It's the savory smell of sizzling fajitas, the crack of a colorful cascarone meeting its mark, the stirring strains of mariachi music. Every year during San Antonio's famous Fiesta, the quiet streets and plazas of La Villita (the original "Little Village" of old San Antonio) on the winding River Walk vibrate with the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the biggest "block party" of them all during "Night in Old San Antonio" (NIOSA). Actually, it's not one night, it's four fabulous evenings deep in the heart of San Antonio, with "party-goers" (this includes YOU) wandering through 15 fantastic areas featuring ethnic foods, beverages and mementos.

TASTY ETHNIC FOODS

The "Irish Flats" serve Dublin Deli and potato skins in a beer garden resounding with Irish folk music. Regional foods of Northern Mexico and South Texas are featured in the "South of the Border" booths, with bright green, yellow, red and blue canopies capping booths typical of roadside vendors in Mexico and offering Aguacates (fresh avocado halves filled with sour cream and spicy sauce) and Quesadilla de Camerones (seafood tacos). In the colorful "Mexican Market," a Tienda booth sells Mexican food and folk art, including NIOSA's signature Anticuchos (marinated steak shish-kebabs). This is also the place to purchase those devilishly delightful egg shells filled with confetti, "cascarones," for cracking over the heads of friends, family and total strangers. (Actually, there are no strangers during Fiesta.) The "International Walkway" is bedecked with colorful streamers and offers the tastes of Italy, Poland, Greece, England, Belgium and the Netherlands, while vendors display T-shirts, pinatas, hats, flowers and more for sale.

"Clown Alley" is the place to go for family fun and is chock full of games, carnival-type foods and plenty of clowning around clowns. "Main Street USA" features such NIOSA exclusives as Brisket Biscuits and Fat Bread (an English muffin covered with sautéed mushrooms and Monterey Jack cheese), while in "Villa Espana," delicacies of Spain entice visitors. "Sauerkraut Bend" (an early nickname for the German-settled area along the river bend in the historic King William area) is popular, with German bands, sausage on a stick and bock beer. "Tin Pan Alley" pays tribute to San Antonio's place in the blues movement, when major recording companies visited here in the 1920s and '30s to record blues, jazz, gospel, western swing, Hispanic and other ethnic music. Expect to find catfish, hushpuppies and lemonade in this area -- and lots of music.

SALUTES TO HISTORY

NIOSA's "Frontier Town," with general store, windmill and official U.S. postal station, has Horseshoe Sausage and Texas Caviar (spicy black-eyed peas) among its culinary fare, while the "French Quarter" offers the tastes of France and New Orleans from beignets to strawberries in champagne! The "Haymarket" recalls San Antonio's Spanish Colonial period, with mini haciendas. Here tribute is paid to the "Chili Queens" who sold chili-like stews in the town's old Haymarket, and an ever-popular favorite is Maria's Tortillas. "Chinatown" offers Chinese souvenirs and cuisine and the Chinese Yak-i-Tori (grilled chicken shish-kebabs) booth, and with karaoke-singing workers, it is a big NIOSA favorite.

The "Mission Trail" section features Armadillo Eggs (biscuit-coated jalapenos stuffed with cheddar cheese) and Prairie Chicken (skinless sautéed chicken with onion and bell pepper in a tortilla) set before facades of the four missions and the Alamo. It commemorates the successful promotion of a parkway to connect San Antonio's historic missions by the San Antonio Conservation Society, which has put on this "party with a purpose" yearly since 1948 to raise funds for historic preservation. If it wasn't for these "little old ladies in tennis shoes," as Conservation Society members (now including men) have often been called, many of San Antonio's historic sites would not be here today. So put on your party sombrero, bring your appetite and be prepared to party at this one-of-a-kind Fiesta event -- "Night In Old San Antonio."

A Quick Look

NIOSA in La Villita
April 24-27
5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Adults: $8
6 to 12 yrs.: $2
Under 6 yrs.: Free
210-226-5188