College students have a tight budget, tight enough to be on the hunt for frugal dates or free events to attend on the weekend. To facilitate things a bit, here are a few events to keep in mind as you make plans with friends or significant other.
Play Tourist: When out of options, consider being a tourist for a night. Downtown nightlife is always bustling with activity and might even run into a few happy accidents. Drive or take a bus downtown and enjoy walking down The Riverwalk in the late afternoon, you might stumble across one or two things to do while you’re downtown. Stop by the San Fernando Cathedral to get a few photographs and enjoy a unique experience. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m.and 10:00 p.m.the church is brought to life by a light show called “San Antonio | The Saga.” Created by French artist Xavier de Richemont, the light show narrates the story of San Antonio with vibrant images over the church’s façade. The best part? The show is entirely free of charge, so feel free to buy a shaved ice from any of the nearby vendors before sitting down to enjoy the show.
Scout for movies: If you’re a Napoleon Dynamite fan then you’re in luck. The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts is showing the movie for free. Come by to The River Walk Plaza this Friday August 14th at 8:00 PM to enjoy the show or visit the Tobin Center’s website (https://www.tobincenter.org/) to check for future movie showings like Hairspray on Friday, September 11th at 8:00 PM.
Be one with yourself: For a relaxing start to your weekend, think about stopping by the San Antonio Museum of Art on Saturday, August 15th from 10:15 – 11:00 AM. Going on until Saturday, December 12th, you can enjoy a guided meditation session in the Japanese Gallery on comfortable stools and cushions. Cost of admission to the museum is $10 and there is no extra charge for the meditation session; make sure to check out their website for more information on exhibits and events (https://www.samuseum.org/).
Get jazzy with it: Jazz’SAlive is coming to San Antonio on Tuesday, September 19th and Wednesday, September 20th. The weekend will be filled with amazing artists playing on different stages in Travis Park and will be kicking off each day at around noon. If you’re interested make sure to check the lineup of artists on the website: http://www.saparksfoundation.org/_jazzsalive/jazzsalive_jamsession.html. To close of the night on the 19th, check out Jazz’SAlive After Dark at the Rooftop Terrace of the St. Anthony Hotel. This jam session will begin at 11:00 PM and being after hours, you never know what artists might show up.
On campus: Don’t forget to check for events taking place on campus as well; most — if not almost all — of them are free and are great alternatives to heading elsewhere in search of something fun to do. For example, forget paying movie theater prices, instead enjoy a film for free during one of the UCinema Nights at the UC Retama. There’s a chance to win prizes like movie posters or maybe some candy to munch on if you arrive early enough to participate in the raffle before the film starts. All you need to do is bring a student ID and arrive early to get some of the complementary popcorn. The movies showing are different every week so make sure to check the UC Programs website (http://www.utsa.edu/uctr/programs/index.html) for the list so that you can plan in advance. On queue to play this month are Avengers: Age of Ultron (August 16th at 7:15 p.m.), Mad Max: Fury Road (August 21st at 9:00 p.m.or August 22nd at 7:00 p.m.), and Jurassic World (August 28th at 9:00 p.m. and August 29th at 7:00 p.m.).
For this upcoming weekend, don’t forget to check out the Kickback at the UC. The event is taking place before the movie showing of the Avengers: Age of Ultron this Sunday August 16th at 5:00 PM in the University Center.
Other events on campus coming up include Live on the Lawn on August 21st at 8:00 PM in the UC Lawn featuring live bands and thus making it a fantastic way to kick off the semester. Although no bands have been announced as of yet, be sure to grab a couple friends or get ready to meet new people because it’s not every day you get to enjoy a free concert.
For those looking to have a more active hand in an event, head over to the Roost and enjoy some healthy competition by participating in the Roost Olympics. The Olympics will take place every evening at 7:00 PM from August 25th – 27th with some of the events featuring competitions in pool, ping pong, air hockey and Mariokart.
