Runners, start your training, because the Chevron Houston Marathon is an event you’ll definitely want to participate in. Founded in 1972, the annual marathon attracts 300,000 participants every year who come out to run either the full marathon (26.2 miles), the half (13.1) miles, or the 5K. The course starts and finishes downtown, journeying through Montrose, Memorial, the Galleria area, West University, and the Museum District. If you’re not into running marathons yourself (we feel you), the event is still a ton of fun to attend, so go stake out a spot along Allen Parkway and cheer on the participants with your best chants and signs. It’s always a thrill to see someone you know struggle-bussing through mile 20.

2025 dates: January 18 & 19

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, the largest rodeo competition in the world, is unskippable, period. The three-week event typically kicks off in late February and lasts through the middle of March, although it sometimes begins early March. The rodeo draws more than 2 million visitors to NRG Park every year. Since there’s a lot to check out, from the livestock shows, carnival, and food vendors to the concerts, parade, bull riding, and mutton bustin’, you’ll want to visit more than once.

2025 dates: March 4–23

Although bayous chart their courses all through the city, few Houstonians take advantage of their easy access by way of canoeing or kayaking. If you’re eager to explore the city by water, one of the best opportunities to do so is through the Buffalo Bayou Regatta, the largest of canoe and kayak race in Texas. Established in 1970, the annual event, which usually takes place in early March, attracts hundreds of participants who all come together to paddle their way through an 8.5 mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou. As with the marathon, you’re always welcome to cheer on from the sidelines.

2025 date: March 22

Although Houston doesn’t have a reputation as a very bike-friendly city, there have been a lot of improvements to the city’s biking infrastructure of late. One of the best ways to experience that is by participating in Tour de Houston, which takes place every year in April. The ride, which raises money for the city’s RE-Plant Houston Program, takes participants on a winding ride through some of the most scenic parks and neighborhoods in town. Ride lengths vary from 20 to 60 miles.

2025 date: TBD

Hundreds of thousands of people descend on Allen Parkway and downtown Houston every year to watch the quirky Art Car Parade, which consists of an hours-long procession of outlandish art cars made to look like everything from flowers and wolves to colons (yes, that kind of colon), tacos, and roosters. The incredibly wacky event, which has taken place every year since 1987, gets wilder through each iteration. If the parade isn’t enough, there’s also a ball preceding it at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, the organization that puts together the parade, as well as a festival on the day of the actual event.

2025 dates: April 12

Since its founding in 2008, Comicpalooza has been the go-to convention for Houston’s nerdy crowd. The event, centered around all things comic books, anime, TV shows, movies, and gaming, takes over the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown for three full days of nerdy fun. Comicpalooza offers ticketholders a variety of attractions like concerts, raves, cosplaying competitions, celebrity meet and greets, shopping, food vendors, and display objects. If you’re a die-hard anime fan or into comics and sci-fi, then you absolutely need to come out for this event. Cosplaying outfits are optional, but encouraged.

2025 dates: June 20–22

Houston has not one, but two Pride parades in celebration of its LGBTQ+ community. The first and oldest parade, Pride Houston 365, has been an institution in the city for nearly half a century. Although the parade was originally located in Montrose, the city’s historic gayborhood, it has since moved to downtown. The second parade, hosted by Houston’s New Faces of Pride, is also putting on a full parade downtown. Our suggestion? Check out both, because the more the merrier. And after, make sure you head to Montrose for all of the lively afterparties.

2025 Houston’s New Faces of Pride date: TBD

2025 Pride Houston 365 date: June 28

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the fireworks. Every year on July 4, Shell’s Freedom Over Texas festival takes over downtown’s Eleanor Tinsley and Sam Houston Parks for the most patriotic of Houston celebrations. The festival, which kicks off in the afternoon and lasts for around six hours, includes live concerts and a bevy of food and beverage options. The best part? It ends with a spectacular, Texas-size fireworks finale.

2025 date: July 4

In the fall, Houston’s most prominent food festival takes over Discovery Green in downtown. Hosted by the Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit started by celebrated local chef Chris Shepherd that offers aid to food and beverage workers nationwide, the festival brings in some of the biggest names in food from across the nation. Unlike some food festivals where samples are pretty small, the offerings here will fill you up. Make sure to stick around for the live music, drinking, and fun socializing.

2025 date: TBD

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York ain’t got nothing on Houston’s H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade, a Houston tradition for 75 years. Every Thanksgiving morning, the parade, one of the oldest of its kind in the nation, takes over downtown Houston. Hundreds of thousands of Houstonians come out for the fun, which includes marching bands, floats, balloons, and live performances. Since the parade stretches over 20 blocks, there are ample spots in which to post up so you can enjoy all the fun.

2025 date: Nov 27

The opening of Houston Ballet’s massive Nutcracker Market is the unofficial start of the holiday season in Houston. The festive shopping experience, which takes over NRG Center for three days in November, usually features around 300 unique vendors, who offer everything from home goods and toys to ornaments, clothing, and food. The festival, which has been happening annually since 1981, should definitely be on your Houston holiday bucket list.

2025 dates: Nov 13–16

One of our absolute favorite places in the city is the Houston Zoo, and the best time to visit is during the holiday season. From November through January every year, visitors can experience Zoo Lights daily from 5:30 to 10:30pm, a chunk of time when you are normally not allowed to visit. For the experience, the zoo is decked out in cool holiday, animal, and plant life–themed lanterns and lights. It’s a vibey holiday experience perfect for a range of occasions, from date night to family night.

2025–2026 dates: TBD

Houston’s holiday season would feel incomplete without performances of Houston Ballet’s The Nutcracker and Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, both of which have enjoyed long annual runs here—The Nutcracker every year since 1972 and A Christmas Carol for nearly 30 years. They’re both Houston classics, and a lot of work goes into staging them and getting the performers prepared for them year after year. Since the performances for both productions span over a month, you have no excuse to not see at least one of them.

2025 Nutcracker dates: TBD

2025 Christmas Carol dates: TBD