Culture / Entertainment

Houston’s Secret Neighborhood, Gingerbread House Wonders and Post Hardcore Music — the Best Things to do in Houston

The Weekend Gurus Make Their Event Picks

BY // 12.04.19

Houston weekends are packed full of events, but how many of them are truly worthy of your time? PaperCity’s new events calendar offers a curated look at all the best things to do in the area. But everyone can still use a guru — or two.

PaperCity Weekend Gurus Matthew Ramirez and Virginia Reynolds cull our calendar for your weekend must dos in this weekly series.

Courtlandt Place Holiday Home Tour

There are some things in Houston that should remain untouched among the sea of new builds and high-rises, and Courtlandt Place is one of them. The historic one-street neighborhood, which dates back to 1906, has maintained the beauty and charm of early 20th century construction despite the massive changes that continue to encroach the area. And this weekend, you can see what it’s all about at the Courtlandt Place Holiday Home Tour, taking place Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8.

The tour, hosted by The Courtlandt Place Historical Foundation, showcases six historic homes and three beautiful gardens, and will even feature a display of vintage cars. What’s not to love? Designers, gardeners and car gurus alike are guaranteed to enjoy this one-weekend event. As a word of precaution, no cars will be allowed on Courtlandt Place, so consider grabbing an Uber or Lyft to get there.

Tickets are $45, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Preservation Houston.

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

Set your Easter Table with Bering's

Swipe
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
  • Bering's Gift's Easter 2024
courtlandt house
Take a stroll around historic Courtlandt Place this weekend at the Courtlandt Place Holiday Home Tour.

11th Annual Gingerbread Build-Off

It’s out with the old and in with the new. It’s time to finish up those remaining pumpkin pie/cake/bread crumbs from Thanksgiving to make room for the ultimate winter spice: ginger (not to be confused with Ginger Spice). The oft forgotten warm flavor is sadly overshadowed by its pumpkin and peppermint counterparts, so it deserves at least one day to itself. And this weekend, it will have just that.

On Saturday, Architecture Center Houston will be hosting the 11th Annual Gingerbread Build-Off at Hermann Square. The sweet event will welcome more than 40 teams for an ultimate gingerbread building competition. Forget the gingerbread houses of your youth – you know, the ones with crumbling walls, squiggly icing windows and gumdrop hedges – and picture truly epic architectural masterpieces made out of only edible materials.

In addition to the competition, the free event will also include food trucks, entertainment and more (*ahem…Santa!!).

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

9th Annual Tamale Festival

Here in Texas, we love our tamales, and for good reason. I would argue that there’s nothing not to like about them. They’re the tried-and-true, go-to, always delicious snack. Even though tamales are sold year round at a number of bars and beloved restaurants, we wait with great anticipation for this one time of year when it’s socially acceptable to eat a year’s worth of tamales in just a few weeks.

On Saturday, you can celebrate your love for tamales at the 9th Annual Tamale Festival, held where else but on Navigation Boulevard. Fill up on some of the best tamales in town as you enjoy live music and shows with the whole fam. Ticket are $12, with VIP ducats $75.

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

La Dispute

It’s hard to stumble on something that sounds truly new, but La Dispute approach that, especially on their latest record, Panorama. Of the sub-genre known as “the new wave of post-hardcore,” La Dispute are arguably its biggest act, mixing the moody sounds of post-hardcore (for reference, think Fugazi or Shellac) with a melodic, jazz-like improvisational style of singing that’s a little like the guys from Cursive rapping (trust me it sounds a lot better than it reads).

Music of this strain (emo, hardcore, bands on Epitaph Records) isn’t typically My Thing but La Dispute are so far Out There (in a good way) I have to respect it. Their live shows are allegedly insane too.

Catch them downstairs at White Oak Music Hall this Thursday, December 5. Doors open at 8 pm; tickets are $25. -Matthew Ramirez

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

Post-hardcore new wavers La Dispute hit White Oak Music Hall Thursday, December 5.
Post-hardcore new wavers La Dispute hit White Oak Music Hall Thursday, December 5.

A$AP Ferg

The street representative of A$AP Mob, A$AP Ferg has long since stepped out of the shadow of the group and ringleader A$AP Rocky with a formidable solo career that gave us undeniable bangers like “Shabba,” “New Level” and “Plain Jane.”

Fresh off August’s Floor Seats EP, Ferg crashes into House of Blues this Friday, December 6, with doors opening at 7 pm and tickets starting at $32.50. -Matthew Ramirez

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

Glassell School of Art Sale

Just in time for the holidays, it’s the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell School of Art Sale. Paintings, ceramics, prints, watercolors, drawings, jewelry and more – see what the Glassell School produces firsthand. Best of all, most pieces are reasonably priced.

Catch the preview party this Thursday, December 5. The main public sale gets underway Friday and Saturday, December 6 and 7.

Preview party tickets are $20, and it starts at 6 pm. The public sale gets underway at noon Friday and 10 am Saturday with both days free to attend. -Matthew Ramirez

Go to the full PaperCity events calendar listing.

Hop into Bering's this Easter for Egg-citing Finds!
Shop Berings
SHOP NOW

Featured Properties

Swipe
X
X