THANKSGIVING WEEKEND EVENT PLANNER

Top things to do in Houston this Thanksgiving weekend: Erykah Badu, fall farmers market, and more

Fall finds await at Heights Mercantile Farmers Market.

Photo via Heights Mercantile Farmers Market

After a day of feasts, football, family, and friends on Thanksgiving Day, Houstonians can look forward to cool weather and fall fun. Farmers Markets, festivals, and cool concerts await.

Don't forget to check out the dazzling displays as Houston gets totally lit with holiday light shows — find them here.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, November 23

The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston presents Thanksgiving Fall Harvest

The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston invites residents and visitors to celebrate Thanksgiving during its Thanksgiving Fall Harvest. Attendees will be transported to the hotel’s charming fall market, featuring a variety of stations curated by Executive Chef Jean Luc Royere and Executive Pastry Chef Oralia Perez. The celebratory harvest will also offer a Fall Fair for kids to enjoy fall themed crafts and other activities to add to the excitement. Family photos to commemorate this special day will also be available. 11 am.

Chicano Boulevard Thanksgiving

Chicano Boulevard is a Houston-based collective that specializes in celebrating and preserving Chicano culture. They’re also ready to give during the holiday season. And that’s why the Boulevard and their families are inviting you and your family to join them for a free Thanksgiving dinner over at American Legion Hall Post 472. The Southeast Tejas Brown Berets, I Love Selena License Plates, and City Council District H candidate Cynthia Reyes-Revilla will also be there to lend a helping hand. 7 pm.

Friday, November 24

The Wonka Wagon at Texas Winter Lights

A scrumdiddlyumptious treat is headed to Houston. With Wonka (starring Timothee Chalamet in the title role) hitting theaters soon, The Wonka Wagon has hit the road, visiting five U.S. cities over the course of four weeks. It will make a stop at Marriott Marquis Houston’s Texas Winter Lights this weekend. The custom-wrapped, hot cocoa trailer will feature complimentary movie-themed beverages and offer the chance for fans to win exclusive Wonka giveaways. 5:30 pm.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents 2023 British Arrows

With brilliant creativity, wry wit, and emotional twists and turns, the British Arrows Awards celebrate the latest creative trends in moving-image advertising. This year’s program (showing all this weekend at the MFAH) finds Daniel Craig sashaying through a swanky Parisian hotel, Miley Cyrus crowd-surfing at a Gucci party, and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and John Boyega (Star Wars) doing awkward improv. Recommended for mature audiences. 7 pm.

Houston Symphony presents "Thanksgiving Weekend: 'I Will Survive' - Diva Legends"

From the sweet refrains of Alicia Keys to the earth-shaking vocals of Whitney Houston, LaKisha Jones and Nova Payton will channel the charisma and charm of some of the greatest legends of disco, pop, R&B, and Broadway in this show, which will run during this holiday weekend. The concert will include hits from artists such as Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and more. 8 pm (2:30 pm Sunday).

Saturday, November 25

Vitacca Ballet & School for Dance presents The Nutcracker

This Saturday and Sunday, check out Vitacca Ballet & School for Dance's The Nutcracker, a holiday tradition for children and adults of all ages. The production features Clara’s magical journey from her Victorian-era home on Christmas Eve into the Land of Snow and Kingdom of Sweets. The Nutcracker is a time honored introduction for children to the world of ballet. This season’s production features Vitacca Ballet professional company members. 1 pm and 6 pm.

The Post Oak Hotel’s Christmas Tree Lighting

Kick off the holiday season with The Post Oak Hotel’s Christmas Tree Holiday Lighting. The exciting event will feature holiday beverages, an atmosphere perfectly designed for holiday photos with family and friends, musical performances, and even a special guest from The North Pole! Guests are invited to gather in Bouchée and Stella’s Wine Bar following the tree lighting for special activations and offerings. This event is free to the public. 5 pm.

Erykah Badu in concert

Bold, outspoken, a little wacky in the head – those are just some of the things Dallas native and alt-R&B goddess Erykah Badu has been called over the years. But you can’t deny the lady has been one of Black music’s most inventive songstresses. She became the queen of the ‘90s neo-soul scene when she dropped her 1997 debut Baduizm. Now, she comes to Sugar Land as part of her Unfollow Me tour. She will be joined by fellow soulsters PJ Morton and Raheem DeVaughn. 7:30 pm.

Sunday, November 26

Heights Mercantile Farmers Market

Operating every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month, this market hosts a variety of vendors that sell everything from locally sourced produce and grass-fed meat to neighborhood honey. Coffee and baked goods vendors supply a great jump-start to your morning, and flower vendors are guaranteed to bring color and sunshine to your home. We have chefs creating meals for you to enjoy at the market and for you to take home for later. 9 am.

City Place presents Annual Tree Lighting and Giant Gingerbread Village Unveiling

A busy season of holiday programming kicks off at north Houston’s City Place with the annual tree lighting celebration, which culminates in a countdown to illuminate the shimmering – and floating – 35-foot, Christmas landmark rising from City Place Park’s main pond. The evening also marks the unveiling of the Giant Gingerbread Village, where a gumdrop, lollipop and candy-cane-lined path – guarded by two giant gingerbread men – leads to a raised clearing featuring cookie trees, a 16-foot-high gingerbread house, and 12-foot windmill. 4 pm.

Movie Review

Anne Hathaway's busy 2026 continues with meta-thriller Verity

Photo by Alisha Wetherill

Anne Hathaway in Verity.

Anne Hathaway has been inescapable for movie fans in 2026, starring in no fewer than five different movies across multiple genres, including Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street. The actor (who’s pregnant and about to take a well-earned break) is wrapping up her supremely busy year with the psychological thriller, Verity.

Hathaway plays the title character, Verity Crawford, a hugely successful author who writes beach read thrillers, often from the perspective of the villain. An unpublicized car accident renders her immobile and mute, and her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and agents make the decision to recruit someone to ghostwrite her next book in order to continue her legacy.

The person hired for the job is Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), an aspiring author whose books mostly get ignored. She’s eager to take on the project, but the reality of Verity’s situation throws her for a loop. When she discovers a secret file that seems to be Verity admitting to some very bad things, Lowen starts to spin even more, imagining situations that may not actually be happening.

Directed by Michael Showalter and adapted by Nick Antosca from the book by Colleen Hoover, the film initially has a nice rhythm to it, setting up the three main characters well and building up tension. Though current day Verity can’t speak or move, the film gets to the heart of her through old interviews Lowen watches to get to know her mind better. Using that footage and other small moments at the house, a type of rivalry develops between the two characters.

Strangely, though, Showalter and Antosca fail to capitalize on the early momentum. The story stagnates about halfway through the movie and never delivers on what it seems to be promising. Whether they’re too true to Hoover’s original story or change things too much is difficult to tell for those who haven’t read the book, but either way, the result is a big tease with not much in the way of a payoff.

What’s most disappointing about the film is its inability to decide on a tone. There are some points where it feels like over-the-top, campy fun, and others where it seems like the filmmakers are going for a straight-up horror vibe. The down-the-middle approach that they land on serves neither the story nor the characters well. Moments that should be full of suspense or could get laughs often fall flat because of the indecisiveness of the filmmakers.

Due to her character’s affliction, Hathaway is reduced to a supporting role in the film, but she gets by on presence alone and still has a few scenes where she demonstrates her star power. Johnson delivers a good performance despite her typical lack of emotion. Like many of her roles, it’s her body that seems to get more attention than her acting. Hartnett is on a roll thanks to recent roles in Oppenheimer and Trap, and he puts in solid work here, as well.

Verity has the bones of a tense thriller, but it’s filled in with a bunch of questionable story beats that don’t prove as satisfying as the premise. The meta-plot of the authors of thrillers becoming involved in a thriller themselves should have been juicy and full of great twists, but ultimately it’s as catatonic as Verity herself.

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Verity is now playing in theaters.

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