The original Frontier Fiesta was only presented in 1940 and 1941 and conceived by Dr. Kemmerer, who later became president. The monies raised at the first Fiesta, $2,000, contributed to the construction of a campus recreation building. During World War II Frontier Fiesta took a hiatus, but resumed with vigor in 1946. Frontier Fiesta was held in “Fiesta City,” which was built each year by students. The buildings each housed different productions. Concessions and contests, including a beard growing contest, were also part of the events.

During its heyday Frontier Fiesta would attract as many as 100,000 people to the UH campus including celebrities and visitors from all over the nation. The 1955 Fiesta signed over a check for $106,000 to help pay for the University’s swimming pool. By the early 1950s Frontier Fiesta had been proclaimed as the “Greatest College Show on Earth.”

For a variety of reasons, probably including students missing classes and concerns about budget management, Frontier Fiesta was discontinued after 1959. Although briefly replaced in 1961 by Cougar Capers, it would be 33 years before Frontier Fiesta would return to the University of Houston. In 1992 a group of alumni joined an energetic group of student leaders to resurrect the long-gone tradition. This group along with the University of Houston's Athletic Department brought Fiesta back to the campus where it had begun. 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.