Annual SPLASH Festival Returns To San Marcos

San Marcos, TX.  — For two weeks in September, San Marcos will celebrate its fourth annual Mermaid SPLASH Festival — a citywide, multifaceted schedule of activities that honors the city’s arts, culture, heritage, and its most precious natural asset, the San Marcos River.

In anticipation of the Festival, thousands of wannabe “mer-folks” prepare to transform themselves from mere mortals into something far more magical and powerful. Aquatic fabrics, fishtails, shell-tossed hair, fantastical headgear, and painted bodies will soon take over the streets of San Marcos. It’s a creative spectacle that is both glamorous and ethereal.

The folks behind the SPLASH festival, the Mermaid Society of Texas, are swimming in excitement over what they have created — the way it’s been embraced by San Marcans, and how it has attracted visitors from around the state and beyond. What could be more fun than a two-week Mermaid Party?

Take a closer look though and there’s more here than first meets the eye. On the surface and to outsiders, it may appear this mermaid-thing is just an excuse for an annual babe-bash and tourism attraction, but a quick dive into the Mermaid Society’s website and one begins to see it’s much, much deeper. Visitors will find a vision, mission and ambitious manifesto revealing the organization’s ideas of collaboration, community, inclusivity, connection, co-creation, and shared wellbeing.

The Mermaid Society’s founder, July Moreno, sums up her reasons for creating the organization in 2016, “As a native of San Marcos, I returned after a few years away and saw a community that was growing so fast but slowly losing its identity. Newcomers had no idea of our rich history, and outsiders saw us primarily as a drive-through town.”

Those familiar with the once-popular San Marcos tourist attraction, Aquarena Springs, will recall that aquamaids, some with mermaid tails, and a swimming pig were a big part of the little town’s allure. All of that ended in the 1990s, but today the Mermaid Society has built upon that historical attraction and elevated the freshwater mermaid to a symbol of guardianship over the river and springs. 

“The creation of the Mermaid Society is, in my mind, an emerging of a new society in San Marcos — a bridging of our past, present, and future by San Marcans who champion the preservation of the things that make this place unique. The symbolism of the mermaid is our community identity,” continues Ms. Moreno.

The Mermaid Society spreads its message at the annual SPLASH Festival, where the name itself is an acronym for the values being promoted:  Stewardship, Preservation, Local, Arts, Sustainability and Heritage — a celebration of all things San Marcos. While it’s true the SPLASH Festival is a city-wide party with events like the Mer-tini Shakedown Competition, Mermaid Society Art Ball, Downtown Mermaid Promenade and Aqua Faire, there is a more enduring and aspirational side to this mermaid movement.

The Arts, Culture and Preservation and River Guardianship symposia are more serious but well-attended SPLASH events. They bring together diverse individuals — from students to seniors to CEOs — to cross-pollinate ideas, collaborate on existing projects, and strengthen the community through engagement. Beyond the annual festival events, the Mermaid Society delivers year-round youth education programs, adult ‘edutainment’ events, and river cleanups. Their goal is to reach and engage with people and segments of the city not normally drawn to environmental activities.

The mermaid has clearly captured the people’s imagination in this university town with a river running through it. The Mermaid Society is helping expand community participation in activities that protect and preserve what makes San Marcos a special place. Ten, seven-foot-tall, artist-embellished mermaid statues stand guard around the city as very public expressions of a shared psyche. These larger than life figures symbolize the powerful connection of humans to water, art, and place.

In addition, a “live” mermaid spreads the Mermaid Society’s environmental commitment to river guardianship. Mermaid Maya, embodied by Angela Zumwalt, director of Mermaid Programming for the Society, visits schools and river places throughout the year engaging the natural curiosity and enthusiasm of children for art, nature and the world around them.

Ms. Zumwalt shares her mission, “I feel incredibly honored to be a part of something that fosters a connection within the community, supporting local artists and businesses, and working to preserve the beauty and rich life of the San Marcos River and its springs. It is profoundly rewarding to teach children to revere the river and feel a sense of stewardship toward it.”

The Mermaid Society is making it clear that Getting Your Mermaid On is not just an annual rally cry for a big party. It’s a way to live and care for San Marcos. It is a way to build community through collaboration and connection, and a way to honor what has gone before.

It is a celebration of artistic expression and cultural differences. It is about loving local waters and making river guardians of children so the springs flow forever. It is for everyone who lives, works and walks on the streets of San Marcos. It is the reason people all come together once a year to celebrate out loud — and then look within for their inner mermaid and become a guardian of the place—all year long.

The Mermaid Society was founded in 2016 to be the catalyst for a vibrant and prosperous community united around the empowering symbol of the mermaid to foster river guardianship and celebrate the arts, culture, and heritage of San Marcos.

Submitted by the Mermaid Society of San Marcos.