weekend event planner
Here are the top 15 things to do in Houston this weekend
Dress up with your fur baby for some weekend fun.
This weekend brings plenty of October-themed events. A local spot raises a glass to Oktoberfest, while three outdoor activities toast Halloween with movies, garden fun, and doggy dress up.
Several art houses feature openings, including a must-see Black exhibit at the MFAH, while downtown towers with art offerings in a mile-long run of new murals with a meaningful message.
Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.
Thursday, October 13
Houston Grand Opera presents Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers
Composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist David Johnston’s original opera was commissioned by HGO and made its world premiere in 2017. The work has gone on to have a life on other stages around the country. It may have been created for children, but it’s a hit with grownups too. Bringing together influences from India, China, and West Africa, the opera shares the tale of Monkey and his whip-smart sister Francine, who must figure out how to work together if they want to escape the clutches of the hungry Crocodile and the greedy Lord of the Tigers. 11 am.
The Catastrophic Theatre presents Happy Days
Samuel Beckett’s existential tragicomedy concerns itself with the plight of Winnie, a middle-class, middle-aged woman who is quite literally stuck, buried to her waist in crusted earth. Her husband Willie lives in a hole behind her mound, physically and emotionally out of reach. Even in his company, she is essentially alone. Armed with a shopping bag of everyday items and routines, a series of half-remembered stories, songs, and prayers, and a heroic capacity for optimism, Winnie presses through an endless series of unforgiving days to the merciful night to come. 7:30 pm (8 pm Friday and Saturday).
Friday, October 14
King’s BierHaus presents 10th Annual Oktoberfest
King’s BierHaus will present its 10th annual Oktoberfest, celebrating just a few of the diverse cultures that make up Houston. Guests will have the opportunity to give the community an authentic German/Austrian experience with several Oktoberfest beers and homemade authentic food. Oktoberfest will feature such traditional events as the Bavarian Strongman and Strongwoman contest, as well as more modern fare, like the dog costume contest. There will also be live music, carnival games, a photo booth, and more. 3 pm.
Presenting a wide-ranging selection of contemporary international artists, the exhibition illustrates how we see and experience the city, psychologically and physically, focusing on overarching aspects of urban life that affect its inhabitants. The arts play a key role in a global conversation about the effects urban agglomerations are having on the lives, bodies, and minds of individuals. With the selected works as an interpretive resource, the accompanying lecture and symposium will consider how “urban impressions” in the contemporary arts affect conceptions of our planetary "city." The event will take place over two days. The first day will be held at Anderson Hall, and the second will be held at the Moody Center for the Arts. 5:30 pm (10 am Saturday).
DACAMERA presents Gala Opening Night: Gil Shaham
The incomparable violinist Gil Shaham makes his long-awaited DACAMERA debut with his longtime chamber music partner Akira Eguchi. Shaham’s charismatic artistry brings together flawless technique, warmth and generosity of spirit. His many accolades include the Avery Fisher Prize, a Grammy and Musical America’s “Instrumentalist of the Year.” The program will include Brahms: Sonatensatz from the F-A-E Sonata, Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108, Dvořák: Violin Sonata in F Major, Op. 57 B. 106, Dvořák: Romance for violin and piano in F Minor, Op. 11, and Schumann: Three Romances, Op. 94. 7 pm.
Famed as one of the top-10 finalists on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, this dazzling troupe merges dance, acrobatics, and massive moving set pieces. Expect two works, including S.O.S, a piece done in collaboration with the DIAVOLO Veteran’s Project. The work is performed by veterans with little to no dance training, and stars a veteran mother and her 11-year-old son. Friday's performance will see a presentation of the U.S. Army’s Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, one of the nation’s highest military awards bestowed upon civilian leaders for exemplary work in service to the U. S. Army. Special discount for military and their families. Through Saturday. 7 pm.
Family Movie Night at Levy Park
Don your Halloween best, grab the family and pup, and head out for a free screening of the animated fave Hotel Transylvania. Grab grub from Hearsay on the Go and Gaspachos. Outside furniture is not permitted; blankets and park chairs can be used to lounge. Free; 7:30 pm.
Saturday, October 15
Houston Arboretum & Nature Center presents ArBOOretum
The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center will celebrate the 20th anniversary of ArBOOretum. Visitors can play, learn, and experience a day of activities. The Trick-or-Treat Nature Trail will lead kids on an adventure of discovery where they will learn about creatures that live at the Arboretum, while collecting candy along the way. Other ArBOOretum activities throughout the day include a pumpkin patch, a Halloween market, carnival swings, a petting zoo and pony rides, pumpkin decorating, and train rides. Food trucks will also be on hand. All proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s mission of nature education and conservation. 10 am.
Big Art. Bigger Change opening day celebration
This weekend, downtown Houston will become an open-air museum. Nine massive murals painted on notable buildings will be revealed to the public. Downtown Houston is partnering with Street Art for Mankind, TotalEnergies and All Access Art Market for a day of art, music, dance, celebration and conversation around social change. Event activities will include a food truck alley on Lamar, a kid zone, a beer garden in Finn Hall, live music & dance performances, and photo opportunities with low riders, art cars & other cool stuff. 11 am.
Houston Pets Alive! presents Barktoberfest
Friends, family, and pups are welcome to participate in the Barktoberfest. There will be lots of local beer, food trucks, a dog costume contest judged by local celebrities, a vendor market, silent auction, dog adoptions, and more. This is all while helping save the lives of at-risk cats and dogs and finding them loving homes through Houston Pets Alive!, a local rescue saving Houston's homeless pets. Dogs can be entered into costume contests. Plus, the first 350 beer or combo tickets sold will receive a commemorative tasting glass and one free beer, and everyone pre-registered gets a swag bag while supplies last. 2 pm.
Craft Pita's Claudia Nasr will be one of the featured chefs at Plan it Forward's Small Farms Fete event honoring Monica Pope. Nasr will be serving the Craft Pita's hummus with crudites. The Plan it Forward now-annual fundraiser will have talented chefs and bartenders front and center at the event. All proceeds from the event will benefit Plant it Forward's educational and mentorship programming for new farmers here in Houston. The roster of featured chefs and bartenders include Nasr, Ope Amuso of ChopnBlok, Julia Doran of Tiny Champions, Travis Deakins of Lil' Danny Speedo's Go Fly a Kite Lounge and others. 6 pm.
Stages presents Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson
Stages presents an innovative new work that blends spoken word, dance, music, and theater for a vivid and intimate look into the rise of Lauren Anderson, one of the first Black principal ballerinas of a major ballet company, to ballet royalty and her eventual triumphant rise to accept her authentic self. Audiences will share a conversation with Anderson at home, where she breaks the fourth wall to discuss her greatest trials and successes by reliving them in memories painted by music and dance. This is her story in her words, for the first time ever. Through Sunday, November 13. 2 and 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).
Sunday, October 16
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents “Gordon Parks: Stokely Carmichael and Black Power”
Fifty-five years ago, Life magazine published photographer Gordon Parks’ groundbreaking images and profile of Stokely Carmichael, the young and controversial civil-rights leader who, as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, issued the call for Black Power in a speech in Mississippi in June 1966, eliciting national headlines, and media backlash. This exhibition will present the five images from Parks’s 1967 Life article, in the context of nearly 50 additional photographs and contact sheets that have never before been published or exhibited, as well as footage of Carmichael’s speeches and interviews. 12:30 pm. Through Monday, January 16, 2023. 12:30 pm
Atlas Scholars presents Sunday for Scholars
Sunday for Scholars will include lite bites and open bar, a match, first look and bidding opportunities on auction items, and most importantly, leaving a legacy for the future. By attending, guests will be able support the Atlas Scholars mission to provide motivated Houston students with mentorship, scholarship, and exposure to business and professionalism in a competitive, performance-based environment. Proceeds from this event will help ensure we create a diverse and successful pipeline of leaders for Houston. 3 pm.
The historic tradition of mariachi music has roots in cities like Guadalajara and Mexico City. Today, the future of the evolving genre rests in the hands of a dynamic ensemble from the capital of the American Midwest: Chicago’s Mariachi Herencia de México. The Latin Grammy-nominated group of young Mexican-American musicians perform a vibrant tribute to the golden age of Mexican music. Joined by the beautiful Lupita Infante, granddaughter of Mexican icon Pedro Infante, Mariachi Herencia de México and Infante honor the legacy they inherited with a colorful and unforgettable experience of Mexican music and culture. 6:30 pm.
