- New CEO:
Chris Maitre - Kids
Parkour
Adventure - Stakeholder
Advisory
Committee - Brackenridge
Book - Cultural
Landscape
Report
Brackenridge Park Conservancy has appointed Chris Maitre as its new Chief Executive Officer. Chris has more than 27 years of non-profit experience, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer for City Park Conservancy in New Orleans where he oversaw day-to-day operations for the 1,300-acre urban park. Before that, he was the Deputy Athletics Director for Tulane University. His experience includes policy development, revenue growth, project management, and programming.
“I’m honored to join the amazing team at the Brackenridge Park Conservancy,” said Chris Maitre. “Brackenridge Park is a historically significant and culturally rich park. I’ve been fortunate to visit Brackenridge Park during prior family vacations and on trips to see my son during his Air Force training. It was during these visits that I came to truly admire Brackenridge’s unique setting for San Antonio residents and visitors. Parks are places for people to escape the day-to-day grind, enjoy the company of others, and make lasting memories. Brackenridge has done that and more for the last 125 years. Every great city deserves a great park and San Antonio has Brackenridge Park.”
Hear more from Chris Maitre as he speaks with Randy Beamer during KLRN's On the Record.
Kids Parkour Adventure
We know you're all on the lookout for awesome activities to keep your kids entertained this summer, so for the first time,
Brackenridge Park Conservancy has teamed up with Parkour Generations San Antonio (PKGSA) to bring some serious energy to the park in celebration of its 125th year. We’re offering four-day weeks of parkour action, nature exploration, making new friends, and having an absolute blast. This Parkour Summer Adventure is designed for all skill levels. Whether your little ones are advanced, intermediate, or total beginners, this is their chance to show off those ninja moves.!
PKGSA's experienced instructors will be there every step of the way to ensure that everyone has a safe, supportive, and totally rad experience.
Who: Kids Age 7 - 14
What: 4-Day Parkour Summer Adventures, running M-Th from 9 am - 12 pm
When: June 3-6, 10-13; July 8-11, July 15-18, 22-25
Where: Brackenridge Park, Meet at Joske Pavilion to start each day
Stakeholder Advisory Committee
Brackenridge Park Conservancy (BPC) is co-chairing with the City of San Antonio, a community planning effort to reconcile plans for the park. Brackenridge is the backyard for all San Antonians. We want to ensure that it is honored for generations to come.
Revealing the Park's History
In July 1863, the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at Vicksburg, effectively taking control of the Mississippi River and stranding 50,000 soldiers on the river's west side. Left to supply shoes, harnesses, saddles, and more for these soldiers, Confederate army quartermasters turned their attention to a tannery in San Antonio, on land that today is in Brackenridge Park. Details of this story and so many others about Brackenridge Park are revealed in San Antonio author Lewis F. Fisher's latest book, “Brackenridge: San Antonio’s Acclaimed Urban Park”. Click here for more of Richard Marini's article about the tannery in the Express News. To purchase the book, click here.
Cultural
Landscape Report
The Brackenridge Park landscape contains an astonishing 12,000 years of documented prehistoric and human interaction with the upper course of the San Antonio River. In that span, its 120-year existence as a municipal park is relatively short. Brackenridge Park is thus more than a municipal park...
Every San Antonian has a memory of Brackenridge Park — family gatherings under the shade trees, driving through the low water crossing, riding the paddle boats on the river. Enjoying Brackenridge Park has been a part of our shared history for more than a century.
Situated just below the headwaters of the San Antonio River, the site of Brackenridge Park has been an oasis for humans for 12,000 years, from indigenous people who found water, food, and shelter here to Park visitors today who come to relax along the river, to wade in the low water crossing with their children, and to explore the Park's historic sites and some of San Antonio's most beloved attractions.
Brackenridge Park is free and open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/5de72005efa9b7eb109718b31a99a64a.jpg?v=1628176354)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/9cd2f91bdc62961f0d0fd43ac29ffd1a.jpg?v=1622669203)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/cfdb78d408526b4d2b7f12115861ffca.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/5d08b63d8f33df0b2aa8d1b623adc0c9.jpg?v=1633985490)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/5732b8d848403e8f67833d19267354a7.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/fcf9d5c0181ff19d1a231cc31c9e4a94.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/b65dcfa4c76a88bd51b90cb6df099e5f.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/d1a16311c01381c4318c18dc4ea34b3a.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/3eec07d5062bd45af0f1ac605951e390.jpg?v=1633983677)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/dd2e52e9133595da973b8753145f99cb.jpg?v=1622669204)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/831ada95aef0fd01f5c9a01ab5122e8e.jpg?v=1622669205)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/83d49e61a86f317f5344a39d96f8c68c.jpg?v=1633983677)
![Vintage Photo from Brackenridge Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/vintagephotos/d528d55f8467551c54b302637c081068.jpg?v=1633983677)
![Fido Film Festival](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/f270a472d470d85b71598864208fda04.jpg?v=1721308370)
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Join us for a free family and pet-friendly movie night in the park. This event...
![Urban Wild Launch](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/dac975abbc33acd3d777c4160af4de06.jpeg?v=1715623867)
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
The launch of Urban Wild will create a group for young leaders and stewards of...
![13th Annual Parktoberfest](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/e06a06824ffac023aef937dca61c599c.jpg?v=1688017281)
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Get ready for a Biergarten along the San Antonio River! The Brackenridge Park Conservancy is hosting...
![Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/Monarch butterfly.jpg?v=1655847730)
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
The 9th Annual Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival will be held on Saturday, October 5th,...
![3rd Annual Family Fish Day](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/95139c3ed2ffe93fb072ada639c879b8.jpg?v=1719233134)
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Join Brackenridge Park Conservancy for our annual Family Fishing Day. More than 600 channel catfish...
![The Big Brack Bash! 125th Park-Wide Community Celebration](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/a6580ff33383e1ffce363b0a44225d6b.jpg?v=1719233379)
This is the pinnacle event for Brackenridge Park’s 125th year! All of San Antonio is...
![Basura Bash River Cleaning](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/feed3cddbe49df329cf97a982d5c1e22.jpg?v=1719233793)
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Brackenridge Park Conservancy is partnering with River Aid San Antonio to host a community river...
![Polo in the Park](https://www.brackenridgepark.org/app/baseline/assets/images/8b6a9c51fe3a7fec0fa9f538a1c0cc97.png?v=1711040579)
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Get ready Polo in the Park. The day will be complete with a polo match...