Art Car Parade, April 2026, Houston: "the oldest and largest celebration of art cars in the world,”

 Amazing day in Houston with 250 plus cars participating in the Art car parade.

The videos above tell the story.

It's the 39th annual Art Car Parade. After the rodeo, the parade may be the city’s signature event, with more than 300,000 spectators each year. 

Other cities — Baltimore; San Francisco; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; even Jaipur, India — have their own versions. But Houston, Texas’ largest city, remains the movement’s unofficial capital, the place where the idea first took hold and never quite let go.

The rules remain minimal. “Whether it’s been painted, welded, sculpted, dropped, chopped, beaded, smashed, crashed, lit or lifted, art cars come in all shapes, sizes and forms,” read this year’s brochure. “The only rule is that it must roll!”

Over 50 of the cars that roll on Saturday will have been made in Houston classrooms, a striking fact at a time when arts funding in schools continues to shrink. The cars used in schools are donated — some junky, but operating well enough. For several years, many have been provided by a local car dealership, Gillman Automotive Group.

Parked the car in downtown garage near Bank of America building which was once the tallest in Houston

Map.

Don't have many pictures as videos tell a better story

Diverse themes...animals, birds, reptiles, flowers, space exploration   even working musical fountains 

Pink hearts all over

Brain stormers... bulb for idea

Butterfly

Dragon, knight and damsel in distress

Boat car... phishing for phoolery, 2025 2nd place

Bubbles

Dalmatians..

Cat burglar?

250 years of American independence...

PRIZES:

the Ann Harithas Legacy Award for "Best in Show" for the Dreamliner /Cosmic Love Shack. The top art car award went to three cars, those created by students from Alief Elsik High School in Houston; Da Vinci Design, a high school in the Los Angeles area; and first-time participant Alice Garcia-Gordon.

Those three shared the prize for their respective creations — "Our myriad of cultures, our myriad of strengths" by Elsik High School, "California Dream'n" by Da Vinci Design and "Looksy" by Garcia-Gordon.

2nd place

Joe Haden — "Truth, Goodness and Beauty"

Jessi Heiner, Houston Stitching Together and Houston Federation of Teachers — "Books not Crooks"

Joseph Blanchard, Galactic cruiser — "Kaleidoscope Clyde"

3rd place

Cassandra Gamez, Burbank Elementary School — "Unbearably Sticky Ride"

Brian Arthur — "Super Happy Fun Land Magical Alicorn Cardboard Puppet Truck" 

Rick McKinney — "Gretapocalypse 2.0"

High school

1st place: Wendy Bejarano, Westbury High School — "Renaissance on Wheels"

2nd place: Teresa Megahan, Olmec Gators — "Olmec Civilization"

3rd place: Luis Perez, Carnegie Art Honor Society, Carnegie Vanguard High School — "Madam Rhinoplas 'Tea'

K-5 schools

1st place: Hayley Boardman and The Lovett Owls, Lovett Elementary — "Rolling Fantasy"

2nd place: Justin Larson — "DinorabicasaurusTime Team"

3rd place: Austin Breier, Harvard Elementary — "Harvard's Eco Eagle Mobile"

Painted car

1st place: Richard Tuthill — "The Amazing Wow!"

2nd place: Elia and Noah Quiles, UP Art Studio — "Almas en Caravana (Souls in Caravan)"

3rd place: Sarah Gish — "Iggy the Igniter" 

Low rider

1st place paint: Fabian Ortega, Fabian & Juju, Classic Consulting VS — "Ruthless Villan"

1st place performance: Danny Moreno, Danny, Classic Consulting VS — "Poquito de Oro"

2nd place paint: Denis Enamorado, El Bandolero, Classic Consulting VS — "El Bandolero"

2nd place performance: Marvin Enamorado, El Bandolero, Classic Consulting VS — "Enamorado"

3rd place paint: Elouisa Martinez, Lisa, Classic Consulting VS — "Chema"

3rd place performance: Jose Alonso, Just Us Car Club, Classic Consulting VS — "Just Us - 1999 Town Car"

Contraption

1st place: Josh Waddell, 3 Bulls UPcycling — "Robo-Buffalo"

2nd place: Bob Wink — "Elvis Rocks"

3rd place: Kaitlyn Youngblood, Team Jazzlyn — "Jazzlyn Jean Wonder's Machine"

Houston March 2026 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: Horse shows, Pig races, mutton bustin', Cow birthing a calf

 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo HLSR promotes agriculture and Western heritage, hosting an annual, family-friendly experience that educates and entertains the public.

The show features championship rodeo action, livestock competitions, concerts, a carnival, pig racing, etc

Established in 1932 in Houston, Texas, held at NRG Stadium since 2003, this  charitable organization is the world's largest livestock exhibition and rodeo.

This year 2026 (March 2–22) features a 21-day, tournament-style rodeo with 8,000+ competitors, nightly concerts from stars like Cody Johnson and Lainey Wilson, a carnival, and championship BBQ. Key events include the RODEOHOUSTON Super Series, Go Tejano Day, and daily livestock competitions at NRG Park. 

We had not been to the rodeo in 15 years, son had a corporate pass and we visited on Friday Mar 6th and had a great time. We were at the gates at 11, the crowd was sparse . Special parking at the teal lot was such a treat

Map...

BOOT ROW

on our way into NRG Park on what's called Boot Row. It's a walkway lined with 10, 6-foot tall boots. six artists  painted the giant boots. 

All look amazing and set the mood!

 A small cute fountain here...

Topiary animals

These topiary animals were previously near our home at Galleria area but the garden shop had disappeared after covid lockdown. 

We were so glad to see they are alive and kicking and have a pride of place in this rodeo

John Deere tractor on display

The rides were waiting for peak rush

Kiosks too were still closed

Pig race

There were 4 races with different sized pigs. 

The galleries are numbered 1-4 and support the same number pig. There is a kid cheer leader from each gallery and they get  a plastic snout and candy if their pig wins,

The anchor was quite funny... the names of the pigs were hilarious... Brad Pig, Sydney Swiney, Kim Kardash a ham etc

carousel

Mutton bustin 

it is a popular rodeo event where children, typically ages 4–7 and under 55–60 lbs, ride sheep to see how long they can hold on. It serves as a "junior," version of bull riding to introduce kids to rodeo,  featuring protective gear like helmets and focusing on riding form rather than just time

was fun to watch. There were some 20 entries per show, the sheep are pretty fast and leap in the air too. A couple of kids rode the whole length. The anchor was quite funny. 

The kids wear a wrist tag with number matching their guardian's wrist tag to facilitate handing them over to the right person after the event. 

Horse show

We next went on to the horse show.

Saw a couple of events there

Team roping 

 Team roping is a timed rodeo event in which  riders, called the header and the heeler, work together to rope a loose steer (a castrated bull).

Their goal is to catch and control the steer as quickly and cleanly as possible, requiring precise timing, technical skill, and coordination between both riders and their horses.

The event begins when a steer is released from a chute and given a head start into the arena. The header rides out first and ropes the front of the steer, most often around the horns, though catches around the neck or a single horn are also permitted under team roping rules.

After securing the steer, the header dallies (wraps the rope around the saddle horn) and turns the steer to the left, creating an angle for the heeler to make the final catch.

 

saw some nice merchandise

Livestock Show

We went to the tram stop and took the golf cart to the livestock show pavilion

Watched the birth of a calf

There was a huge crowd around this stall and this cow Pearl birthed a calf. The calf came out with hind legs first and landed a tad heavily. Here the mom is licking her calf clean, his eyes looked a little glazed initially as we can see from the video but he slowly recovered. 

The calf is supposed to stand on its feet in an hour and nurse in 2 hours. But this one could not stand, his hind legs probably a little hurt with the fall when he was born

We went to look at nearby stalls

This pig had 8 newborns, just a day old. Probably a 1st time mom, because usually there are 18 piglets per birth! 

Texas longhorn...

Kids were belted up and taking a pony ride 

We went down a rabbit hole, saw several rabbits

Came back to check in on our new mom, calf... here is Pearl, placenta still not detached.

Calf still not on his feet!

Milking demo

The guy explained dairy operations, 

this poor cow was not giving much milk for the demo because she was not getting adequate sleep in the strange surroundings with lights on all the time!!

Owners were parading their pigs for prizes

We came back again to check on Pearl... the calf has been named Popcorn.

He was being bottle fed

Then the girl tried to make him stand supporting his hind legs, he still buckled down and sat.

He's likely to get OK after some time

Which came first... eggs or chicken?

not sure of the answer but the chicks and the adult hens/roosters look real cute!

Saw eggs hatching... amazing sight

Petting Farm

Car displays

Mariarchi band

Award winning exhibits by students

We did have  booth entry tickets for the concert by Lizzo and it would have been a nice experience but we had been on our feet for more than 6 hours and called it a day!

See y'all on another great adventure soon!

Art car parade April 2026 is here

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2026/04/art-car-parade-april-2026-houston.html