It's Super Bowl party time and one of the busiest areas will be the Washington Avenue corridor — specifically Edwards Street in the Sawyer Yards Arts District, where many of the week's hottest parties will take place.
Club Nomadic will make its debut Thursday night with the EA Sports Bowl and a concert featuring Sam Hunt and The Chainsmokers. At the same venue on Friday night, Bruno Mars and DJ Khaled will be the headliners, courtesy of Pepsico's new LIFEWTR brand. And on Saturday night, Taylor Swift will shake it off at the AT&T DirecTV Super Saturday party. Each night is expected to draw upwards of 9,000 partygoers to the 62,500-square-foot multi-level nightclub that has been constructed especially for Super Bowl LI festivities.
On Thursday night, The Big Texas Party, hosted by CultureMap, ESPN Radio and SB Nation, will draw a large crowd to Silver Street Studios almost directly across the street from Club Nomadic.
Other parties in the area include Leather & Laces, on Friday and Saturday night at Hughes Manor, and ESPN The Party, which is taking over a large warehouse on Oliver Street for its big Friday night event.
With so many top-notch parties expected in the area, traffic is expected to be a challenge. Already, electronic message boards have gone up telling drivers to expect delays. Officers and flaggers will be on hand to direct vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the hours leading up to and after each event.
During the three nights, Edwards Street, between Sawyer and Silver, will be closed to through traffic from 4 pm to 4 am. “No Parking” signs will be posted from Spring Street to Center Street and Sawyer to Washington Avenue. Parking on area streets is highly discouraged and towing will be heavily enforced.
However, organizers of Club Nomadic and The Big Texas Party have come up with a plan to make access to their events as painless as possible. Here's the best way to access parties at these two locations:
How to get to Club Nomadic
Club Nomadic officials stress there will be NO PARKING at the site and are encouraging those with tickets to events any of the three nights to park at the 1600 Smith Street Garage in downtown Houston, which can accommodate 2,500 vehicles. A free shuttle will be available to ferry ticketholders to Silver and Edwards streets, a block from Club Nomadic, on a regular basis throughout the evening.
After the concert ends, shuttles will depart from Silver Street, between Edwards and Dart streets, to return guests to their vehicles at the the 1600 Smith Garage.
Officials are also strongly encouraging guests to use Uber or taxi services to the events. Drop-off will be at Silver Street between Bingham and Winter Streets. After the event ends, Uber pick-up will occur directly in front of the venue on Edwards Street, while all other pick-ups will be directed to Silver Street, between Bingham and Winter streets.
How to get to The Big Texas Party
Although there will be valet parking at The Big Texas Party on Thursday night, officials are strongly urging guests to use ride-sharing services to get to the event at Silver Street Studios. Pick-up and drop-off locations for Uber and taxi services will be within the perimeter near Silver Street Studios at 2000 Edwards Street.
Valet parking will be available for guests at The Big Texas Party (it's actually the only option if you drive). To help the process run smoothly, ticketholders need to print out the Fast Track Access Pass that will be emailed with their tickets and place the pass on the dashboard of their vehicle. An officer at Bingham and Silver streets, just west of Silver Street Studios, will allow attendees to proceed to the valet parking station inside the gates. Guests MUST ENTER through the checkpoint at Silver and Bingham streets. Edwards Street will be closed.
Once there, expect a good time with lots of barbecue from 10 top pitmasters, bourbon, beer, and other spirits, along with a performance by Texas country singer Bart Crow and celeb spottings — a ton of big-name football players are on the RSVP list.
Oh, and we are not selling tickets at the door. You must purchase your ticket online by 5 pm on Thursday.
The Big Texas Party hosts are former Cowboys and Oilers stars.
