The San Antonio Conservation Society is pausing A Night in Old San Antonio, one of Fiesta’s largest and longest-running events, as the organization grapples with declining attendance and years of financial losses.
The Conservation Society announced Wednesday that the four-night event, commonly known as NIOSA, will not be held in 2027 as organizers reconsider its future and how to continue funding the nonprofit’s historic preservation work. The organization’s board voted 17-10 to suspend the event.
No timeline has been set for the event’s return.
“We are choosing to hit the pause button now so we can protect the long-term legacy of the San Antonio Conservation Society and the funding necessary to carry out our historic preservation mission,” Conservation Society President Betty Bueché said, in a statement.
NIOSA has been held in some form since 1936 and grew into one of the signature events of Fiesta San Antonio. About 6,500 volunteers help stage the four-night celebration each year.
The decision is a significant shift from the organization’s plans just last month, when it announced a “reset” of NIOSA but said its goal was still to hold the event in 2027.
At the time, the Conservation Society also eliminated two of the six full-time staff positions dedicated to NIOSA as it sought to cut costs and reconsider the event’s future.
Bueché said Wednesday that the decision ultimately came down to finances. Attendance has fallen 48% since the COVID-19 pandemic while the costs of putting on the festival have increased, contributing to NIOSA losing money in each of the past four years.
The event was also losing space at La Villita, its longtime downtown home, as redevelopment changes the historic arts village. A renovated La Villita Assembly Hall is being converted into a food hall, while three restaurants are being developed at Maverick Plaza.
“Our sales were down, our costs were up, the attendance was down,” Bueché said. “And yes, we had less space, but that was not the major factor.”
The event costs roughly $600,000 just to get started each year before revenue from attendance and sales begins coming in, Bueché said.
Organizers spent about three months considering ways to keep NIOSA going, including cutting costs and expanding the event onto South Alamo Street to make up for some of the space being lost at La Villita. But Bueché said the numbers showed the event would still lose money.
Bueché said the organization could revisit the decision at any time if its financial circumstances change. One possibility would be outside sponsorships, which NIOSA has not traditionally sought.
“If we wanted to find a way to cover all of the expenses to actually kick off the event, we would need sponsorships that come to about $600,000,” Bueché said. “And that way we could make sure that just in case we don’t get the attendance, we wouldn’t at least lose money again.”
The Conservation Society would be open to such a sponsorship, Bueché said, but there is currently no plan for NIOSA or a similar event in 2027 or beyond.
“If conditions change, and hopefully they will change,” she said, “Someday we will have NIOSA or something like it again.”
The event served as the Conservation Society’s primary fundraiser, with proceeds historically supporting preservation and education efforts across San Antonio.
Bueché said the organization will look for other ways to continue funding those core functions, that include educational tours for local students, preservation grants for historic properties and its research archives. As NIOSA lost money over the past four years, Bueché said the organization had to rely on reserve funds to continue those programs.
“This organization is almost 102 years old, and we want to be able to continue the work that we’ve been doing for the last 100 years,” she said. “NIOSA is only 78 years old, so before that, the society did other things for raising funds, and we want to continue to do other things to raise funds.”
This story first appeared in the San Antonio Report.
