weekend event planner

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

Dig into Chris Shepherd's (right) star-studded food fest.

Photo by Catchlight Photography

This weekend, we fully expect most of the city to shut it down when our Houston Astros take on the New York Yankees in Games 3 and 4 of the American League Conference Series on Saturday and Sunday. (Check out CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler's best food and drink options here.)

Otherwise, this weekend offers a beastly affair onstage, a lively cultural celebration, and one of the hottest food festivals on the calendar each year. Gorgeous homes unlock their doors for visitors to tour, Thursday is a total drag, and two comic legends come to town for some serious silliness.

Enjoy; here are you best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, October 20

Houston Audubon presents Avian Affair

Houston Audubon will celebrate the connection between art and nature at its annual fundraising dinner. The evening includes a seated dinner, a silent auction featuring works from local artists, a visit from art cars, a raptor experience, stilt walkers, and more colorful fun, all in the name of raising awareness and funds to protect local habitat for birds and wildlife and create equitable opportunities for people to enjoy nature-based experiences. The evening keynote will be delivered by nationally-acclaimed artist Dixie Friend Gay, who is best known for her numerous public art commissions. 6 pm.

Moores Opera Center presents La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast)

Merging film and opera, Jean Cocteau’s classic 1946 film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (as Jean Marais as the saddest monster ever put on film) comes to life anew with a beautiful and arresting score by Philip Glass. The Moores Opera Center will be the first university opera program to produce this seminal work by two of the most important artists of modern times. Michael Riesman, music director of the Philip Glass Ensemble, joins the University of Houston as guest conductor for this special production. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

RuPaul’s Drag Race: Night Of The Living Drag

It’s that time again to watch all your favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni get spooky with it. The 11th annual show features “Boogieman” (aka Yvie Oddly) in their return from the Inferno to hunt the Souls of Seven Sinful Queens. The event will also include Aquaria the Sloth, Asia O’Hara the Envying, Bosco the Lusting, DeJa Skye the Greedy, Kim Chi the Glutton, Lady Camden the Proud, Rosé the Vain, and Vanessa Vanjie the Wrathful, in one of the deadliest spectacles of drag to tour the world. 8 pm.

Friday, October 21

Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation presents Power of Literacy Luncheon

This 7th annual luncheon will be hosted by the Ladies for Literacy Guild of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and chaired by Gina Saour and Carolyn Mohenzadehs. Jeannie Gaffigan, actress, producer, writer, philanthropist, mother of five, and all-around comedic force, will serve as the featured speaker. Gaffigan, the wife and writing/producing partner of Jim Gaffigan, wrote the New York Times bestseller When Life Gives You Pears, a memoir chronicling her diagnosis, surgery, and recovery from a pear-sized brain tumor. 10:30 am.

Southern Smoke Festival 2022

If you are crazy/insane for some BBQ, you will be in heaven this weekend. Your favorite BBQ spots will be all over this three-day fest, making some succulent food with more than 40 of the brightest stars in the culinary world, including Tom Colicchio, Andrew Zimmern, Brooke Williamson, Aaron Franklin, and Dawn Burrell. Of course, there will be beer, wine and other delicious refreshments. Money raised will go toward Southern Smoke Foundation’s crisis relief efforts for food and beverage workers. 7 pm (1 pm Saturday; 4 pm Sunday).

The Secret Group presents Varials

Philadelphia metalcore quintet Varials will be in Houston this weekend, performing tunes from Scars for You to Remember, their just-released album. Here, the band cranks the knobs to 11 from start to finish. The utterly ferocious tracks will leave you exhausted, in a heap on the floor, clutching your chest, and gasping for breath. It's really that good and that intense. With rapid fire riffing, guttural screams that could double as the soundtrack to your worst night terrors, and thunderous percussive thrust, the band clamps down on the jugular and never lets go. 7 pm.

Steve Martin and Martin Short: You Won't Believe What They Look Like Today!

Comedy legends (and men who actually work with Selena Gomez!) Steve Martin and Martin Short will come to Sugar Land with their show, You Won't Believe What They Look Like Today!. In this special performance, Martin and Short recall their iconic careers, creative influences and most memorable encounters, uniquely presented through a blend of stand-up, musical numbers and conversations about their lives in show business. Martin and Short will also be joined on stage by Jeff Babko, Alison Brown, and The Fair Weather Friends. 8 pm.

Saturday, October 22

Autism Speaks Walk

The Houston Autism Speaks Walk, held over at Lynn Eusan Park, is back to promote acceptance and raise funds for people with autism. This year, the Walk will be held in person to bring the community together to fuel the organization’s mission and help people with autism reach their full potential. Activities include a face painter, a balloon artist, yard games, kindness chalk and wall, sensory-friendly activities, and more. 8 am.

Korean Festival Houston

Since its inception in 2009, this festival has become one of the largest, free cultural events hosted at Discovery Green, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to its cultural presentation and culinary experience. It showcases the best of Korean food, music, performing arts, and culture. Featuring vendors and performers from all over the world, the festival reaches a broad array of Houstonians, including foodies, K-Pop fans, families, and regular Houstonians hoping to experience Korean culture in the heart of Houston. 11 am.

AIA Houston Home Tour

Eight architect-designed houses representing the finest in new residential architecture will be featured in the annual, two-day tour. (Read our full story here.) Open to the public, all of the homes on the self-guided, two-day tour are located within the Houston metropolitan area, designed by an AIA architect, and completed within the last five years. The criteria used to select homes for the tour include design excellence, quality and craftsmanship, innovative design solutions and use of materials, and sustainability of design. Noon.

Heidi Vaughan Fine Art presents Transcending opening reception

This exhibition features the work of 11 Texas artists curated by Susan Budge and Heidi Vaughan. The exhibition, which coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has at its core the notion of transcending cancer and other personal challenges through art. Artists in the exhibition are Budge, Thedra Cullar-Ledford, Richard Fluhr, Linda Hofheinz, Sharon Kopriva, Charmaine Locke, Michelle O’Michael, McKay Otto, Susan Plum, James Surls, and George Tobolowsky. Through Saturday, November 26. 5 pm.

Sunday, October 23

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents "Philip Guston Now" opening day

Over his 50-year career, Philip Guston (1913-1980) shifted from figuration to abstraction and back again. This exhibition, the first retrospective of the influential artist’s work in nearly two decades, features paintings, prints, and drawings - both well-known and rarely seen - from public and private collections. The exhibition shows his willingness to engage explicitly with social injustice and to excavate the anxieties of personal conviction from his earliest works through to his last. Through Monday, January 16. 12:30 pm.

Undies for Everyone presents Bingo and Briefs

Undies for Everyone presents a night of fun and food, all to support underserved children with new undies. The event will honor Cyndy Garza Roberts, UFE board member, for her 40 years of service to the Houston community. Guests can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win United Airlines tickets (need not be present to win). They can also play "Heads and Tails" for a chance to win a pizza oven or a weekend getaway at Lost Pines Resort. 6 pm.

The Paranormal Experience

Jamie Salinas is a paranormal investigator and an award-winning magician who will present a spooky night of mystery as he attempts to communicate with The Other Side. He will investigate one of the most haunted places in Texas, La Carafe, which has a rich history, being built in the late 1800s, and is a known hotspot for paranormal activity. Salinas will show some haunted artifacts from his collection. The evening begins with a meet-and-greet social hour downstairs at the bar hosted by Scott Wells, who will entertain guests with spooky magic. 7 pm.

Awards Season

CultureMap critic's guide to the 2026 Oscar Best Picture nominees

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in Sinners

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Sinners leads all films at the 2026 Academy Awards with a stunning 16 nominations.

The nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards have been announced, with 10 films vying for Best Picture. Leading the way is Sinners with an astonishing 16 nominations, the most in Oscars history.

The other top films include One Battle After Another, which earned 13 nominations, and Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, and Sentimental Value, which each got 9 nominations.

As a refresher, below are links to the full reviews for each of the nominees covered by CultureMap in the past year, as well as brief thoughts on the films and their various nominations.

Movie fans will have plenty of time to catch up with each of the nominees, as this year's Oscars ceremony will not take place until Sunday, March 15.

Here's the list of Best Picture nominees, in alphabetical order:

Bugonia
Yet another off-the-wall film from director Yorgos Lanthimos features two great performances by Emma Stone (nominated for Best Actress) and Jesse Plemons at its center. Written by Will Tracy (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay), the conspiracy theory film is alternately brutal and funny as the characters played by Stone and Plemons use their form of power to try to manipulate the other. With a fair amount of intrigue and two great actors going head-to-head for much of its running time, it gives even more Oscar pedigree to its filmmakers and stars.

F1
The biggest surprise among the Best Picture nominees has to be the racing movie F1. It was a technical marvel, to be sure, as its nominations in Film Editing, Sound, and Visual Affects attest. But the fact that it has no other nominations in any of the above the fold categories indicates that its other qualities are lacking. As a showcase (aka advertisement) for the sport it depicts, the film works relatively well. As a complete movie, though, there’s not much to recommend, to the point that it almost negates any of the positives that come from the racing scenes.

Frankenstein (not reviewed)
Writer/director Guillermo del Toro (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay) loves himself a monster movie, and he takes on one of the classics with his new version of Frankenstein (now streaming on Netflix). Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein, who brings to life The Creature, played by Jacob Elordi (nominated for Best Supporting Actor). With a slew of nominations in technical categories, there's a chance this film goes home with a lot of awards at this year's ceremony.

Hamnet (not reviewed)
Writer/director Chloé Zhao (nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay alongside co-writer Maggie O'Farrell) gets back to her Oscar-worthy skills for the first time since 2020's Nomadland (after the unfortunate detour into the MCU with Eternals). A story about love, loss, and grief involving William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, the film is most notable for the performances of its two leads, Jessie Buckley (nominated for Best Actress) and Paul Mescal.

Marty Supreme
There was no other movie this year, or maybe even this century, like Marty Supreme. Directed and co-written by Josh Safdie (nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay alongside co-writer Ronald Bronstein), the film is an almost continuous blast of pure energy for 2 ½ hours. So many different things happen over the course of the film that the story defies conventional narratives. At its center is the fast-talking, powerhouse performance by star Timothée Chalamet (nominated for Best Actor), who cements his status as his generation’s movie star one year after playing the polar opposite role of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Look for the film to be a strong contender in the inaugural Best Casting category, as Safdie fills the film with non-actors who are crucial to the film's success.

One Battle After Another
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) has an acclaimed career going back 30 years, but has yet to actually win an Oscar. That will change this year, as One Battle After Another is one of the favorites to win Best Picture thanks to Anderson's stellar filmmaking, as well as multiple great performances that earned the film four acting nominations (Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor, Teyana Taylor for Best Supporting Actress, and Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn for Best Supporting Actor). Add in a story with a very timely political critique (that's getting more relevant by the day) and you have the recipe for a big winner on Oscar night.

The Secret Agent (not reviewed)
No foreign country has quite the influence on the Oscars as Brazil, which for the second straight year has gotten one of its films nominated for both Best International Feature Film and Best Picture. Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, the film is anchored by the performance of Wagner Moura (nominated for Best Actor) as a technology expert in the late 1970s who flees from a mysterious past to try to find peace in his hometown.

Sentimental Value (not reviewed)
For the third year in a row, two international films made the cut in the Best Picture race (but whither It Was Just an Accident?). Directed and co-written by Joachim Trier (nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay alongside co-writer Eskil Vogt), the film is tied for the most acting nominations this year, earning nods for Renate Reinsve for Best Actress, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Best Supporting Actress, and Stellan Skarsgård for Best Supporting Actor.

Sinners
It takes a special kind of filmmaker to make movies that are both popular and Oscar-worthy, and writer/director Ryan Coogler (nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay) has done it again, seven years after helming the Oscar-winning Black Panther. Both a tribute to Black music history and a gnarly vampire movie, the film is led by Michael B. Jordan (nominated for Best Actor) in dual roles as twins Smoke and Stack. With a story infused with all manner of subtext and a bunch of great supporting performances, including Best Supporting Actress nominee Wunmi Mosaku, the film demonstrates Coogler's great filmmaking abilities that should keep him in demand for years to come. Amazingly, there was only one category for which it was eligible in which it did not receive a nomination.

Train Dreams (not reviewed)
The second Netflix movie this year to be nominated, Train Dreams is a contemplative film about a logger (played by Joel Edgerton) in early 20th century America who tries to adapt to a rapidly-changing world. Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for the script by director Clint Bentley and co-writer Greg Kwedar, the film is most notable for the work done by Adolpho Veloso (nominated for Best Cinematography), who showcases the Pacific Northwest in all its glory.

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