· By Chamoy City Limits
Floating altar honoring Chili Queens returns to River Walk
Artist and food truck owner Ana Fernandez paid tribute to the Chili Queens with this floating altar. Courtesy Ana Fernandez.
Artist and food truck owner Ana Fernandez’s commissioned floating altar for Muertos Fest, a Día de los Muertos celebration that took place last weekend at La Villita, will float down the River Walk again from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight.
Fernandez, known for her visual art as much as for her food trucks Chamoy City Limits and the Institute of Chili, designed the first-of-its-kind floating altar to honor the Chili Queens, an iconic group of Mexican American women who would gather in Alamo Plaza to sell foods like enchiladas, frijoles and bowls of chili during the latter half of the 19th century well into the 1950s.
“When I was approached to submit an idea for a floating altar, the Chili Queens came to mind,” Fernandez explained in a post on the Muertos Fest website. “Besides being of personal significance to me, this floating altar also serves to mark the culinary and cultural achievements made by these women and once again honor their legacy in the City of San Antonio.”
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