Sights and Sounds is back in town

By Diego B Gonzales

Blog Content Contributor

The Sights and Sounds of Christmas Festival is back in San Marcos, Texas. The holiday-centered festival was founded in 1987 by the Sights and Sounds of Christmas Foundation. Since then, it has been a San Marcos holiday staple. Held at San Marcos Plaza Park, the festival offers carnival games, rides, and the opportunity to take a photo with Santa Claus himself. Back for the 37th time, the festival is grander than ever in what it offers the community.

Rollercoasters are among the most popular attractions at the Sights and Sounds Festival. The festival offers a variety of rides to the attendees, ranging from a calm and steady carousel to an extremely high-speed ride that repeatedly takes its riders through a loop titled The Ring of Fire. The most visually stunning ride at the festival is the Zero-Gravity ride, a ride that uses its speed to push its riders to the walls. Each rider had a thin green belt to protect them from slipping off the high-velocity coaster.

Festival attendee and Texas State University Student Quinn Fanta was at first wary of how much protection the belt provided, given its thinness and the high speed of the ride. “At first, I was like, ‘what the heck?’”, said Fanta. “‘Surely, this can’t be enough to protect me from falling off the ride.’ But then the ride starts, and you’re so pushed against the wall that you kinda don’t even need the belt in the first place. I guess you do, but you know what I mean.”

Besides sights and sounds, the festival has a great food court with all the carnival classics, such as fried Oreos, corn dogs and Funnel Cake. Several local vendors had the opportunity to share their food with the San Marcos community on a grand scale. Festival attendee Connor Buckley was not given a utensil for his funnel cake but enjoyed it, nonetheless. “I had to eat my funnel cake like a taco,” said Buckley. “I didn’t mind it at all; I’m big on eating food with my hands. Always have been.”

The festival is an opportunity for many local businesses and artists to promote their business to the hundreds of attendees. McCoy’s Building Supply, a local and longstanding San Marcos business, is offering a petting zoo at the festival. The petting zoo is free to all at the festival and includes lambs, goats, bunnies and more.

The festival does not only provide fun activities for the San Marcos community, but it also helps in raising funds for local charities in Texas. According to the foundation’s website, the festival has helped in raising over $300,000 in revenue for local area non-profits over the last three years.

This upcoming weekend, Dec. 7 through Dec. 9, will be the last weekend to catch the Sights and Sounds experience until next year. Children 12 and under have free admission to the festival. For more information on attending The Sights and Sounds of Christmas festival, visit https://sights-n-sounds.org/