CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo took the plunge into the Corpus Christi Bay on Thursday to kick-off the start of Buc Days.
The mayor being captured by "pirates" and dunked into the bay is a long standing tradition of Buc Days. The festival also signifies the beginning of Summer.
Coinciding with the mayor making the leap, the gates to the carnival opened for the first night. The carnival has it's typical main stays: the rides, the Shops at Treasure Island and of course the delicious food.
Residents of Corpus Christi, like Edna Trevino find a tradition they like to do each year at Buc Days. That's why she said the festival is important to the residents here.
“I really think it brings the best of Corpus Christi because a lot of people are looking forward for this," Trevino said. "A lot of schools, especially the CCISD (Corpus Christi Independent School District), they plan really big because all the kids want to participate on the parade."
“Everyone has their different traditions of things they want to do some really like coming to the parade, some come directly for the carnival. The nice thing this year we’re offering something for everyone," said Mark Avelar, Buccaneer Commissioner.
Avelar said there’s a handful of new attractions for the year number 86 of the festival and largest ever Buc Days. The carnival has a rare new ride called the Kraken. Avelar said it’s one of the newest rides in the country and this is the second festival it has debuted at. The Kraken is also included in the wristband where as some rides are not.
Avelar said there will be eight days of the rodeo this year compared to four days in the past. One other change, something extra included with your purchase to get into the carnival.
“We’ve added, your $10 gate admission gets you into the Museum of Science and History, also gets you to the Art Museum and you also get to check out the newly re-opened water garden,” Avelar said.
While there’s so many things to do during Buc Days it’s important to remember why it’s put on.
“We are giving more than $100,000 in college scholarships because of the efforts that we’re putting together. So that we can continue to provide education opportunities to some students who may not been able to go to college,” Avelar said.
Students will also be competing in the third year of the robotics rodeo on Saturday with nearly 100 teams competing.
Buc Days runs through May 12.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
