SMTX Mermaid Week began as an idea in July Moreno’s head in 2014, and when it is executed Sept. 6-18, it will include a ball, parade, festival and other events throughout San Marcos.

Moreno, a San Marcos native who grew up going to the Aquarena Springs Amusement Park that was closed in 1996 and has since become the ecological education-focused Meadows Center For Water and the Environment, said she hopes the event will stoke community interest in small businesses, the arts and river stewardship.

“When I think about where I want to work, play, live and spend my dollars, I want those things to be important,” Moreno said. “I want to invest in those things.”

Mermaid Week could become San Marcos’ signature event and a source of pride for the community, she said.

“When I say ‘Watermelon Thump’ or I say ‘Wurstfest,’ we know where I’m talking about,” she said, referring to iconic events in Luling and New Braunfels, respectively. “That’s a very big opportunity for San Marcos; to create something that’s identifiable for us.”

The event’s mascot, a mermaid, harks back to the San Marcos that Moreno grew up in, when weekends were spent visiting the Aquarena Springs Amusement Park with her family. Mermaids were the main attraction at the park and entranced Moreno as a little girl, she said.

In the midst of San Marcos’ rapid growth during the past decade, Moreno said she felt the need to bring the community together as a reminder of the shared interests—supporting local businesses, the arts and river stewardship—that connect many San Marcos residents.

Arts organizations and businesses alike are partnering on events throughout Mermaid Week, she said. One such event will feature the San Marcos Cinema Club and the San Marcos Artists Retention and Training Orchestra joining to show a silent French film from 1906 alongside a live score.

Moreno said Mermaid Society, the umbrella organization putting Mermaid Week together, is seeking to receive 501c(3) status by next year’s event. The designation will allow the group to better serve San Marcos, she said.

“What I hear most often is that we need this,” she said. “We’ve needed it for some time. Everyone sees the opportunity for it—to get on board, to do something with it. This time next year, [it will be] bigger, better, stronger for sure.”