Piñata Fest to take place this Saturday

This Saturday, as part of the East Austin Studio Tour, Austin’s first-ever Piñata Fest will be held. The event will take place at Edward Rendon Sr. Park from noon until 4 p.m., and it will center on a city-commissioned art instillation by David Goujon consisting of three large burros. The piece is a tribute to the Jumpolin piñata store that was demolished earlier this year and has become a symbol of east side gentrification. During the fest, event organizers will rig up piñatas for the crowd to break, and they say they have been crowd-funding “as many piñatas as possible from the owners of Jumpolin and other local piñateros.” A press release about the event explains, “In our view, Austin’s growth is a reality; but for Austin’s growth story to be considered a success, we believe the city must respect its past as much as it anticipates its future. The Las Piñatas art installation is designed to preserve the memory of Jumpolin so that Austinites, both old and new, will discover a shared responsibility in shaping the city’s expansion.”