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You thought SXSW was the only days-long party in town promising loud music and smelly animals? Then this must be your first rodeo! OK, this one’s slightly more wholesome: Activities include a stock show, pro rodeo, petting zoo, pig races, carnival rides, and your favorite fareground vittles, plus a fresh headliner every day, including Lukas Nelson, Los Huracanes del Norte, Wynonna Judd, and Flatland Cavalry. Too wholesome? Pull on your finest shitkickers and hit the dance hall; there’s a full bar and, Rodeo Austin teases, a “chance to dance with a real cowboy.” Runs through March 23. – Kimberley Jones

Where better to celebrate Miss Emerald’s latest controversial creation – what some have called “The Untalented Mr. Ripley” – than in the sweat-soaked premises of the elegant Chups’ estate? Partnered up with Texas Emo Club, CUC brings dance-floor murder for all enjoyers of Jacob “Oh Lordy” Elordi and Barry “Little Freak” Keoghan. Burn it down via busting moves to tunes spun by DJs BB Ding, Claudia Alexandra, and Dragonnqueen as they’ll be boosting dance, indie sleaze, and electric all night. Venue event descriptions promise bathwater shots, but here’s my question: Who’s providing that extra special “sauce”? Further investigation required. – James Scott

The history of world cinema teems with “new waves” that symbolized electrifying new directions – in technique, in the kinds of stories being told, and in the people doing the telling. In Taiwan, that New Wave revved up in the early Eighties with Edward Yang at the wheel. Austin Film Society’s new Essential Cinema presents a rare look at Yang’s filmography, which has grown in stature since his early death at 59 from colon cancer. Series kickoff Taipei Story (1985) stars Hou Hsiao-hsien, fellow titan of New Taiwanese Cinema, as a former star baseball player stuck in the past and at odds with his more modern-minded girlfriend, played by Tsai Chin, a pop singer who would become Yang’s first wife.   – Kimberley Jones

Showing support for queer youth when they need it most is essential to building a better tomorrow. March 18-23, Austin Independent School District celebrates Pride Week as a way to “highlight the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment.” Celebrations of LGBTQIA students, families, and staff include AISD Pride stickers, campus activities, and, as the week’s big capper, an all-are-welcome event featuring food trucks, a special performance, and a student dance and social. – James Scott

Located about 24 miles southwest of all-lit-up Austin, small-town Driftwood offers a better opportunity to admire the stars at night. Vista Brewing hosts a screening of documentarian Betty Buckley’s 55-minute ode to the night sky and its influence on millennia of storytellers – a creative spark in danger of being snuffed out by encroaching light pollution. A post-screening Q&A will be followed by an hour of informal stargazing with telescopes. – Kimberley Jones

Billy Joe Miller is a queer, interdisciplinary artist who creates public art in response to the natural world. University Christian Church is a dynamic, inclusive community, serving Austin without exception – regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or disability. OK, how about they join forces for more beauty? Done – with a large, arched sculpture made from powder-coated aluminum, redolent of sanctuary and transformation, set within a landscape design of native plants. Witness this work revealed tonight in a ceremony that features live music from Jordan O’Jordan, Bo Ray, and Thor and Friends. WWJD? He’d be right there. – Wayne Alan Brenner

A day of family fun at a classic carnival raises funds for the Cowan Elementary PTA, which has gathered some fabulous prize packages for raffle: “Waterslide Palooza” includes a one-night stay at the Kalahari in Round Rock; “Austin Family Fun” comes with tix to an Austin FC game, the Austin Zoo, and $100 at Pinthouse; and “Adult Staycation” offers a stay at Colton House, brunch at Ciclo, and massages at Mantis. Bonus prizes will also be awarded at the carnival featuring games, bounce houses, a petting zoo, food trucks, and more. – Kat McNevins

At 8:30pm local time, Earth Hour will return for its 17th annual request that people around the world turn off their lights. It’s also a call to recognize the precarious position that our planet is in. The Earth Hour website has ideas for power-divested activities in case your addiction to electronics is that overwhelming. We’re not gonna pretend it won’t be difficult for our toddler-like attention spans. But it’s the least we can do for, ya know, the survival of our species. – James Renovitch

Some of you may remember when Estrella Acosta was a vital part of the Austin music scene. The Cuban-born singer-songwriter long ago relocated to Amsterdam, where her career has flourished. She’ll be returning to Austin with her amazing band, Esquina 25, to play a free show at one of UT’s most sonically rich venues. Acosta’s current album, Tierra – Songs by Cuban Women, is a joyous affair melding adventurous arrangements and sparkling improvisation with traditional Cuban rhythms. The album was nominated for a 2023 Latin Grammy. This is her lone local appearance, so don’t miss out on this rare treat. – Jay Trachtenberg

Fareground, Downtown’s upscale food hall situation, is making the most of mudbug season with a festival dedicated to the humble crawfish and its regular boil companions, corn and potatoes: Price of admission guarantees you a pound of food plus one Lone Star tallboy. Expect live music, cornhole, and a vendor market at the on-site Ellis craft cocktail bar; we bet one of their cherry lime daiquiris would pair nicely with a spicy crawdad. – Kimberley Jones

Do your favorite pants have a fallen hem or missing button? Got a broken blender gathering dust? Keep those items in rotation and out of the landfill with this free clinic from the amazing folks at the public library. Skilled coaches will guide you through your repair journey, to which you must only bring up to two items, parts you might need to make the fix, and a curious mind. They’ll have sewing machines and some tools on hand if you need, and they’ll even accept drop-offs for volunteers to try their hand at fixing. Get all the details online. – Kat McNevins

If you caught the 2018 doc McQueen, about the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, then you’re already familiar with the talents of his nephew and protégé Gary James McQueen, who was responsible for the stunning, under-the-skin skull sculptures featured in the opening credits. Those skulls, as represented via 3D lenticular artworks, form the basis of the Gary James McQueen exhibit – his first stateside – now running at West Chelsea Contemporary through March 24. – Kimberley Jones

Melecio Galván died in 1982, but there’s a reason the Blanton Museum of Art titled its new retrospective “Meet Melecio Galván”: The Mexican draftsman didn’t receive the kind of attention he deserved in his lifetime. A recent acquisition distinguishes the Blanton as the U.S. museum with the largest collection of Galván works, now numbering 47 drawings in total – making Blanton the obvious place to offer art lovers an overdue introduction to the undersung artist. The exhibition, curated by Vanessa Davidson and on display through Aug. 25, is rounded out with works by his Mexican contemporaries, including Arnold Belkin, Rafael Coronel, Elvira Gascón, Silvia Pardo, Arturo Pastraña Vásquez, Rufino Tamayo, and José Luis Cuevas. – Kimberley Jones

This world premiere won’t be a danse macabre, per se, but we’re dying to see what Ballet Austin’s Artistic Director Stephen Mills has conjured by way of exploring the life and works of that darkling prince of American letters, Edgar Allan Poe. Mills’ choreography, gracefully (and eldritchly) embodied by the company’s finest at the Long Center, doesn’t take place in any grave silence, of course – the kinetic biography is powered by a musical score from composer Graham Reynolds, performed live by the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and features a thrilling libretto penned by the Rude Mechs’ appropriately raven-haired Shawn Sides. – Wayne Alan Brenner

Push the boundaries between reality and fiction at this performance of Sam Mayer’s persona poolboy00, “an experimental reality show/participatory memoir/talk show for the streaming platform Twitch and irl.” Audiences will be pulled into the Houston-born artist’s tale created from over 20 years of writing – including journals, failed plays, and a School of Rock fanfic – and asked to interact through live question and answer. Be warned, however, that nothing is as it seems in this production. – James Scott

Jill Schroeder’s grayDUCK Gallery presents a powerful new solo show by Sarah Sudhoff, and we should preface this listing with a trigger warning – but that very term, in context, lands much too hideously: Sudhoff’s exhibition “explores our increased exposure to gun violence and the alarming lack of measurable gun reform in the United States.” Which is provocative enough, but: “My project is attuned to focus on K-12 shootings,” says the artist, “and includes community involvement with schools devastated by shootings in Uvalde, Texas, at Robb Elementary, and the 2018 shooting in Santa Fe High School.” – Wayne Alan Brenner

Here comes a global fest for families predicated on introducing South Asian storytelling traditions to a wider audience. Kiddos and grownups can learn about South Asia’s rich cultural history through folk art, dance, music, and literature presented by South Asian artists and writers. That includes hands-on activities like painting, a moving exhibit throughout the library that features audio elements, an immersive Desi storytelling performance, a Likhawat creative storytelling panel, and much more. Fest founders Peerbagh state their aim in creating events like Varta Fest is both to build creative confidence in kids but also “find a balance between preserving cultural authenticity and adapting narratives for the modern world.” – James Scott

For generations of children, Arnold Lobel’s stories of amphibian best buds Frog and Toad have been a charming guide to the complexities and joys of friendship. Now the pair take to the stage for this delightful Tony-nominated musical. It’s truly a family affair, adapted by Lobel’s son-in-law Mark Linn-Baker with music by Robert Reale and book & lyrics by his brother, Willie. This new production, directed by Best of Austin winner Sara Burke, features Jillian Sainz and Victoria Brown donning the signature jackets and trousers of Frog and Toad, respectively. – Richard Whittaker

Alejandra Almuelle has been responsible for some of the most compelling works of clay sculpture ever created in this city, many of them predicated on the human body and its potential as a record of experience. This latest exhibition of her artistry, a solo show at Women & Their Work, brings the human form front and center, clayborne with additions of graphite, beeswax, paper, resin, and gold and silver leaf. Adorned, embellished, emboldened, the flesh created from clay comes full circle, a cycle of memory and magic powered by beauty, the viewing of it an experience we recommend recording via your own wonder-hungry rods and cones. – Wayne Alan Brenner

A special program for visitors ages 0-3 and their families, providing caregivers and early learners the chance to experience the children's museum together. Thinkery will host two storytimes and free play that support the social, emotional, and cognitive development of the earliest learners.