In the 1940's and 1950's, an incredible event took place at the University of Houston. Students, campus organizations and community business ventures gathered their expertise and talents to build an event that attracted as many as 100,000 people to the UH campus. It attracted celebrities and visitors from all over the nation to the largest college event in the country. In 1958, Life magazine even proclaimed the event "The Greatest College Show on Earth". For several reasons, some of which are still buried deep within the history books, Frontier Fiesta was discontinued in 1959. Some cite the Universityžs new administrationžs concerns with students managing the growing budget of the event and missing too much class as the reason why the festival disappeared while others claim it was the "Aggie" that was put in charge of the University which caused its demise. Whatever the reasons Frontier Fiesta slipped off the University of Houston campus.

Thirty-three years and several UH generations later a group of University and Frontier Fiesta alumni joined an energetic group of student leaders to resurrect the long gone tradition. This group, joined with the University of Houston's Athletic Department to bring Fiesta back to the campus where it had begun.

In the thirty-three year lapse since the last Fiesta was held, the face of the University has changed as has the face of Houston itself. The festival that had once drawn 100,000 and had very little competition for its audience now had several veteran competitors such as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Houston International Festival. In order to compete, a Texas-style Cook-Off was added to Frontier Fiesta's lineup but the basic makeup of the event remained the same.

Attendance has grown tremendously each year since Fiesta's return to campus.

Now, forty years after the festival was discontinued and eight years since its revival in 1992, the University of Houston invites the community to join in the celebration once again. Frontier Fiesta celebrates everything that makes the University of Houston important to the Houston community today - the talent and leadership ability of its students, the opportunity to educate Houston's future leaders, and scholarship opportunities for deserving students.

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Last Updated on 3/13/01