SAN ANTONIO – Novices and aficionados from all over the country will be in San Antonio this weekend to celebrate cigar culture at the San Antonio Cigar Festival.
The inaugural festival was created two years ago by Sharon Lewis, a San Antonio woman who wanted to highlight the emerging trend of female cigar smokers.
Cigar aficianados also Stephanie Mion and Fortuna Green. Mion and her husband are set to open the Library Cigar Lounge in Spring Branch this spring.
Meanwhile, Green dropped cigarette smoking a few years ago for cigars and typically smokes at least once a day.
“The other day I was smoking and someone says, ‘I’ve never seen a woman smoke before!’ and I was like, ‘There’s a lot out there, and we’re just not seen,‘” Green said. “But yes, there’s a lot more women smokers.”
Mion said she enjoys smoking with her husband and typically has one to two cigars per week.
“When I first went, I probably wasn’t seeing any women,” Mion said. “Then, as time went on — as the years went by — I would see more and more women. So, it’s definitely, you know, kind of turned a corner for women and cigar smoking.”
The San Antonio Cigar Festival began Thursday and runs through Sunday, with a big event happening Saturday afternoon at Beethoven Mannerchor, located at 422 Pereida.
For more information on the festival, click here.
