The holidays are around the corner, folks, and the festivities have already begun. Soak up the crisp (albeit, slightly humid) autumn air while experiencing the cornucopia of events that await in Houston this November! [Featured image: @brian.nicholas_]
1-3. Experience Magical Candlelight Concerts
Experience a magical fall here in Houston thanks to the amazing indoor and outdoor venues the city has to offer. Luckily, Fever Originals has brought its popular Candlelight concert series to beautiful venues for the season with concerts that include:
4. Dine in the Dark
Ever wondered what it is like to eat in the dark? Eminent psychologists have been advocating dining in the dark as the ultimate taste experience for many years. Studies show that 80 percent of people eat with their eyes; with that sense eliminated, the theory is that the other senses—namely taste and smell—take over to elevate your meal to a whole new level.
After donning your blindfold in the darkened, candlelit room, you’ll soon realise that focusing on taste and smell alone can be a truly enlightening experience—provided you’re not afraid of the dark!
5. Enjoy Concerts Under the Stars
As the sun begins its descent and the city’s lights steal the spotlight, an exquisite rooftop in the open air becomes one of the finest settings for embarking on an al fresco journey. In the current season, Houston’s Concerts Under the Stars are here to offer you all the urban rooftop charms you adore, along with live music spanning several decades.
6. Ice Skate Under the Stars
Discovery Green in Downtown, Houston is bringing their outdoor ice rink back for the holiday season. From Friday, November 10 at 6 pm to Sunday, January 28, Discovery Green is hosting public skates at the foot of Houston’s skyline for the newly-dubbed Frostival.
7. Enjoy Dia de Los Muertos in Houston
This Saturday, November 4th, Houston residents will have the opportunity to join the Dia de los Muertos parade and festival in the city. The event will take place from 2 pm to 10 pm at Sam Houston Park, located at 1000 Bagby St. The parade, with all its splendid grandeur, will commence and conclude at the same venue.
8. Enjoy a Sexy Burlesque Show
Join us for an unforgettable evening of mesmerizing dance performances. Featuring a stellar lineup of talented artists, relax and let yourself be captivated by their incredible choreography and dazzling costumes.
9. Experience Eternity at this Breathtaking Infinity Room Exhibition
To describe the glimmering works of Yayoi Kusama as “iconic” almost sounds like a disservice. Nothing less than mesmerizing, her kaleidoscopic infinity rooms have enchanted the world over, leaving those who’ve entered breathless, and those who’ve seen them secondhand taken with envy.
Now, Houstonians can experience the indescribable as MFAH becomes the new home of Kusama’s Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity.
10. Breathtaking Places To See Fall Foliage In Texas
Let’s be real, the only way you can see fall colors in Houston is through filters and photoshop. Those that seek the upmost fall experience with breathtaking sights of blazen, changing leaves, will have to take their PSL to-go on a state-bound road trip. Here are the 10 best places in Texas to see fall foliage.
11. Roll into this Mini-Golf Cocktail Bar
With 23,000-square-foot to play with, Puttery will comprise four themed mini golf courses across two levels in addition to multiple bars. Despite it’s exciting design, Puttery aims to be recognized for its speciality cocktails and chef driven menu as much as it’s elegant putting courses.
Whether you’re eating or playing, a delectable food and beverage program with shareable plates and craft cocktails aims to tempt people in regardless of whether they plan for some light competition or not.
12. Have Second Breakfast at the Hobbit Cafe
You don’t have to journey all the way out to Mordor to enliven your Tolkien-esque fantasies. Here in Houston, just southwest of Montrose is The Hobbit Café. Since 1972, the café has served all the hobbits, elves, wizards, and dwarves the best food Middle Earth, Houston has to offer.
13. Experience HBG’s Winter Lantern Festival
To build excitement for the holiday season, the Houston Botanic Garden is set to introduce an all-new Chinese light and lantern festival in November. Radiant Nature is set to feature: “50 large-scaled Chinese lantern installations come to life,” organization writes in an Instagram post, “including a majestic 200-foot-long dragon and a soaring 12-foot-tall peacock! Bring the entire family and join us in celebrating the beauty of nature and the richness of Asian cultures.”
14. Revel in Fall Festivals
Fall is here and it’s the time to dive into all the autumnal activities the season has to offer. In the Houston area, you can find a number of local farms that bring the best of the season – carnival games, pumpkin patches, and hayrides – into glorious fall festivals.
15. Tour the City and NASA’s Space Center
Commence your day with a 75-minute open-top bus tour of Houston, exploring the city’s sights. Following that, delve into the thrill of outer space by visiting Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
You can also embark on a tram orientation tour. As one of Houston’s premier attractions, Space Center Houston offers a wide array of interactive displays, including space artifacts, a full-size rocket, and a space shuttle.
16. Drink an Ale in a Beer Garden
Houston is home to a wide array of local craft breweries, and to enhance your brewery experience, we offer a charming assortment of beer gardens. Embrace the lovely weather by paying a visit to one of these captivating outdoor beer destinations!
17. Go on a Hike
Take advantage of the opportunity to explore, Houston. After enduring the most intense summer in Houston’s history, it’s a wise choice to relish temperatures below 90 degrees and discover the finest hiking spots in the Houston region.
18. Visit this Historical Library
Crafted in the Spanish Renaissance fashion, the historic Julia Ideson Library showcases elements like Ionic columns, classical architectural embellishments, hanging chandeliers, vivid murals, and an intricately designed domed ceiling.
19-23. Cozy Up at Houston’s Best Coffee Shops
Thankfully, there are plenty of coffee houses scattered about the city for residents to take refuge, re-energize, and maybe eat a scone or two.
- Rev up your mornings at the motorcycle and coffee garage.
- Secret Garden offers various international coffees with options in the form of Vietnamese, Greek Espresso, Greek Freddo Cappuccino, Turkish Coffee, and more.
- Husband-and-wife caffeine team, Manuel and Martha Gil, have recently opened Segundo Lab inside Ironworks near downtown, bringing rich, creative java flavors to the Second Ward.
24. Visit The Hidden Castle in Texas
A short drive outside of Houston in the small town of Bellville Texas lies a medieval castle equipped with a 3,000-pound drawbridge, moat, and a knightly guest quarters.
25-29. Sweeten Up at a Speakeasy
There’s something special about speakeasies. The secretive, vicarious forbidden feel of transporting back to the prohibition make imbibing cocktails all the more tantalizing. Stow away in wonderful hidden bars that Houston has to offer!
- So Clutch, the owners of the Concrete Cowboy, Clutch Bar, and a host of establishments in other US cities, opened the doors of the Sugar Room on Washington Avenue. The cocktail lounge hidden inside a local bakery features a glamorous selection of drinks as well as tasty treats.
- Tucked away in the corner of Cantina Barba’s back patio is a scanty, nondescript, somewhat rusty container. The door on which advertises “Mijo’s Mezcal Bar” – which, to our knowledge, lays the smallest bar in Houston.
- Relive the ’20s and all of its splendor at the Daisy Buchanan Lounge, from the group behind Gatsby’s Prime Steakhouse. The flashy new 52-seat lounge, located at what was once Bar Victor on 4321 Montrose Blvd, is made in the image of the era infamously captured in Scott F. Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.
30. Unwind Inside This Cozy Beer And Wine Bus
Parked on Montrose Blvd., Bacco Wine Garden is an intimate, fire-lit, two-story bar and patio that serves wine, beer, and an assortment of Italian comfort food. Beyond the wraparound balcony, there lies a dazzling wine and beer bus for patrons to share an even more intimate experience.
31-33. Hit the Dive Scene
Houston thankfully has plenty of places to take shelter in a flurry of rain: whether to escape the weather, shoot a round of pool, grab a cheap beer, or to play a song on a jukebox, consult this list to discover where to go.
- Those who leave up their festive decorations year round, like the people over at Grand Prize Bar, are complete freaking lunatics – and we love them for it.
- La Carafe Wine Bar is a historic haunt housed in a building that’s stood for over a century and remains to be the oldest in the city of Houston.
34-35. Or, Hit a Patio Bar
One surefire way to capitalize on the weekend, weekday, weeknight – really just any time – is to have a couple drinks amongst friends in the open air of a patio. Get out and about this season at some of our favorite watering holes in town
- Nestled on 1239 W 19th St. among a familiar crowd of patio bars – Preslee’s, McIntyre’s Heights, and Bungalow Heights– is a newcomer known as Moonshine Deck, a throwback Americana-inspired bar and kitchen with moonshine and whiskey to boot.
36. Transport Yourself To Madrid at this Clubby Restaurant
If you’re looking for a taste of Spanish cuisine, with the sight, sound, and feel of Madrilenian nightlife, MAD Houston is your ticket.
37. Saunter Through Houston’s Fresh New Market
Railway Heights is now open on Washington with two stories of vibrant businesses, food stalls, local vendors, and an art gallery on the second floor.
38. Get Medieval at Ren Fest
The 48th Annual Texas Renaissance Festival, the largest renaissance festival in the nation, has returned to Texas with a kingdom of entertainment for the whole family.
Every year since 1974 the town of Todd Mission travels back to the 16th century, becoming a bustling village filled to the brim with stages, shops, artisans, vendors, and no shortage of characters – from kings, queens, and knights, to fairies and elven-kind. It’s annual attendance clocks in around 500,000 visitors – making it the Nation’s Largest Renaissance Festival.
39. Elevate Your Lifestyle at these Houston Rooftop Bars
Nothing quite says “living the highlife” like clinking glasses on a city rooftop. Touch the sky this season with a brunch, evening, or nightcap on the most jaw-dropping rooftops in Houston.
40-46. Eat Your Heart Out
Houston’s culinary scene is a vast, rich landscape populated with delicious eateries, scrumptious bakeries, and Tex-Mex as far as the eye can see.
- Whether it’s a classic Neapolitan-style Margherita, a traffic cone-sized slice, or some warped creation piled high with everything and the kitchen sink – we don’t discriminate when it comes to pizza. Any way you slice it, here’s 10 of the best pizza parlors in the Houston area!
- Not all buffets are created equal. When seeking out a local in which to stock up on calories to last you the winter hibernation, we recommend heading to one of our 10 favorite all-you-can-eat buffets in Houston.
- Whataburger, Taco Bell, McDonald’s – the usual suspects when it comes to late-night munchies. Sometimes, though, you got to broaden your horizons, especially when a glorious late-night food scene of delis, pizzerias, taquerias await in the city of Houston.
- Hot, cold, rain, or shine, ice cream is a good call on any day. Here’s the scoop on where to find the best ice cream in Houston
- Like breakfast tacos, kolaches are synonymous with breakfast in Texas. Savory, comfortable, portable – perfect for an on-the-go breakfast, or bought-by-the-dozen hangover cure. Unlike similar handheld breakfast staples such as donuts, bagels, and croissants, it’s not so easy finding kolaches outside of Texas. We’d probably travel more if you could, but for now, we’ll stay here in Houston with our favorite comfort breakfast food on the go.
- Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of pie at our favorite diners in Houston
47. Go for a Ride on the Polar Express
This year, there’s an extra reason for excitement in the Houston area amidst all the festive pop-up events, dazzling light displays, bustling markets, and more. Houston residents can eagerly anticipate the return of the legendary Polar Express to the Galveston Railroad Museum this November, offering an extended holiday season attraction for everyone to savor.
48. Experience Holidays in the Gardens
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Moody Gardens is all set to reprise its cheerful assortment of holiday activities for the whole family. Kicking off November 18, Holiday in the Gardens is set to feature Ice Land, Festival of Lights, train rides, arctic slide, nightly fireside s’mores, an ice skating rink, and more!
49. Wander through Magical Winter Lights
As the holiday season approaches, the organizers of Magical Winter Lights have unveiled their plan to return to Houston on November 17, bringing with them a 20-acre realm of luminous displays, lanterns, and festive winter entertainment, which will be available from tomorrow until January 7!
50. Go Wild At The Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve
Situated at 5440 N. Sam Houston Parkway, the Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve stands out as a unique hands-on preserve and wildlife center.
As a part of its mission to encourage education through immersive experiences, guests have the opportunity to not only closely encounter various creatures from the animal kingdom but also engage in activities like feeding, petting, and taking photos with wildlife representing both land and aquatic ecosystems.