weekend event planner

Here are the top 14 things to do in Houston this weekend

Houston graffiti icon GONZO247 makes a splash this Saturday.

GONZO247/Facebook

This weekend presents a mix of art and food fun, as a vaunted steakhouse from Tilman Fertitta celebrates 20 years, and four OGs of graffiti get their due. Some cool comedians come to town, while Discovery Green makes STEM fun in a free event.

Also look for erotic psychodrama at Houston Grand Opera with a world-class production, jazzy events, and a festive Eid event at Asia Society.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, April 27

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Latin Wave 16

The annual Latin Wave series provides the opportunity for Houstonians to see new films from Latin America, and to meet internationally acclaimed filmmakers. The nature of the festival allows audience members to interact with the filmmakers in Q&A sessions and informal conversations. These dialogues enrich the understanding of contemporary filmmaking in Latin America. Screenings will take place in both the Brown Auditorium Theater and the Lynn Wyatt Theater. 5 pm (7 pm Friday; 1 pm Saturday and Sunday).

Improv Houston presents Rosebud Baker

Rosebud Baker is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. Her intensely personal, remorselessly dark brand of humor has not only made her a favorite on the comedy scene, but a sought-after TV writer. She’s currently a writer for both Saturday Night Live and That Damn Michael Che. Along with having a standup special, Whiskey Fists, she also has a recurring role on Amy Schumer’s Hulu series Life & Beth. She’s also gonna be a mom real soon! 7:30 pm.

The Riot Comedy Club presents Sam Jay

For the past two seasons, stand-up comic and Emmy-nominated writer Sam Jay was having a grand ol’ time on her HBO show Pause with Sam Jay. Unfortunately, HBO canceled it in February. She also has a sitcom on Peacock she stars and co-created, titled Bust Down, that’s now up in the air since co-star/co-creator Zak Knight tragically passed away last year. Nevertheless, the comedian charges on, ready to do several shows at the Riot this weekend. 9 pm (7 and 9 pm Friday and Saturday).

Friday, April 28

De de los Ninos 20th Annual Celebration

AAMA – founded as the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans – will be celebrating this celebration (aka “Day of the Child”) at its main campus at 6001 Gulf Fwy. AAMA is the one of the longest-standing, Latino-operated nonprofit organizations in the city of Houston, this year celebrating its 53rd anniversary. Its programs and services reach 10,000 individuals annually in the state of Texas. This one-day family celebration is free, open to the public, and will include games, music, prizes and more for the entire family. 3:30 pm.

Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse 20th Anniversary Celebration

Houstonians are invited to join Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse as they celebrate its 20th anniversary with a champagne toast, craft cocktails, live music, exceptional food, as well as private barrel wines from Angel’s Envy and Whistlepig and opening up the cellar for 2003 vintage wines. Attendees will also receive an exclusive swag bag including an invitation to La Griglia’s grand opening party, a 'Weekend Staycation' special rate at The Westin, a pair of etched wine glasses, and a signature chocolate box. 5 pm.

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens presents David B. Warren Symposium

The biennial David B. Warren Symposium addresses different aspects of the theme “American Material Culture and the Texas Experience” before 1900. The symposium was established in honor of David B. Warren, founding director emeritus of Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. The presentations explore the ways images that were created in and of Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest constructed, represented, dismantled, or concealed the identity of the people who lived there. 6:30 pm.

Houston Grand Opera presents Salome

Strauss’s erotic psychodrama returns to HGO with the U.S. premiere from Spanish director Francisco Negrin, who makes his company debut with this gripping production. Based on the scandalous play by Oscar Wilde, the opera recounts the story of a deeply disturbed princess who has fallen in love with Jokanaan (also known as John the Baptist). After he denies her advances, she performs the infamous and seductive Dance of the Seven Veils for King Herod, in exchange for John’s head. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Saturday, April 29

12oz. OG’s Live Art Exhibition & Market

Saint Arnold Brewing Company presents "12oz. OGs," a live painting exhibition featuring Houston graffiti art veterans GONZO247, Colors, Article, and Skeez181 at this live graffiti show at Saint Arnold Brewing Company. They spent their early years getting doors slammed in their faces, getting called gang members, doing work for free, still getting devalued, brushed aside at times. Now, they’re awarded with presence, love, and appreciation, because the scene has changed. Look for a cool art market during the five-hour event. 11 am.

Skeeter’s Mesquite Grill 35th Anniversary

Family-owned restaurant Skeeter's Mesquite Grill has been serving locals with its mesquite grilled burgers, salads and Tex-Mex favorites since 1988. To commemorate its 35 years of deep-rooted Houston history and community support, both Skeeter’s locations at West University and Kingwood are hosting an all-day celebration, where family and friends can take part in happy hour ($5 house margs, $1 off beer + wine), and complimentary servings of the signature chips and queso. 8 am (West University); 11 am (Kingwood; 9 am Sunday).

Grand Central Park presents Jazz Fest

Jazz enthusiasts can groove to the sound of local artists at Grand Central Park during Jazz Fest. Boomtown Band, Raquel Cepeda, and Bayou City Funk will take the stage during the festival, which also features food trucks, a balloon artist, face painters, and more. The first 100 families to attend will receive a free picnic blanket. Guests will also have an opportunity to tour Grand Central Park’s nine model homes. 1 pm.

Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective presents “Shorts in Color”

Discovery Green Conservancy welcomes back Houston organization Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective for this free, family-friendly event, which will showcase dance, film, STEM, and more with cultural awareness. Stacey Allen of Nia’s Daughters has curated a selection of diverse local filmmakers and creatives, making positive and empowering work for families to enjoy. The films feature stories that local families and children tell about themselves. 6 pm.

Sunday, April 30

Cool Bus Houston Brewery Tour

Cool Bus will host a Houston brewery tour, visiting three Houston destination breweries: Eureka Heights Brewery, Frost Town Brewing, and Holler Brewing. The tour covers transportation on the Cool Bus, complimentary beer on the bus, one pint at each brewery, giveaways, and behind-the-scenes tours and visits with each brewery's staff. In addition to the complimentary beers on the bus, guests can BYOB. 1 pm.

Asia Society Texas and the National Arab Orchestra presents An Evening of Eid Celebration: Art and Music with National Arab Orchestra

Asia Society Texas and the National Arab Orchestra will celebrate Eid al-Fitr during Arab American Heritage Month, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and is an occasion for peace, joy, and festivity. The event highlights the richness and beauty of the Arab world, where guests can enjoy a curated art show, as well as a ticketed reception and concert from the National Arab Orchestra Takht Ensemble, featuring vocalists Abdul Salaam al-Najjar and Hela Melki. 4 pm.

Majority Rule AAPI Art Exhibit Opening Ceremony

CARA, Matt Manalo, and Erika Mei Chua Holum are teaming up to host an Asian American and Pacific Islander art exhibition featuring AAPI artists. The exhibition draws on storytelling, myth-marking, and survival strategies of South and Southeast Asian artists in Houston to consider forms of connected knowledge in the Global South, such as warm-weather solidarities and tropical futures as a way to preserve and elevate artistic practices located within and along cultural and political peripheries. Through Sunday, May 21. 7 pm.

RIP, Chuck

Actor Chuck Norris, star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' dies at 86

Courtesy photo

Chuck Norris, star of "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died at 86.

Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.

“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”

After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris' character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”

“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion has taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012's “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He's due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.

Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun -- and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”

Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.

“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the fact book. “I am flattered and humbled.”

That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.

The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”

President Donald Trump's supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief's decision to seize Venezuela's sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”

Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president's 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.

Norris has five surviving children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.

Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.

“I don't age. I level up,” he wrote.

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