Houston’s Most Unusual Festival

One of America’s most innovative showcases of cross-pollination, performance and new media happens in Houston this month. And if you haven’t yet been to a CounterCurrent festival, there’s still time to secure tickets online for the 2016 lineup, which unfurls April 12 through April 17 in venues citywide.

Don’t expect the usual Wortham Center setup or actor-upon-stage playing to audience relationship. Boundaries between performers and audience blur; a historic cemetery, a Third Ward park, street corners and MATCH are all part of the unexpected venues. The world-class, avant-garde programming is all free, underwritten and presented by the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and helmed by Karen Farber, who curates the programming for the pioneering festival, which is now in its third year.

Partake of commissioned works by artists from around the globe, as well as those based in Houston. Rimini Protokoll, Ten Tiny Dances, El Seed, Jason Moran, Slavs and Tatars, Ghana Think Tank and hometown talents Hillerbrand+Magsamen are among CounterCurrent16’s innovative headliners — absolutely perfect for millennials.