weekend event planner

Here are the top 11 things to do in Houston this weekend

The Art Car Parade and all its festivities get rolling this weekend.

Photo by Morris Malakoff

Artsy-auto-loving Houstonians are prepping for the 31st Annual Houston Art Car Parade Weekend, where, from Thursday through Sunday, the streets of H-Town will be flooded with outrageous, occasionally goofy-looking vehicles. There will be the pre-parade, car convoy known as the Main Street Drag on Thursday morning, followed by the Legendary Art Car Ball on Friday night. The official parade rolls along Allen Parkway and into downtown Houston on Saturday morning. Aside from the automotive madness, Houston has plenty to offer this weekend.

Thursday, April 12

Dumpstaphunk brings the funk
It’s time to get funky with the bi-weekly, “Party on the Plaza” free concert series. The latest headlining band is New Orleans band Dumpstaphunk, a band which includes Ivan Neville and his cousin Ian on guitar — men who are, of course, relatives of the legendary Neville Brothers. (Aaron is Ivan’s dad.) Along with the free show, there will be food, craft-beer specials, games, and other outdoor fun. But, most importantly, this will be an opportunity for Houstonians to convene in one place – and get their funk on. The show starts at 6:45 pm.

Japan Festival launches with free outdoor concert
Now in its 25th year, Japan Festival Houston is all about celebrating Japan and its rich, cultural glory with traditional and contemporary, musical performance, dance, martial arts, Japanese cuisine, and other artful stuff. This year, the fest will kick off with a live performance by world-renowned, Japanese drumming troupe Aska-Gumi. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, the festival will be in full swing over at Hermann Park’s Jones Reflection Pool, complete with Japanese music, dance, and food. The show starts at 8 pm.

Dig into some fun and twisted Dark Matter
Don Nigro is an Ohio playwright who has written more than 400 plays and lists Shakespeare, Beckett, the King James Bible, and the Marx Brothers as some of his many influences. So, it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that his work can get pretty twisted sometimes. This weekend, Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company at Spring Street Studios will do a collection of his dark, quirky pieces, titled Dark Matter. It’s actually a selection of ten short plays from Nigro’s 2000 compilation Tales from the Red Rose Inn and Other Plays. The show starts at 8 pm. Thursday through Saturday.

Friday, April 13

Outdoor jams at Historic Market Square Park
If you can't get enough outdoor, live music, check out the bi-monthly, concert series called the Backyard Jams Concert Series, and smacking it in the middle of Historic Market Square Park. For its inaugural show, the District snapped up indie-pop songstress Dollie Barnes and indie-rock band Vodi to perform. Blankets, lawn chairs and picnics are welcome, while food, beer, and wine will be available for purchase at Niko Niko’s. The show starts at 7 pm.

Get jazzy with the Brad Mehldau Trio
For the first time ever, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau will be coming to Houston. Mehldau and the rest of his Brad Mehldau Trio — Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums — has found a perfect place to make their H-Town debut: University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall, as part of Da Camera’s 2017-18 jazz series. You gotta give it up to the jazz and chamber music-loving folk at Da Camera for managing to get Mehldau on one of our stages. The show starts at 8 pm.

Saturday, April 14

TAO: Drum Heart brings the thunder to Jones Hall
The Society of the Performing Arts (SPA) presents an evening of drumming from internationally acclaimed percussion artists DRUM TAO. Titled TAO: Drum Heart, this show will feature highly physical, large-scale drumming with costumes, choreography, and visuals. But, mostly, this will be a chance for TAO to wow Houston audiences with their thoroughly modern take on Japanese drumming. Expect these guys to come with the thunder. The show starts at 7:30 pm.

Ron White gets silly at Smart Financial Centre
Be honest: back when Ron White used to tour with Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, and Bill Engvall as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, weren’t you ever like, “What is this dude doing with these yokels?” Apart from the Texas accent, he doesn’t play up the whole stereotypically redneck aesthetic his former tourmates still traffic in. White has always been more of curmudgeonly, silver-haired storyteller, hitting the stage with a cigar, a bottle of Scotch ready to pour, and regaling folk with some grown-man anecdotes. BTW, they also call him “Tater Salad.” The show starts at 8 pm.

Sunday, April 15

Discovery Green turns 10
For a decade now, Discovery Green has been the downtown location that keeps on giving. Virtually every week there is something fun happening at that 12-acre park. This weekend, Discovery Green will throw itself a birthday celebration. All throughout the day, there will be performances from such artists as Ballet Folklorico, Cirque la Vie, and Los Texmaniacs. There will also be interactive inflatable games, kayaking demonstrations, garden tours, goat yoga, hula hooping – man, it’s gonna be crazy down there. The celebration starts at noon.

Meat up at the 6th annual Houston Barbecue Festival
Let’s be honest with ourselves here: we all love barbecue. Whether it’s chicken, ribs, a big slab of brisket — if it’s on the grill and slathered in sauce, we’re gonna eat it. There will be a whole lot of grilling going on at this year’s Houston Barbecue Festival, now in its sixth year. Four of the state’s top ten barbecue spots will be in attendance, including Houston’s own Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue and CorkScrew BBQ, along with a large assortment of local barbecue places. The festival starts at 1 pm.

Celebrate 20 years at Paulie's Restaurant
For two decades now, Paulie’s Restaurant — and its adjoining wine bar, Camerata at Paulie’s — has been a sweet spot in the Montrose area for authentic Italian cuisine. To celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, the eatery will have an epic bash, complete with food trucks, music from local turntable star DJ Sun, and drink specials over at Camerata. But Paulie’s has also dropped a commemorative cookbook, titled Paulie's: Classic Italian Cooking in the Heart of Houston's Montrose District, which you can buy at the party. The bash starts at 4 pm.

event-planner

Weekend Event Planner

These are the top 15 things to do in Houston this weekend

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Water for Elephants.

Now that the arctic blast has finished with us, several events that were cancelled last weekend – Gallery Sonja Roesch’s 35th anniversary show, a dual opening at Foltz Fine Art, Asia Society Texas’s Kawaii Market – have been rescheduled for this weekend.

As for the scheduled events this weekend, there’s an “autoboative” show, a screening of a sci-fi classic with live musical accompaniment, an all-star show for autograph collectors, a fashion competition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the return of Houston's noisiest music festival.

Thursday, January 29

Houston Autoboative Show
It’s the 42nd Houston Auto Show at NRG Park this weekend, which is also combined (for its third year) with the Houston Boat Show. The event showcases a diverse array of vehicles, from electric cars to trucks and sedans. It also offers a fantastic opportunity to get up close and personal with the hottest models on the market and learn from brand experts about each vehicle/vessel without the pressure of being sold to. 11 am (10 am Saturday and Sunday).

Asia Society Texas presents Offside
Asia Society Texas will kick off the World Cup with Offside, a 2006 dramedy from Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. (It’s also part of this year’s Festival of Films from Iran.) Set during a World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, the film follows a group of young women who attempt to circumvent a ban on women attending sporting events by disguising themselves as men to enter the stadium and watch the game, leading to a series of increasingly absurd situations. 7 pm.

Performing Arts Houston presents Blade Runner Live
Ridley Scott’s stylish, 1982 noir classic Blade Runner (aka the 2007 Final Cut) will screen while Vangelis’ synthesizer-led cult score is performed live by The Avex Ensemble. In this futuristic hriller, detective Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) must continue as Replicant Hunter following the escape of four Replicants (including main baddie Rutger Hauer – RIP) from colonies who’ve returned to earth. His mission, however, is complicated when he falls for Rachel (Sean Young), a Replicant based at the Tyrell Corporation. 7:30 pm.

Friday, January 30

TRISTAR Houston Collectors Show
For three days, a lot of stars will be flocking to the NRG Arena in order to give Houstonians their signature. Along with lots of sports memorabilia for sale, the 40th Annual TRISTAR Houston Collectors Show will have tons of celebs signing autographs. Just on Saturday alone, we’ll get Karate Kid/Cobra Kai castmates Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Martin Kove; the cast of The Sandlot, Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Dennis Rodman, former Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, former Rockets player Elvin Hayes, and Houston’s own Randy Quaid. 2 pm (10 am Saturday and Sunday).

The Hobby Center presents Houston Is Inspired - [Jk]creativ: Our Road Home
Multidisciplinary company [Jk]creativ gives us Our Road Home, an interactive rhythmic production created and directed by native Houston artist Jakari Sherman. Through layered rhythmic storytelling - spoken, rapped, preached, and sung - the work honors the communal labor and ingenuity that built spaces of freedom across time. Inspired by the legacy of Houston’s Freedmen’s Town, the work asks: Once freedom is gained, how do we live in it, preserve it, and pass it on when the pull of bondage lingers near?

MFAH and HCC present Fashion Fusion X
Frida Kahlo meets contemporary couture in Fashion Fusion, the 10th edition of the annual fashion competition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Open to aspiring designers in the Fashion Design program at Houston City College, Fusion challenges students to create original garments in response to art on display in the museum’s galleries. This year, the aspiring designers will showcase garments addressing the exhibition, "Frida: The Making of an Icon." 7 pm.

Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Water for Elephants
After losing what matters most, a young man jumps a moving train, unsure of where the road will take him. He finds a new home with the remarkable crew of a traveling circus, and a life - and love - beyond his wildest dreams. Seen through the eyes of his older self, his adventure becomes a poignant reminder that if you choose the ride, life can begin again at any age. 7:30 pm (2 and 7:30 pm Saturday; 1:30 and 7 pm Sunday).

Saturday, January 31

The List One Year Anniversary
East End creative space The List will be celebrating its first anniversary with a bevy of weekend events, with two going down on Saturday. The day starts off with the return of the Vinyl & Furniture Garden Market, curated by local DJ vet Malcolm Bravo, over at the List Cafe. Bravo and other DJs will be spinning tunes as stores and vendors will be open for business. Later that evening, DJ/TikToker Sheri Koko will be working the turntables, along with some special-guest pals, at Room808. 11 am and 9 pm.

Burger Bodega present For the Culture
Chef and restaurateur Abbas Dhanani is taking a break from burgers to pay homage to his Pakistani heritage by partnering with the PX Project for a one-day only pop-up. Working with his mother and his aunt, the four-item menu showcases some favorite childhood dishes, including Nihari, slow-braised, spiced beef stew with naan; Hina Khala's Chicken Biryani, fragrant basmati rice layered with boneless chicken; the Chicken Sixty-Five Po' Boy; and a mango lassi sundae with a cardamom snickerdoodle cookie.

$\u200bBroadway at the Hobby Center presents Water for Elephants$

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Water for Elephants.

Seven Sisters presents Ping Zheng: Soft Interference opening reception
Soft Interference presents a new series of oil-stick works on paper by Ping Zheng, following her 2024 exhibition Nature’s Canopy at Seven Sisters. In these works, Zheng continues her investigation of landscape as a site of perception and interiority. Through repeated mark-making and shifting chromatic fields, she constructs images that hover between observed nature and remembered experience. Through Saturday, February 28. 2 pm.

MGEntertainment presents The 5th Annual Harsh Noise Houston
Believe it or not, there’s a heavy experimental-music scene here in H-Town. This weekend, you have the opportunity to see a lot of the scene’s most valuable players over at Super Happy Fun Land, where the fifth annual Harsh Noise Houston fest will be going down. 13 acts, representing some of the best experimental music, performance art, and noise that Texas has to offer, will be performing, including HauntedPixel, Ether Research, Astrogenic Hallucinating, and Psychosomatica’s sister project Del Norte. 7 pm.

Rice Cinema presents American Sons
Film producer and Rice alum Elizabeth Avellán presents American Sons, a documentary using first-hand footage captured by fallen Marine Cpl. Jorge “JV” Villarreal, a native of San Antonio. The film focuses on a brotherhood of U.S. Marines a decade after their Afghanistan deployment, focusing on their struggle with combat trauma, PTSD, and reintegration, especially after losing their friend Villarreal. Avellan and director Andrew James Gonzales will be around for a post-screening Q&A. 7 pm.

Sunday, February 1

ReelAbilities Houston presents ReelArt For All
The ReelAbilities Houston Film & Arts Festival’s ReelArt For All program will feature art and interactive activities, brunchy bites, and more. Guests can see the world through the eyes of artists from Celebration Company, an entrepreneurial employment program for adults with disabilities, and explore the works of featured artist Emmett Kyoshi Wilson. A Chicago-based artist living with Down syndrome, Wilson has created over 150 works, exhibited in five galleries, and even painted the American Flag for the U.S. Embassy in Croatia. 10:30 am.

Shepherd School of Music presents Inside Look: Modern American Operas
The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University will present a deconstructed look at two full-length American comic operas: Karim Al-Zand’s 50th anniversary commission A Joint Interest and William Bolcom’s Lucrezia. Aleko Endowed Artist Paul Curran guides audiences through these mischievous and delightfully theatrical worlds. Shepherd School Chamber Players will accompany both contemporary operas from the pit, led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Bolcom's Lucrezia contains adult content and is not suitable for all audiences. 2 pm.

Cultural Center Our Texas presents Popovich Comedy Pet Theater
The World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater is a family-oriented blend of the unique comedy and juggling skills of Gregory Popovich, and the talents of his furry costars. There are more than 30 pets (dogs, cats, horses, birds, etc.) in the show, and each one has been rescued from animal shelters and given a new leash on life. Bad pun aside, this show will be a joy for viewers of all ages. 4 pm.

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