Blog

Aug 11, 2023

Flip

Health Reporter Kyle Cotton was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton has covered economic development, health care,

Health Reporter

Kyle Cotton was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton has covered economic development, health care, finance, government, technology, oil and gas and higher education.

The last holiday weekend before the close of summer is offering a wide variety of activities in the Crossroads for families to enjoy.

Rain dampened last year’s Labor Day festivals, but this year’s Sombrero Fest, Flip Flop Festival and downtown shopping are expecting clear skies for the long, enjoyable weekend.

Flip Flop Festival, put on by the Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce, is the last big event in a string of summer events the chamber puts on for the community, said Tania French, Port Lavaca events coordinator.

It will be an all-day event starting at 7 a.m. with a fishing tournament. The festival ends at midnight with Tejano band South TX Homies.

Short of rock, there will be a wide variety of music and stage performances at the festival with rhythm and blues group Brown Sugar Band, 80s tribute band The Spazmatics, the band Muzik and Calhoun County South Texas Strutters dance troupe, French said.

For Calhoun County’s South Texas Strutters, the festival is an annual event where both their new girls and experienced girls go out for an informal dance routine right before their classes start up on Sept. 11, said Joule Valdez, Calhoun County South Texas Strutters executive director. The event and the classes will build them up for another informal show in October and eventually to their big Christmas Recital in December.

Getting to be on stage for the first time or if they’ve been on it before is a special moment for all the girls who take part, Valdez said.

“They love the feeling of being on stage,” she said. “Their parents worry, but then they just see them shine.”

However, the festival’s highlight every year is the Fling Flong Contest, where people launch a flip-flop off their feet as far as they can, French said.

“The Fling Flong contest is a big deal,” she said. “Even in the rain (last year), people came out of the woodwork for the Fling Flong contest. We have previous champions that come back and vie for their title, newbies, and you never know quite where those flip-flops are going to go.”

In one case, she saw one contestant launch their flip-flop more than 70 feet.

“People just love that contest. I can’t explain it,” she said.

For French, the Flip Flop Festival is unique because it is the big blowout end-of-summer event.

“This is the grand finale of summertime events,” French said. “It ends with a bang.”

Khyara Orozco and Lyliana Martinez work at a merch booth at the Sombrero Fest on last year at the Victoria Youth Sports Complex.

However, Victoria also has its new Labor Day weekend festival, with the second annual Sombrero Fest.

It will be a two-day festival with a softball and cornhole tournament and a barbecue contest, Sombrero Fest promoter BJ Macedo said.

Macedo listened to feedback from the first event and has put together a music lineup with more variety, with a country music focus on Saturday and Tejano music focus on Sunday, he said. San Antonio Lights, a Journey tribute band, will also perform on Saturday.

Country music in a festival setting hasn’t been in Victoria in a long time since Bootfest ended, Macedo said. People often have to travel two hours away to a bigger city to see that kind of musical setting, he said, and people are eagerly looking forward to the festival with this type of music in town.

“The way everyone is sharing things on Facebook saying, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go,’ has me really excited for how everything turns out,” Macedo said. “There’s no rain in the forecast. It’s going to be a beautiful weekend. It’s going to be a lot better than last year.”

However, before people get their festival-goer hats on, there are also two shopping events on Saturday to add to the long weekend with Peaches & Tortilla Mercantile Barbie Shopping event and Mother Cluckers’ Downtown Super Saturday event offering unique opportunities to enhance a family’s long weekend before enjoying the festivities.

Peaches & Tortilla’s event is encouraging people to come out to sip, scoop and dress up Barbie style, along with a special Barbie photo booth for those dressed up in their best Barbie attire. They will also be serving Barbie-themed drinks and ice cream to go along with being one of the store’s biggest sales of the year.

Mother Cluckers will be hosting two vendors in its store with Berry Goods, a baked goods cottage vendor, and wildlife photographer Cheryl Johnson, also known as Backyard Bird Nerd, selling and autographing her Children’s book “Backyard Critters and Creatures,” and explore packs that encourage children’s curiosity with nature as a family activity, said Pamela Edge, Mother Cluckers coop-executive.

People can shop downtown to get people in the festival mood, Berry Goods can provide treats for the ride over the festivals and Backyard Bird Nerd’s books can provide activities for the family through the weekend, Edge said.

“Peaches, Mother Cluckers and all the other small town vendors and businesses are all trying to bring people into downtown to see the things that we have here and to see the downtown and just enjoy,” Edge, who is also a Main Street Program board member, said. “A lot of things are happening with the revitalization of downtown, so we are excited for people to come down and see the things that we’re doing.”

Kyle Cotton was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton has covered economic development, health care, finance, government, technology, oil and gas and higher education.

7:00 a.m. - Casting Out Cancer fishing tournament starts

8:00 a.m. - Backyard Hero cooks meeting

10:00 a.m. - Shopping Vendors Open

10:00 a.m. - Food Vendors Open

Noon - Cornhole tournament starts

3:30 p.m. – South Texas Strutters

4:00 p.m. - Coming Soon

5:00 p.m. - Brown Sugar Band

6:30 p.m. - Fling Flong Contest

7:00 p.m. - Muzik

8:30 p.m. - Hula Hoop Contest

9:00 p.m. - The Spazmatics

11:00 p.m. - South Tx Homies

SATURDAY:

5 p.m. - Solis Bros.

6:45 p.m. - Staudt Bros

8:30 p.m. - Mario Flores w/Soda Creek Band

10:30 p.m. - San Antonio Lights

SUNDAY:

5 p.m. - Marca 361

6 p.m - Topico Mariachi

7:30 p.m. - Grupo Atrapado

9:30 p.m. - Oscar Ayala y Su Sangre Brava

What: Flip Flop Festival

When: 7 a.m. Saturday. live music starts at 4 p.m.

Where: Bayfront Peninsula, 400 E. Live Oak St., Port Lavaca

For information: flipflopfest.com/home

Cost: Admission is free

WHAT: Sombrero Fest

WHEN: 2 p.m.-midnight Saturday and Sunday

WHERE: The Victoria Community Center Grounds, 2905 E. North St., Victoria.

COST: $7 at the gate, $5 pre-sale

WHERE TO BUY: Pre-sale tickets can be bought at Guzman Western Wear, 6412 N Navarro St, Victoria; Furniture Hutt, 1505 N Navarro St., Suite B; Indigo Spa Suites, 1407 N Wheeler St.; and Acceptance Insurance, 3708 N Navarro St., Suite H

WHEN: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Mother Cluckers Downtown, 108 E. Santa Rosa St. Victoria.

WHEN: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

WHERE: Peaches & Tortilla Mercantile, 102 S. Main St. Victoria.

PROMOTION: The first 50 people will get a free scoop of ice cream from Mama Peach. Lots and lots of sales and seasonal mystery bags are available for purchase from $5 to $20.

Health Reporter

Kyle Cotton was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton has covered economic development, health care, finance, government, technology, oil and gas and higher education.