Here Comes Spelunker Claus

Texas caverns' underground concerts take holiday visitors caroling in the caves

Austin Gilliam San Antonio Natural Bridge Caverns

Performers like Austin Gilliam have been enjoying this unique concert venue.

Photo courtesy of Natural Bridge Caverns

An underground Christmas celebration sure sounds edgy and cool, but little could prepare visitors for this literally underground venue. Natural Bridge Caverns, just on the northeast edge of San Antonio, is hosting its 10th Christmas at the Caverns "season of celebration," but this one adds even more shimmer to these dark depths.

Natural Bridge's "Caroling in the Caverns" opportunities and new Holiday Live Underground Concert series bring the public up close with professional singers and musicians for resonant performances in the stunning underground space. This year, the cavern's festivities are extended five days longer than usual, lasting December 2-30.

The live concerts will take place in a newly developed space dubbed by a release "the deepest underground event venue in Texas."

Photos highlight the unique offering, highlighting performers bathed in light from nowhere amid the quasi-cathedral natural environment. Considering the acoustics, it's almost weird that we don't have more concerts in caves.

"Our 'Live Underground' concerts have been so popular, when we were looking for a way to celebrate our 10th anniversary, it seemed like the perfect way to extend the festivities," said President of Natural Bridge Caverns Brad Wuest in the release.

There are five artists scheduled to play during the holiday series:

Zack Walther Band on December 21
Scotty Alexander on December 26
Matt Castillo on December 28
Payton Howie on December 29
Clay Hollis on December 30

Both below and above ground, classic traditions are returning, starting on December 2: a trail of lights that stretches a third of a mile (with some new additions), a 30-foot Christmas tree, a visit from "Spelunker Claus" and Mrs. Claus. More unusual, the 5,000-square-foot "Reindeer Roundup Maze" gives kids a festive mission.

It's not all just entertainment; in the spirit of the holidays and Christmas at the Caverns tradition, the venue will be collecting food and financial donations for the New Braunfels and San Antonio Food Bank. It will also donate a portion of ticket sales, adding to its previous cumulative donation of $125,000 and 1.25 million pounds of food.

While visitors are there, they might as well take some of the year-round tours that will still be running throughout the holiday festivities. A concert ticket also gets guests into all of the other holiday events, and there are multiple other ways to organize a visit.

Tickets for Underground Live Concerts are available at naturalbridgecaverns.com.

concerts live music holidays families kids

REVIVING THE ALAMO

Texas landmark the Alamo reclaims historic cannon from private ownership

Photo by Gower Brown/ Unsplash

A 90-pound cannon used in the Battle of the Alamo is returning to its San Antonio home.

It turns out the Alamo's original 1836 cannons are good for more than just defense — they also make a sturdy birdbath. After serving as a garden ornament for Samuel Maverick’s descendants, an authentic piece of San Antonio history is finally returning home to the revered mission.

According to an Alamo announcement, the swivel cannon weighs 90 pounds and is approximately three feet long. The relic was originally found in 1852 when Maverick built a home near the northwest corner of the battle’s site.

The lawyer and land baron was saved from death when he was urged by William Barret Travis to ride to the Texas Declaration of Independence convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos to send reinforcements. Returning to the Alamo’s grounds, he found a cache of cannons buried where the Hotel Gibbs sits today.

From there, the cannon wound up at the Maverick family’s Sunshine Ranch on the Northwest Side, where it was eventually incorporated into the garden DIY project. In 1955, the cannon was removed from the ranch, and the current location remained a mystery until the Alamo received a call from a Maverick relative in Corpus Christi.

Alamo cannon This Alamo artifact gives an idea of what the cannon will look like once restoration is complete.Photo courtesy of the Alamo.

“The relative graciously donated the cannon to the Alamo,” wrote a rep from the mission. “Alamo Senior Researcher and Historian Kolby Lanham and Head Conservator Pam Jary Rosser drove down the very next day to take this piece of history home to the Alamo.”

Although the artillery is mostly intact, it is missing its trunnions (the pivot-point protrusions on the sides of the barrel) and cascabel (the knob and neck assembly at the rear of historic muzzle-loading cannons). The parts were removed by the Mexican army to make the cannon inoperable.

Once preservation is complete, this cannon and the Alamo Collection’s other battle cannons will make their way to the upcoming Visitor Center and Museum, where they will be joined by rocker Phil Collins' collection of Alamo artifacts. The Alamo is in the midst of a $550 million preservation project, which includes conserving the Alamo Church, Long Barrack, and the mission’s original footprint. The museum is on track to debut in late 2027.

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