Laborghinis are the big attraction, of course, but the Lamborghini Festival has evolved over the years to become a three-day lifestyle event that includes a fashion show, a scenic Hill Country Bull Run and the eighth annual car show. The celebrations begin with a ticketed event Friday night at Paper Co. Cafe with fashion by Runway Houston and special guest Valentino Balboni, former chief test driver of Lamborghini. Come Saturday more than 90 exotics will rumble through 200 miles of Texas Hill Country roads during the Bull Run. Then more than 20,000 aficionados are expected on Sunday for the free main event at CityCentre, with appearances by Balboni, Smoking Tire's Matt Farah and the famous Batventador.
The Lamborghini Festival is scheduled for October 10-13 with the first two events open to Laborghini and exotic car owners ($495). The festival opens to the public from 3-7 p.m. Sunday at CityCentre, 800 Town and Country Boulevard. For information, visit lamborghinifestival.com. Free to $495.
Be afraid, be really afraid, with this inaugural immersive haunted experience from Dinolion. The Rabbit Cage comes with a safe word — "terminate" — in this reimagining of the traditional haunted house. Rule number one is to obey all instructions from the cast, rule number two is that this is a solo venture, unless you enter under the "admission for two option." It's creepy and it's kooky, and it's brought to you by Artistic Director Jeromy Barber with the mysterious and spooky cast of Amy Blackwell, Brenna Rogers, Lauren Kuca, Lindsay Cortner, Richard Lyders and Tracy Hamblin. We'll see you on the other side ... hopefully.
The Rabbit Cage is scheduled for October 11-November 2, from 9-11 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and October 30, 31 and November 1-2 at Axelrad, 1517 Alabama. For information, visit eventbrite.com or dinolion.com. $25 to $60.
We know you've been itching to see that new baby giraffe at the zoo, and there's no better time than during Zoo Boo presented by LyondellBasell. Little ones can dress up as superheroes, ghouls and goblins before heading out to the Houston Zoo for all sorts of fun: there's the Whataburger Pumpkin Patch with mini pumpkins as take-homes, a Candy Corn Maze where guests will collect spooky stamps, a chance to add to the Monster Mural, and — on Saturdays and Sundays — dance in the Monster Mashquerade. The event is "merry-not-scary" and includes educational opportunities like Meet the Keeper Talks presented by Phillips 66, Zoo Boo Mystery Boxes that contain interesting animal facts and more.
Zoo Boo presented by LyondellBasell is scheduled for October 11-27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the Houston Zoo, 6200 Hermann Park Drive. For information, call 713-533-6500 or visit houstonzoo.org/zooboo. Free (for zoo members); $14.95 to $19.95 for general admission.
Rick Steves has one of the coolest jobs around: traveling all over the world, meeting the locals, tasting the foods, and exploring centuries old buildings and sites. Since he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe, in 1976, the travel expert has gone on to produce best-selling guidebooks, public television and radio shows, a syndicated column, a small-group tour program, and a robust website with travel information. While screening images from his travels to Italy, England, France, Vienna and Norway, the Houston Symphony will perform complementary music as Steves offers more insight and cultural context during Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey. Former Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski returns to guest conduct classics like Pomp and Circumstance, "Ode to Joy," and The Blue Danube waltz.
Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey is scheduled for October 11-13 at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana. For information, call 713-224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. $69 to $124.
Excitement for next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo is already building, and Asia Society Texas Center is getting in on the action with Family Day: Japanese Sports Day as they transform the Yoshio Taniguchi-designed building into a fieldhouse. The activities are a riff on Japan's annual holiday, an event that grew after the 1964 Olympics and expanded to include celebrations in schools and businesses. At Asia Society Texas Center, the fun will include ball toss (tamaire), chopsticks, tug-of-war (tsunahiki), a deka pants relay, a balloon race and giant Sudoku. Rounding out the day will be traditional Soran-bushi dances, Japanese kites, a 2020 Tokyo Olympic booth, and food for purchase from Shun Japanese Kitchen. This event is presented by ASTC in collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Houston and The Health Museum.
Family Day: Japanese Sports Day is scheduled for October 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore Boulevard. For information, call 713-496-9901 or visit asiasociety.org/texas. Free.
If you've ever tried to shell a pecan, you already know it's no easy task. During the Great Depression about half of America's pecans were shelled in San Antonio. But when the shellers' wages were cut from six cents to four cents per shelled pound, enough was enough, and Emma Tenayuca led about 10,000 workers in a massive walkout that lasted 37 days. The event paved the way for the birth of the Chicano movement and is featured in a documentary by Anne Lewis titled A Strike and An Uprising! (in Texas), screening this weekend at the Holocaust Museum Houston. In her documentary, Lewis couples that 1938 milestone with a lesser known event from 1987, a Jobs with Justice march led by Nacogdoches cafeteria workers, groundskeepers, and housekeepers. After the screening, there will be an audience Q&A with the filmmaker.
A Strike and An Uprising! (in Texas) is scheduled for October 12 from 6-8 p.m. Saturday at Holocaust Museum Houston, the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Theater, 5401 Caroline. For information, call 713-942-8000 or visit hmh.org. Free (advance registration is required).
An Art-Filled Weekend:
Feverish art lovers shouldn't overlook this weekend's smorgasbord of art fairs. Read more about Texas Contemporary (October 10-13), stARTup Art Fair Houston (October 11-13), Bayou City Art Festival Downtown (October 12-13), and more in our companion articles below.This Just In:
The New American Festival (October 12) touches down at MATCH (3400 Main) with an immigration-themed art exhibition, a live painting performance, and lite bites served by Poitín and inspired by participants' birth countries of Ireland, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Mexico. The goal? To transform the conversation around immigration, promote area artists, and hear personal stories from immigrants and refugees. Learn more at matchouston.org/events/2019/new-american-festival.
The highlight of the evening will be a fully immersive live painting performance by Geraldina Interiano Wise, a contemporary Latina artist whose avant-garde work explores themes of coexistence and connectivity. Her performance, a collaboration with Dr. Jose Contreras-Vidal, Director of the Non-Invasive Brain-Machine Interface Lab at the University of Houston, delves into the new field of Neuroaesthetics. The audience will witness the making of a new scientific model as the performance is a data mining event that incorporates cutting-edge technology in a closed loop of the artist’s brain.
Sculpture Month Houston (October 12-November 30) kicks off with a SMH 2019 Festival at SITE Gallery Houston (1502 Sawyer) and an October 11th artist talk with bio art pioneer Suzanne Anker. Learn more at sculpturemonthhouston.org.
Behold, University of Houston System Public Art has finally unveiled artist Marta Chilindrón's "Mobius Houston" in Wilhelmina's Grove adjacent to Moore's School of Music, 333 Cullen Boulevard. The bi-color, acrylic sculpture resembles stained glass as the sun and clouds reflect its colors, and is the inaugural temporary installation in UH System's 50th year.