Day Trips & Beyond: October Events Roundup
Chinati Weekend in Marfa, Lantern Fest in Paige, and lots more!
By Gerald E. McLeod, 9:00AM, Wed. Oct. 5, 2016
The number of festivals, carnivals, fairs, and cook-offs is heating up as the weather cools off. It’s time to go exploring.
Artist Donald Judd arrived in Marfa in 1973 and made lasting changes to the desert landscape until his death in 1994. His legacy is a world-class art center that continues to inspire and educate. Chinati Weekend offers an open house to the Judd Foundation and Chinati Foundation properties around town along with gallery tours and special events.
Oct. 8-9, Marfa, www.chinati.org
The Houston design firm of www.houstonpublicmedia.org
There is still time to get tickets to Lantern Fest, one of the most unusual and beautiful light shows to be brought to Central Texas. Spectators are participants in the release of hundreds of paper lanterns that fill the night sky like twinkling stars rising from the ground. The festival offers an evening of family fun in preparation for the nighttime spectacular at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige about an hour east of Austin.
Sat., Oct. 22, Paige, www.thelanternfest.com
Travel Notes:
Take a tour of the geology of Texas from your computer on the Texas Geology Web Map. The interactive map lets you explore different layers of a location and retrieve detailed information about the geologic formation without being too technical. If you want to see something pretty cool, look at the cliffs and riverbeds at Caprock Canyons State Park at txpub.usgs.gov/dss/texasgeology.
Beginning in October and running through the end of the year, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston shows the artistic side of early Texas through two exhibits: “Julian Onderdonk and the Texan Landscape” and “A Texas Legacy: Selections From the William J. Hill Collection.” A San Antonio native and educated in New York, Onderdonk mastered the art of capturing the Texas landscape. A Texas Legacy showcases 65 examples of early Texas decorative arts. Through Jan. 2, 2017, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, www.mfah.org
This year the Texas State Fair in Dallas celebrates its 130th year. To honor the Texas institution, the DeGolyer Library at SMU’s Fondren Library Center in Dallas presents “The State Fair of Texas, 1886-2016, Celebrating 130 Years of a Texas Institution.” The free exhibition features historic photographs taken by Lynn Lennon who visited the fair every day during its three-week run from 1984 to 1993. The rare photos are supplemented with vintage State Fair items collected over the years. Through Dec. 16, Fondren Library, SMU, Dallas, www.smu.edu
Looking for something to do around Texas or around the world? Check out everfest, an exhaustive online list of happenings no matter what direction you happen to be going. For events unique to Texas go to www.everfest.com/texas
Other October Events:
State Fair of Texas
Through Oct. 23, Dallas, www.bigtex.com
Texas Wine Month Trail
Oct. 1-31, Fredericksburg, www.texaswinetrail.com
Sand Castle Days
Oct. 6-9, South Padre Island, www.sandcastledays.com
Seafair
Oct. 6-9, Rockport, www.rockportseafair.com
Gruene Music & Wine Festival
Oct. 6-9, Gruene, www.gruenemusicandwinefest.org
Astronaut Interactive Exhibit
Oct. 6-Jan. 16, Space Center, Houston, www.spacecenter.org
Memories of Broadway
Oct. 7, 8pm, Cave Without a Name, Boerne, www.cavewithoutaname.com
Sacred Springs Powwow
Oct. 7-8, San Marcos, www.indigenouscultures.org
Star Party
Oct. 8, Fountainwood Observatory, Georgetown, www.southwestern.edu
Dogtober Fest
Oct. 8, Beaumont, www.dogtoberfestbeaumont.com
Celtic Festival and Highland Games
Oct. 8, Kerrville, www.kerrcountyceltic.com
Crazy Water Festival
Oct. 8, Mineral Wells, www.crazywaterfestival.org
Stonewall VFD Fall Fish Fry
Oct. 8, Stonewall, www.fb.com/Stonewall-Volunteer-Fire-Department
Scarecrow Festival
Oct. 8-9, Chappell Hill, www.chappellhillhistoricalsociety.com
Bayou City Art Festival
Oct. 8-9, Houston, www.artcolonyassociation.org
Old Town Festival
Oct. 8-10, Port Aransas, www.portaransasmuseum.org
Texas Renaissance Festival
Weekends Oct. 8-Nov. 27, Todd Mission, www.texrenfest.com
The Butcher’s Ball
Oct. 9, Rockin’ Star Ranch, Brenham, www.butchersball.com
Rose Festival
Oct. 13-14, Tyler, www.texasrosefestival.com
Original Texas Bigfoot Conference>br> Oct. 14-16, Jefferson, www.cryptomundo.com
Ranch Heritage Day
Oct. 15, Bandera, www.tpwd.texas.gov
40th Celebration Art Festival
Oct. 15, Liberty Hill, www.40thcelebration.weebly.com
San Antonio Beer Festival
Oct. 15, San Antonio, www.sanantoniobeerfestival.com
Chalk Festival
Oct. 15-16, Kerrville, www.kerrvillechalk.org
Island Octoberfest
Oct. 21-22, Galveston, www.galvestonoktoberfest.com
Prickly Pear Food + Wine Festival
Oct. 22, Coleman, www.colemanpricklypear.com
World Championship Fiddlers Festival
Oct. 22, Crockett, www.worldchampionshipfiddlersfestival.com
HogEye Festival
Oct. 22, Elgin, www.hogeyefestival.com
Untapped Music & Beer Festival
Oct. 22, Houston, www.untapped-festival.com
Texas Clay Festival
Oct. 22-23, Gruene, www.texasclayfestival.com
Haunted Zoo
Oct. 27-20, Victoria, www.texaszoo.org
Czhilispiel
Oct. 28-30, Flatonia, www.flatoniachamber.com
Oakwood Cemetery Tours
Oct. 28-30, Fort Worth, www.stockyardsmuseum.org
Voodoo Music + Arts Experience
Oct. 28-30, New Orleans, La., www.voodoofestival.com
Handmade Market
Oct. 29, Boerne, www.boernehandmademarket.com
Dia de los Muertos Festival
Oct. 29, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, www.concordiacemetery.org
Egyptian Festival
Oct. 29, Houston, www.egyptfesthouston.com
Texas Country Reporter Festival
Oct. 29, Waxahachie, www.waxahachiecvb.com
Pecan Fest
Oct. 29-30, Seguin, www.visitseguin.com
Islamic Arts Festival
Oct. 29-30, Spring, www.islamicartssociety.com
Gerald McLeod has been traveling around Texas and beyond for his "Day Trips" column for the past 24 years. Keep up to date with his journeys on his archive page. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips," is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
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Gerald E. McLeod, Oct. 4, 2017
Kali Daryl Robinson, Oct. 1, 2014
Kate X Messer, July 4, 2013
March 15, 2024
October Events, Texas, Chinati Weekend, Marfa, Rigsby Hull, Mi Familia Vota, National Taco Day, Lantern Fest, Texas Geology Web Map, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas State Fair, Everfest