Event Roundup: What to Look Forward to This Weekend

Happy Friday! It’s the first weekend in December and there are tons of fun and festive events happening around town, including:

Memorial Park will light up with beautiful holiday lights this season. (Photo courtesy of Memorial Park Conservancy)

Memorial Park Conservancy’s Deck the Park  
Tonight, Memorial Park Conservancy’s “Deck the Park” event, sponsored by Crossbell Ventures, features a preview of the park’s Holiday Lights before opening to the public. Enjoy the Clay Family Eastern Glades lit up for the holiday season while sipping on hot chocolate, decorating cookies, playing festive games, and writing letters to Santa. Gates open Be sure to stay after dark to enjoy a screening of the holiday classic, Elf (PG). Gates and event lawn opens at 4 p.m. with the sneak preview of the lights at 6 p.m. followed by the screening of Elf at 7 p.m. Admission: $10/adults; $5/kids; $10 hot cocoa (including mug). 

Bring the whole family for Family Movie Night featuring The Santa Clause, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. at Levy Park. 

Family Movie Night: The Santa Clause 
Enjoy a holiday classic at Levy Park this evening for Family Movie Night featuring The Santa Clause (PG). The free screening begins at 7 p.m.  

Brush off your bowlers and prepare your petticoats as Galveston Historical Foundation presents the 49th annual Dickens on The Strand. (Photo: Illumine Photography)

Galveston Historical Foundation’s Dickens on the Strand 
Travel back in time to the Victorian era at the annual Dickens on the Strand festival in Galveston this weekend. The festival kicks off this evening and continues through Sunday and features parades, continuous entertainment, strolling carolers, musicians, bagpipers, jugglers, costumed vendors, holiday treats, and more. Admission is $20/adults; $14/youth; half-off for attendees wearing Victorian costumes. 

Levy Park's Holiday Festival, a free two-day festival, features a holiday market, a craft station, live music performances throughout the park, a special performance by River Oaks Dance, a free photo booth with Santa Claus, and food and drink concessions.

Levy Park’s Holiday Festival 
The fifth annual Levy Park Holiday Festival is a free, two-day festival featuring a holiday market, a craft station, live music performances, a special performance by River Oaks Dance, a free photo booth with Santa Claus, and food and drink concessions. The event takes place Saturday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. both days. 

Southside Place Winter Wonderland Carnival 
The annual Southside Place carnival includes fun, family-friendly activities such as carnival games, climbing wall and mechanical bull, inflatables, arts and crafts, a selfie machine/photo booth, face painting, balloon art, shopping bazaar, a silent auction, food and drink, snow, and pictures with Santa. 

Enjoy beer tastings from select breweries on the grounds of beautiful Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. (Photo courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

Holiday Brews on the Bend 
Enjoy beer tastings from a variety of breweries on the beautiful grounds of Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. The tastings take place under a festive tent. The Black Luster Quartet provides live jazz. The event, which takes place Saturday, 2-6 p.m., is for 21+ and costs $35.  

Santa’s Shopping Stroll at CityCentre 
Stroll through CityCentre on Saturday, 4-8 p.m., to shop and enjoy a range of special activities such as chalk art, face painting, drinks, music, and more. 

Reliant Lights Mayor’s Holiday Spectacular
The annual Mayor’s Holiday Spectacular, which takes place Saturday, 6-8 p.m. at Hermann Square at City Hall downtown, includes music, Santa, fireworks, and family fun. A towering holiday tree will light up the streets of downtown Houston this holiday season. Find out more about holiday festivities downtown this season, dubbed City Lights Downtown Holiday Magic.

Houston Grand Opera presents Transforming the Human Spirit through Song, the company’s annual Carols on the Green sing-along at Discovery Green. (Photo: Lynn Lane) 

Houston Grand Opera's Carols on the Green Sing-Along 
Houston Grand Opera hosts its annual Carols on the Green sing-along at Discovery Green, a free, family-friendly holiday event. Led by soloists from the company’s original mariachi opera, El Milagro del Recuerdo/The Miracle of Remembering (running at the Wortham Theater Center Dec. 8-18), the evening features holiday songs in English and Spanish. Joining in the celebration are members of the HGO Chorus, the HGO Studio, the HGO Bauer Family High School Voice Studio, local children’s ensemble Segundo Barrio, and Trio Chapultepec, the virtuoso mariachi ensemble also performing in El Milagro del Recuerdo at HGO this season.

Houston Texans vs. Cleveland Browns
The Texans take on the Browns this Sunday at 12 p.m. at NRG. 

More Events
See more events on our online event calendar and find upcoming holiday events in our December Holiday Happenings listing.