{"product_id":"estatefreshaustincom-3537","title":"Austin Aqua Festival 1963,1964, 1957 Regatta Trophy","description":"Austin Aqua Festival 1963,1964, 1957 Regatta Trophy. Selling all three with\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;provenance. These two Aqua fest Trophies will be the highlight of any Austin\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Aqua Fest Collection. They are rare, one of a kind, the type of holy grail\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;collectibles that you don't even consider the existence of until you encounter\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;it. I'm including the 1957 trophy because it provides interesting provenance to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the two aqua fest trophies. They are all from the same estate and were won by\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the Same man. I'm including a screenshot of his obituary. He was 40 when he won\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the 1957 trophy, 46 for the '63, and 47 for the '64. Provenance is not something\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;usually considered with these types of collectibles, but it is interesting in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;this case. I'm selling the lot for one price. If you're in Austin which the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;future owner most likely will be, I've met locally to sell earlier skipper pins\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and other rare Austin Memorabilia.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The Austin Aqua Festival was created in 1962 to promote Austin and the Texas\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Highland Lakes as a top vacation area and to boost the local economy in what was\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;normally a slow period. The first Aqua Fest occurred Aug. 3-12, 1962. Art\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Linkletter was the headliner for the event.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The festival offered many water related events such as a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;150-mile canoe race, fishing contests, a sailingregatta and an illuminated night\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;time parade on the lake. There were many land based events also including the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Miss Austin Aqua Beauty contest, a twilight land parade, a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;daytime military parade,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;a rodeo, golf tournament, concerts, dances and fireworks.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Patrons of the fest could purchase a book of discount tickets to get into the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;various venues. The tickets were called Skipper Script. The next year, the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;script gave way to the Skipper Pin, which was purchased and pinned on the goers\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;clothing, letting the workers know that the wearer was eligible for discounts on\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;tickets.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The central location for many of the events was \"Festival Beach,\" a small park\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;on Town Lake between the city-owned power plant and a residential neighborhood.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The city had originally created Town Lake as a cooling pond for the power plant.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1964, the festival added one of its most popular and controversial\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;events, drag boat racing on Town Lake. It also added a water\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;skiing championship, kite flying championship and an Austin Grand Prix - sports\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;car racing on city streets.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The 1966 Aqua Fest started out with the world premiere of Batman, with Adam\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;West and other actors from the movie in attendance. 1966 also saw the start of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the \"Battle of the Bands\", in which unknown rock and roll bands were judged for\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;awards and recognition. Battle of the Bands would become the festival's top\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;draw. The United States Air Force air demonstration squadron,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the Thunderbirds first performed at the Fest the same year.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;By 1968, an estimated crowd of 150,000 watched the night lighted water parade,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;which had been renamed to Rio Noche parade in 1964. The crowds were starting to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;overwhelm Festival Beach causing traffic congestion, parking problems and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;security concerns for the residents plus the noise of the events, especially the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;drag boats. However, the mostly Hispanic community had very little political\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;clout to get anything changed.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Theme nightsEdit\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Theme nights began in 1969. Various nights of the festival would highlight\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;different cultures of Texas. This first year there was\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Western, German, Czech and Jazz and Rhythm and Blues nights. Throughout the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;years the theme nights varied as new ones were tried and unpopular ones not\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;repeated. These included Mexican, Black Heritage, Italian, American and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;International nights. Toward the end of the festival's life, the theme nights\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;had settled to multiple nights with Western and Mexican themes.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Aero-FestEdit\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Also in 1969, Bergstrom Air Force Base, on the southeast edge of Austin, began\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;an open house in conjunction with Aqua Fest and titled it Aero-Fest. In addition\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to the Thunderbirds performing, the gathering showed off many\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;military airplanes and other hardware. A crowd favorite was a C-5 Galaxy, which\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;visitors would walk through to get to the main display area. Aero-Fest was an\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;instant success and in just two years it was drawing 80,000 people to the base.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Aero-Fest ceased when the base closed in 1993.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1970–1979Edit\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The new decade saw Aqua Fest's continued growth with the addition of more new\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;events such as a photography contest and motocross in 1971 and the Pet Parade in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1972. But the growth of the event brought confrontation with the neighborhoods\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;surrounding Festival Beach. Complaints had gone unheeded and people finally took\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to the streets in protest. The anti-Fest coalition was led by Paul Hernandez and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;a group calling itself the \"Brown Berets.\" Protesters were arrested and they in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;turn sued the City of Austin and Aqua Fest. By the end of the decade, the drag\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;boat races were gone from Town Lake and pressure was on to find a new location\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to hold other Aqua Fest events.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1980–1989Edit\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Due to continued protest and growing crowds, Aqua Fest was moved from Festival\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Beach to Auditorium Shores, a larger park along Town Lake about a mile to the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;west of Festival Beach. This larger area meant the festival could now have\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;multiple stages for entertainment. The festival organizers signed up corporate\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;sponsors and local radio stations to co-sponsor the entertainment and began\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;booking national acts.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The City of Austin, which had subsidized Aqua Fest in its early years, now\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;believed the Fest was self-sufficient and withdrew its financial support. The\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;city began charging the festival for use of Auditorium Shores.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1985, attendance at Aqua Fest peaked at 252,000. More criticism came at the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;festival for lack of parking, excessive noise and alcohol abuse issues. This\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;time the rebuke was from residents of the Bouldin Creek neighborhood just south\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;of Auditorium Shores. The opponents of the festival were able to force a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;non-binding referendum to move Aqua Fest to Lake Walter E. Long in far east\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Austin. The measure passed but promised corporate support to build a new\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;facility went away as Texas entered an oil bust in the middle of the decade.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Aqua Fest stayed at Auditorium Shores.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1990–1998Edit\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;With its multiple stages for entertainment, Aqua Fest changed from a civic event\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to a live music event. The organizers began to book bigger and bigger acts, even\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;paying premiums to get popular acts such as Dolly Parton in 1992. This drove\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;ticket prices up and attendance down. By 1993, the festival only drew 44,000\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;people and as a result lost $722,000. The festival organization exhausted its\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;cash reserves and asked its largest creditor, the City of Austin, for permission\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to pay off its debt in annual installments.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1994, Aqua Fest returned to its roots with more local acts and an all\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;volunteer staff and in 1995 brought back the popular theme nights. They also\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;tried drag boat races again, this time at Lake Walter E. Long, but the races\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;drew little interest. It was all too little, too late and the Austin Aqua\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Festival folded in 1998.","brand":"sale - www.estatefreshaustin.com Estate Fresh Austin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49057913438424,"sku":"4417127667_57CB","price":1510.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/6284\/7960\/files\/austin-aqua-festival-19631964-1957-regatta-trophyestate-fresh-austin-349944.png?v=1757916697","url":"https:\/\/estatefreshaustin.com\/ja\/products\/estatefreshaustincom-3537","provider":"Estate Fresh Austin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}