Art Cars Are Back

Houston's Art Car Festival & Parade revs up for 2024 with bigger and bolder masterpieces

Houston Art Car Parade and Festival 2023

Let's roll, Houston.

Photo by Morris Malakoff/Danitza Ladwig

It's nearly time to rev up (and decorate) those engines, Houston: The Orange Show’s 37th annual Houston Art Car Festival & Parade is promising a bigger and bolder return in 2024. The biggest celebration of art cars in the world is taking over Houston starting Thursday, April 11 through Sunday, April 14, with the big parade being held on Saturday, April 13.

Over 250 mobile masterpieces from across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will roll through the city, including nearly 100 entirely new creations, while engaging the public with a myriad of opportunities to share their artistry.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company founder and brewer Brock Wagner is stepping into the role of grand marshal for the upcoming parade. Wagner holds a deep appreciation for the parade, and Saint Arnold's Art Car IPA is an ode to the annual tradition.

"We’re so grateful to Brock and Saint Arnold for their unwavering support and given the longstanding partnership between The Orange Show and Saint Arnold, it’s only fitting for Brock to assume the distinguished role of grand marshal," The Orange Show for Visionary Art executive director Tommy Ralph Pace said in a statement.

Rolling in on one of his famed art cars during the festival is 2024 Orange Show Artist-in-Residence David Best. The California-based, internationally-acclaimed sculptor is widely known for his salvaged wood temples, which have been featured at high-profile events like Burning Man.

His newest work of art, the "Houston Temple," will be unveiled at the Art Car Ball on Friday, April 12 as one of several installations at the annual bash that's known for its wild costumes and lively atmosphere. A press release says the temple will begin construction in early April, spanning a grand 12x12x24 feet, and will be dedicated to Houston's "creative spirit." After its debut at the Art Car Festival, it will "become a space for individual and collective reflection," and then be burned in a public ceremony in December 2024.

Also launching at the 2024 festival is a new partnership between The Orange Show and Houston-area schools. Ten vehicles will be donated to local schools to build their own Art Cars that will be presented in the parade.

The 2024 recipients are:

Westbury High School
Red Elementary
Ortiz Middle School
Young Women's College Preparatory Academy
Milby High School
Bellaire High School
Tanglewood Middle School
Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center High School
Madison High School

More fan favorite events at the festival include the Easter Orange Art Car Hunt (Saturday, March 30), The Main Street Drag (Thursday, April 11), the Art Car Sneak Peek at Discovery Green (Thursday, April 11), and the Art Car Awards Ceremony (Sunday, April 14).

More information and a full schedule for the Art Car Festival & Parade can be found here.

art car festival cars festivals houston parades

howling for you

Houston's interdimensional art exhibit books 4 local acts for summer concerts

The four members of Swimwear Department hugging

Photo provided by Meow Wolf

Swimwear Department is heading to Meow Wolf

Things are heating up this summer at Meow Wolf as they host their first ever summer concert series. Four hometown bands will take the stage at the immersive art complex for a series of shows in June and July.

“Houston’s music scene has always been bold, genre-defying, and deeply original, so it felt natural to bring that same energy into our Radio Tave world,” said Aaron Johnson, general manager of Meow Wolf Houston. “This concert series is about celebrating the artists who define Texas' sound and give guests a new reason to experience Meow Wolf in a whole new way.”

Ever since Meow Wolf first opened during Halloween last year in Fifth Ward, the collection of artistic spaces has wowed, delighted, and sometimes confused audiences. Cowboix Hevvven, the venue's "dive bar" with possible links to extraterrestrials, was designed by fifth generation Texan Cole Wilson and features a jukebox of 30 original songs Wilson created in collaboration with other Texas artists. Radio Tave, Meow Wolf's name for the exhibit as a whole, has been a huge critical and popular hit for Meow Wolf, winning two Webby Awards last month.

It's also the perfect place to show off some of the more esoteric bands that make up the Houston sound. The odd four-piece rock band Swimwear Department burst onto the scene in 2023, winning over audiences with their songs about pools and malls as well as a series of stellar music videos shot around the city. Their potent mix of quirk and early-alternative music has made them one of the best novelty acts in Houston.

Meanwhile, The Mighty Orq and Mango Punch have been mainstays for more than a decade. Orq is swamp blues royalty, and always adds a sense of the strange to his concerts thanks to his near-mystical aura. Mango Punch is almost custom built for Meow Wolf thanks to a hectic swirl of Top 40, disco and cumbia.

The schedule for the concerts is below with links to tickets.

Though Houston has never hurt for places weird bands can play, wedding the popular immersive art space at Meow Wolf with concerts is an opportunity to reframe music as performance art rather than just something to listen to while having a drink (though you can still do that at Meow Wolf). Should the summer concert series prove a success, it could quickly become one of the prime venues in the city, at least for groups looking to be a little out there.

meow wolf concerts

Art Cars Are Back

Houston's Art Car Festival & Parade revs up for 2024 with bigger and bolder masterpieces

howling for you

Houston's interdimensional art exhibit books 4 local acts for summer concerts

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