by CJ Vetter
Buda – On April 2, Buda held its first ever Buda Birthday celebration in honor of its 141 birthday at the Buda City Park and Amphitheater, with over 3,000 people in attendance. Food, vendors, and carnival rides were all offered in addition to free, live performances from award winning Texas bands Jamestown Revival, W.C. Clark Blues Revue and Money Chicha.
Festivities began at 12 p.m. with a parade down Buda’s historic downtown, followed by the selection of their first annual local legend award. Amongst 22 candidates who were nominated by the community, it was former mayor Jim Hollis who was selected to receive the honor, followed by a surprise performance by his daughter who flew in from outstate. After the award, attendees had a few hours to enjoy the numerous local food stalls and vendors; some of the product on sale ranged from handcrafted jewelry to native American tool reproductions, such as those made by local craftsman Oscar Duran.
“I just flew in from California today, it’s my first time here, not in Texas but here, and it’s my first time at the festival, and I just love how everyone is so relaxing. They came out here, and it’s so family orientated, and it’s just been a really good time listening to music.” Shay Selva, a visitor to Buda, said.
The park area included a small assortment of carnival rides and fun houses, as well as the public amenities available at the park, such as the playground and splash pad, which was especially activated ahead of its regular schedule for the event. From 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the bands took center stage, ending an hour before the celebration ended, starting with Money Chicha, who record their albums in Buda.
“All of this is great. We just moved back ten years ago, and we used to have field day here as a kid. It’s pretty wild, but it’s a nice venue though,” attendee Joel Perez said.
Other noticeable attractions at the festival included The Little Red Lunch Box catering car, a k-pop dance team, and a ‘birthday card’ for Buda, where guests could sign their names and leave a message wishing the city well on it’s special day. The card also featured a mural painted by Joy Bliss, a local artist affiliated with Inspired Minds Art center, a local art institute ran by Sinéad Whiteside.
“Inspired Minds talked to the city about what kind of display or thing they wanted to do, and Sinéad reached out to me about it, and the city went oh yeah, got a budget for it. I actually collaborated with Sinéad’s son. All in all, it was about 20 to 25 hours of work that went into this, and it came together pretty quickly, at least for murals,” Bliss said. “It’s a little messy over there, but it’s actually really sweet looking at all the little messages and the families that signed it.”
The inspiration for the event came from a 2018 campaign formed by the city council to promote Buda on social media, where business members, city employees and citizens were asked to say happy birthday to Buda, followed by cupcakes at the visitor center on April 1. In 2019, it evolved further into the idea of festival, which then grew into the music festival.
“It was amazing, we felt like it was a huge success. We heard positive feedback from everyone that was there, and that it was a really great first year. We feel like we can only go up from here,” Director of Destination Services Lysa Gonzalez said. “Being able to build and be what we want to be, where it’s a celebration of the everything the community is, rather than just the park.”
While no formal plans have yet to be created, the city council intends to not only host the festival next year, but also attempt to grow it to include all of downtown Buda rather than just the park. Going into their next festival, Red, White and Buda, the cities fourth of July festival, the city plans to continue their goal of bringing the best of Buda to all visiting.
“They came to me because I do Budafest, so they sent me an email to come to this event, so I accepted it, and I’m glad I did,” Duran said. “I hope they do it every year. They’ve been having birthdays for over a hundred years and they finally have a birthday celebration, so I’m glad to see it going on.”
For more information, you can visit www.budaamphitheater.com/budasbday, or www.ci.buda.tx.us/102/City-Council. To learn more about the Inspired Minds Art center, you can contact them at [email protected].
