weekend event planner

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

This weekend brings an end to this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It’s one last chance to try your luck in the carnival, eat cotton candy bacon, and put on your finest Western wear.

Away from the NRG complex, a lot of musical events will be going down this weekend, from the return of Daryl Hall to a salute to Dave Brubeck to Musica Tra Amici saying goodbye. This weekend also offers an RV show, a plant sale, a wine and tapas gala, and a celebration of comic art.

Thursday, March 20

The Ultimate RV Show
The Ultimate RV Show features the latest makes and models of new RVs. Show attendees can check out more than 200 fully-staged RVs in all classes, from compact, lightweight tent trailers to truck campers, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, Class-A motorhomes, and more. Attendees can also play a pro from the American Corn Hole League and win prizes, ride a mechanical bull, and pose for photos with kangaroos and baby lemurs. Noon (10 am Friday-Sunday).

Moody Center for the Arts presents Moody Project Wall - Christopher Sperandio: "Comics Without Borders" opening reception
Moody Center for the Arts will celebrate the student-curated and artist-led Moody Project Wall installation, "Comics Without Borders." Opening in coordination with the multi-day event Comics Sans Frontières, guests can see how Rice students co-curated a selection of original comic art sourced from the archive of American comic book artist Jack Katz, recently donated to Rice University. Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist Art Spiegelman will hold a public conversation afterwards. 5 pm.

Rad Day 2025
Rad, the 1980s cult classic that greatly influenced BMX culture, is returning to theaters for a one-night-only event, on the day of its 1986 original release. While the film wasn’t a box office success upon its original release, it has become an iconic touchstone for fans. Now, it’s taking over 700 screens across North America. Along with the film, you’ll also get the world premiere of A Rad Documentary, which chronicles the making of the film and its impact. 7 pm.

Friday, March 21

4th Wall Theatre Company Fête: 15th Season Announcement Party
4th Wall Theatre Company will present their inaugural Fête celebration, a gala dinner announcing their upcoming season. The party will be inspired by their spring 2025 production of Hamlet, a stripped-down re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic for a modern audience. The event will feature a cocktail hour followed by a royal feast from the Aaron Bludorn-lead culinary team. There will also be entertainment, an auction, and a raffle. 6:30 pm.

Ensemble Theatre presents Flex
Flex is a powerful play about swagger, determination and sticking together. It’s 1997 and the WNBA is changing the game. Every player on Plainnole’s Lady Train basketball team now dreams of going pro — but first, they’ll have to navigate the pressures of being young, gifted, Black, and female in rural Arkansas. Candrice Jones’ play about a high school basketball team explores the fierce strength of young Black women in the South and what it means to be part of a team. Through Sunday, April 13. 7:30 pm (2 & 7 pm Saturday; 3 pm Sunday).

Houston Symphony presents "Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody & The Little Mermaid"
Based on a catchy little tune by Paganini, Rachmaninoff’s diabolically difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini blends explosive piano feats with melodies that melt the heart. And music director Juraj Valčuha leads music sprinkled in fairy tale magic: swim through the wonders of Liadov’s Enchanted Lake, then dive under the sea with Zemlinsky’s lavishly romantic The Mermaid, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid” story. Pianist Kirill Gerstein will be featured in the concert. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations
Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations will include major orchestral and vocal works of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. It will feature jazz artist Chris Brubeck, along with The Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra, soloists Simone Gundy (The Voice) and Horace Alexander Young, and the Paul English Quartet. The concert includes some of Brubeck’s sacred vocal music, a few of his jazz masterpieces, and a five-movement orchestral tour-de-force, Theme and Explorations, commissioned by Andre Previn. 7:30 pm.

Saturday, March 22

Houston Arboretum presents Spring Plant Sale
Shoppers can upgrade their garden with Texas native plants during Houston Arboretum & Nature Center’s Spring Plant Sale. The two-day sale features perennial and annual wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees, perfect for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators while helping to conserve water, reduce mowing, protect the soil, and save money on fertilizer and pesticides. Plant quantities may be limited, and the plant list is subject to change based on availability. Proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s conservation and education efforts. 9 am.

Houston Food Bank presents Empty Bowls Houston
As part of a grassroots effort by artists and craftspeople in cities and towns across the country to feed the hungry, Empty Bowls Houston is implemented locally by Houston-area ceramists and artists working in various media, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Houston Food Bank. Attendees have the opportunity to select a bowl from thousands of hand-crafted bowls, donated by Houston-area ceramists and craft artists, and receiving a simple lunch. Pottery, woodturning demonstrations, and live music will be featured at the event. 10 am.

Chef Tristen Epps presents Pardon My French
As part of the preparations for Buboy, a tasting menu restaurant inspired by the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, chef Tristen Epps will host a pop-up at downtown steakhouse Guard & Grace. The one-night-only meal will explore the influence of French cuisine on cultures around the world. Epps, a contestant on the current season of Top Chef, will serve dishes such as Texas wagyu steak frites, foie gras pate, and ricotta dumplings with local greens and truffle. 6 and 8:30 pm.

Patrons for Bellaire Parks presents 15th Annual Wine & Tapas Gala
Patrons for Bellaire Parks' 15th Annual Wine and Tapas Gala will feature the theme of “Magic in the Park.” Bellaire Civic Center will be transformed into a magician’s playground with entertainment including a silent auction, a wine pull, liquor toss game, and a magic show. Food from many favorite local establishments will be served tapas-style, so that guests can sample many different dishes. The event, dedicated to raising funds for a renewal of Evergreen Park, will honor local musician Ezra Charles. 7 pm.

Daryl Hall in concert
Is anyone else still torn up that Hall & Oates is no more? It seems the pair that were once the most popular pop duo of all time aren’t even on speaking terms. That means we’ll probably never get them on the same stage singing “Private Eyes” or “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do).” Well, Hall will be here this weekend, in support of his 2024 solo album, D, performing both old and new tunes. He'll be joined by special guest Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze. 8 pm.

Sunday, March 23

Main Street Theater presents Memoriam
In the near future, Memoriam Inc. buys and sells memories, digitizing them for mass-viewership. Now Rachel, a buyer for Memoriam, is going after the most important and most personal memory acquisition she has ever sought: the memories of the last Holocaust survivor on earth — who happens to be her own grandmother. Memoriam, making its world premiere, is a powerful, painful, loving story of family and what memories mean, who owns them, and what we owe to future generations. Through Saturday, April 19. 3 pm.

Girl Tones, with The Velveteers, in concert
Girl Tones, of planet Earth, are a high-energy rock duo brought to life by two sisters named Kenzie and Laila. Both classically trained musicians, Kenzie transitioned from cello to guitar and Laila from piano to drums in an effort to electrify sentient beings from this galaxy to the next. Already in 2025, Girl Tones made their way to Europe to once again support Cage The Elephant out on the road. They are now back in North America for a string of shows with The Velveteers, including Sunday night’s show in Houston. 7 pm.

Musica Tra Amici presents Eric's Farewell
Eric Halen, together with a small group of friends and the tireless support of his family, realized a dream that seemed almost impossible: creating a new chamber music series in Houston. Over 11 seasons, their dream has flourished into a Houston institution and now, as Halen takes his well-deserved retirement from the Houston Symphony, he is taking a triumphant last turn at Musica Tra Amici in a typical program exploring both the works we know and love and some that we will fall in love with. 7 pm.

Photo by Lora Karam

Daryl Hall will play the Arena Theatre on March 22.

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Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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