events, including the river parade and a festival at La Villita, were rebranded this year as Spiritlandia in an August announcement by Chef Johnny Hernandez of the television partnership with NBC LX and the Peacock streaming service. Organizers estimated that the broadcast had the potential to reach an estimated 100 million U.S. viewers.
A spokesperson from Ingeñuity, the producer of the broadcast, said the parade’s national broadcast, originally set for Tuesday, will now air Wednesday. It also will be shown on the local NBC affiliate, WOAI-TV, on Friday. Ingeñuity did not say why the broadcast was pushed back.
Attendees took to social media to complain about Thursday night’s parade.
“This was the biggest disappointment,” wrote Scott Lowe-Flores in a comment posted on Instagram. ”We paid for reserved seats, other people just walked around and stopped and helped themselves. No security, the parade was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., [at] 9:30 p.m., we’d only seen four floats pass through.”
“Quit using the excuse of rain. The rain didn’t start until almost 9:30 p.m., so if the parade had started on time as planned and announced there wouldn’t be any delays,” Lowe-Flores wrote.
Other attendees said they waited for more than two hours only to see five river barges. One attendee called the experience a “complete joke” and “utter disappointment.”
Tickets ranged in price and started at $40.
In a statement posted on Instagram, organizers apologized for what they said were weather-related delays but said refunds would not be issued. Complimentary tickets to other Spiritlandia weekend events were offered to those who submitted proof of their original parade tickets by email.
On Monday, the parade’s organizers were reluctant to discuss issues with the event. Hernandez said he was traveling and could not comment until later in the week.
David Chavez, CEO of Kansas-based content creator Ingeñuity and producer of the broadcast, said the rain hindered ”a little bit of everything,” even filming, because crews were worried about lightning.
“Had it not rained, everyone would’ve got to see all 26 floats. It’s kind of that simple,” Chavez said. “We had a challenge in shooting floats with no audience, basically, but we went through it. I think the rain wasn’t even predicted. We thought it was coming at midnight.”
Chavez said he believes all 26 barges floated the river for the parade, but said people missed them because they left.
The first Day of the Dead river parade was held in 2019, and a virtual version took place in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic before returning to being in person in 2021. This year’s version was intended to showcase San Antonio as a destination for the holiday’s celebrations in front of a wider audience.
“Zero communication about the delay by event staff,” wrote Laura Kennedy in a response to the organizers’ statement on Instagram. “… No apology, no acknowledgement of the disastrous failure that occurred.”
