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Austin
November 4–5, 2017
Leagues of literati will crowd the capital city for the 22nd annual festival. Founded in 1995 by former librarian and First Lady of Texas Laura Bush, the festival expects an estimated 40,000 readers of all ages to meet more than 250 featured authors, such as Gail Simmons—Top Chef judge and author of a new cookbook for adventurous eaters—and Roger D. Hodge, former Harper’s editor and author of a new book out in October: “Texas Blood: Seven Generations Among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers, and Smugglers of the Borderlands.” In addition to author panels, signings, and vendor booths, the free festival offers an opportunity to bike, run, kayak, or practice yoga on the Capitol lawn with select authors. New this year: bird-watching with Victor Emanuel.
Look for our Texas Highways booth with special pricing on subscriptions and an exclusive gift (if you’re feelin’ lucky)!
Photo: courtesy Texas Book Festival
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Houston
November 18–19, 2017
Hues of every color on the spectrum will cover the pavement surrounding Houston’s Hermann Square at City Hall as the city reinvents its annual street painting festival. Some 25,000 attendees will head to the 12th annual event to witness more than 200 Texan and international artists colorize the streets using pastel chalks—creating ephemeral artwork that will remain for
only two days. Proceeds benefit the Center for Hearing and Speech, a local organization that helps children with hearing loss learn to listen, speak, and read. The festival’s theme, “70 Years in Color,” will celebrate the center’s 70 years of service.
Photo: courtesy Via Colori
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Nacogdoches
November 12–December 9, 2017
The six flags of Texas are well known, but in Nacogdoches—the oldest town in Texas—three more flags found their way into the history books. The earliest of these lesser-known flags is an emerald banner for the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition (1812 to 1813), a short-lived army that controlled territory east of San Antonio. The second flag, a red-striped Lone Star flag, represents Dr. James Long and his expedition to Nacogdoches from 1819 to 1821 before he was captured by Spanish troops and killed. And the third flag, carrying the words “Independence, Freedom, and Justice,” belongs to the Republic of Fredonia, proclaimed by Texas settler Haden Edwards from 1826 to 1827 following the revocation of a land grant from the Mexican government. For more than two decades, the city has paid homage to its rebellious history with festivities to kickoff the holiday season, including a parade and an installation of more than 3 million lights downtown.
Photo: Kevin Stillman
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Austin
November 4, 2017
Hundreds of Native American dancers, drummers, and artists will converge for the 26th annual intertribal event. Last year it relocated to the Austin Expo Center to welcome 30,000 attendees, one of the largest single-day powwows in the country. The event brings together approximately 80 tribes—from Texas, of course, but also
from South Carolina, Oklahoma, Standing Rock, Canada, and Central America—to celebrate their different tribal heritages and histories.
Photo: Will van Overbeek
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Terlingua
November 1–4, 2017
The Big Bend feeder town of Terlingua is no ghost town the first weekend in November. That’s because every year for half a century, the former mining outpost has hosted up to 20,000 chiliheads vying to help crown the year’s best chili. It all began in 1967 as a cook-off between two chili aficionados: Wick Fowler of the Chili Appreciation Society International, and H. Allen Smith, a former New Yorker who had published a magazine article titled, “Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do.” As the legend goes, the two men tied (despite Smith’s use of beans in his recipe—an abomination by Texas standards), and so began the tradition of returning to the west Texas desert each year. The cook-off splintered into two festivals in 1983, held concurrently on the same weekend, just a few miles apart, so now—in addition to arguing about who makes the best bowl of chili—attendees can argue about which cookoff is better. Regular attendees get in the spirit all week long by camping in tents and RVs, and enjoying live music nightly.
Photo: Kevin Stillman
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