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Your weekly guide to Houston: Five (plus) don't-miss events — bike & Ferrari festivals included

Having a rough post-Halloween morning? Do the walk of shame, kick the goat in your bed out of the room and drink up your I-got-so-drunk-I-don't-know-what-I-did antidote. Your treats and tricks may be a thing of the past, but Houston goes on with fall happenings.

On tap this week is a melange that includes an art party, luxurious vehicles, wheels and reels, healing food, bookish fun and winter truffles.

MFAH Mixed Media Designed by IKEA

While on any given day the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is a calm, cultured and sophisticated milieu in which to imbibe the human creative potential, it's nice to know that museum officials aren't so stuffy that they can't appreciate a rowdy carouse of sorts. The MFAH Mixed Media Designed by IKEA has now become a signature event that breathes street cred into the award-winning architecture with bad ass DJs, a colorful ambiance designed by IKEA Houston and activities that nod to one of the exhibitions on view.

Who doesn't love an art party?

The skinny: Friday, 8 p.m.; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; tickets start at $15.

41st Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair

Take it from me: The only Jew-isms you need to know are oy, oy vey and oy vey ismier to fully immerse yourself in this two-week-plus festival of Jewish arts and letters. Literary notables such as Peter Sagal and Letty Cottin add to a melange of lectures, concerts and film screenings that delve on topics that anyone, regardless of their background, can relate to well. Amid the countless events, jot down the Omer Avital Quintet concert, which is helmed by a bass player of Moroccan and Yemenite descent whose music is as original as his provenance.

The skinny: Saturday through Nov. 18; Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center and various locations; ticket prices vary by event.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Aurora Picture Show host Bike-In Video Festival "Wheels to Reels"

Screw drive-ins and try a different type of transportation-cum-movie gathering, particularly as the temperate temps are finally friendly for leisurely cycling without ending up sweating like a pig roasting on a bonfire. Aurora Picture Show and Buffalo Bayou Partnership buddy up for a free al fresco movie screening that lauds what's cool about bike culture. Scott Stulen of the Walker Art Center curates the series that includes anything from six-second Vine clips to short films.

The Bike-In begins at 6 p.m. with a group ride led by BikeHouston from different locations (map here).

No bike? Houston B-Cycle kiosks solve that problem. The ride ends at Sesquicentennial Park, where Stulen will show off his prowess at the turntables prior to sunset, when the films will screen.

The skinny: Saturday, 6 p.m.; Sesquicentennial Park; free event.

Eighth Annual Highland Village Ferrari Festival

Swoon over a collection of some 50 very expensive hot wheels when the Italian beauties take over Highland Village. Feel the sheer power and style of something only a few can afford while enjoying bites from Up Restaurant, Smith & Wollensky, Sprinkles Cupcakes and other Highland Village restaurants.

Behind this posh-esque event is jeweler Frank Valobra and businessman Paul Cox, who created the festival to raise awareness and funds for the Texas Children's Cancer Center.

The skinny: Sunday, 10 a.m.; Highland Village; free event.

"Food Fight Against Cancer" benefiting Halo House

Hippocrates knew what was up when he penned, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," though it took millennia for research to reach a similar conclusion and recognize that nutrition plays a critical role in healing the body.

Think of this event as a delicious throwdown in which chefs from Sparrow Bar + Cookshop, The Hippo Kitchen, Sorrel Urban Bistro, Radical Eats and The Pass & Provisions duke it out to concoct a tasty dish that also fights cancer. Proceeds from the fundraiser benefit Halo House, a nonprofit that offers affordable housing to cancer patients.

The skinny: Sunday, 7 p.m.; Sparrow Bar + Cookshop; tickets are $125.

Staff writer and resident gourmand Eric Sandler's pick: Moueix Wine Dinner

Eric says: "Unlike some Houston sommeliers whose over-the-top recommendations for every obscure vintage make it hard to tell whether any individual bottle is actually good, Philippe Restaurant + Lounge beverage director Vanessa Trevino Boyd's typically calm demeanor means that, when she gets excited about something, it's probably worth shouting about.

"When she sent me an email to tell me that Edouard Moueix of Chateau Petrus' visit to Houston is a 'pretty big deal,' I understood that to mean that the guy is a legend in the wine world — to whom Vanessa would give him a key to the city if she could. While she isn't pouring any of the ultra-expensive Petrus at the dinner, the food and wine options more than justify the ticket. Can you say duck en croute 'pot pie' with some of the first winter truffles? I can."

The skinny: Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m.; Philippe Restaurant + Lounge; tariff is $155.

MFAH Mixed Media Designed by IKEA has become a signature event with bad ass DJs and a colorful ambiance designed by IKEA Houston.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”