By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Downtown Del Rio once again took center stage this weekend as Del Rio was treated to the inaugural Pub Crawl through the city’s historic south business district.
The event focused on bringing the people of Del Rio together to make memories at the local nightspots and admire the historic scenery of the downtown district.
The event was hosted by the Del Rio Parks Foundation and Mesquite Creek Outfitters Del Rio, and was composed of open venues held all through South Main Street. Pepper Bernal, general manager of Mesquite Creek Outfitters Del Rio, said she and her business partner Roody Rodriguez have been wanting to start a pub crawl for over a year, and the opportunity came around when more business flourished in the area.
The event was made up vendors at the Mesquite Creek Outfitters Del Rio, Gorzugi’s at the Herald, the Pocket Park and the Kress Building. These locations included food trucks, musicians and fun activities including a corn hole competition and a raffle.
Although there are pub crawls in other cities, Bernal and Rodriguez waited for more establishments to open so they could start a community event in the downtown district. Rodriguez, event coordinator, said he got the inspiration for the local event from living in San Antonio. He said this event is a great opportunity for the younger crowds to visit places they’d never been before.
“Downtown is a place where everybody should love to go to in any city,” Rodriguez said. “(The Pub Crawl) is not just a Mesquite Creek thing, it’s a whole south town event.”
Bernal said she and Rodriguez wanted to acknowledge historic locations such as the Kress Building and Gorzugi’s at the Herald (the one-time location of the now defunct Del Rio News-Herald). Rodriguez said he made collectable cups people could obtain at each pub. He said each cup is a different color to represent the separate areas in downtown Del Rio. The theme of the Pub Crawl was “Oktoberfiesta,” which is represented from the logo on the cups.
Longtime Del Rioan Evan Hyten said he and his family have been regular customers at the downtown establishments. He said they heard of the pub crawl through a Facebook post and on the radio, and they hope to see it grow in the future.
“Hopefully it gets a lot bigger and a lot more people can show up, because it should be fun for the city,” Hyten said.
Rodriguez said he wants the pub crawl to open opportunities in Del Rio and bring people together. The festivities lasted until 9:30 p.m. with music performed by Angel Baena at Mesquite’s beer garden.
