Things to do in Houston_

9:00 AM–10:00 PM · The DeLUXE Theater · Fifth Ward

A free comics-and-cosplay con inside a restored historic theater — double film screening, vendors, panels and giveaways, squarely in your sci-fi/horror lane.

9:00 AM–5:00 PM (open all week) · Houston Museum of Natural Science · Museum District / Hermann Park

A real Hall of Ancient Egypt, a towering dinosaur graveyard and a vault of gems under one roof — deep history and hard science for a slow weekday afternoon.

7:00 PM · White Oak Music Hall — Upstairs · Near Northside

The Peruvian-American alt-R&B/reggaeton artist brings his moody, genre-blurring sound to an intimate upstairs room — an easy Monday-night wildcard.

7:00 PM · White Oak Music Hall · Near Northside

The ex-Black Midi frontman is one of the wildest live acts in rock right now — jazz-warped, theatrical, unhinged prog for the adventurous ear.

Discovery Green · Downtown

Eight 20-foot, wildly colorful folk-art creatures — part myth, part monster — take over downtown's front yard, free and on view through mid-October.

8:00 PM · 713 Music Hall · EaDo / East Downtown

The UK dance-funk collective turns a concert into a choreographed party — big grooves, tight visuals, one of the best pure live shows touring this year.

Czech Center Museum Houston · Museum District

Authentic Czech wind-band music with cold Czech beer in hand — an oddball, low-key cultural night you won't stumble into anywhere else in town.

Stages · Sawyer Yards / Washington Ave

The seven-time Tony-nominated musical about a Newfoundland town that took in stranded 9/11 passengers — a true story that lands as warm as it is gutting.

7:00 PM · White Oak Music Hall · Near Northside

Sweaty, horn-driven roots-rock-and-soul from a band built for live rooms — a high-energy midweek show that overdelivers for the ticket price.

3:00 PM–11:00 PM (Mon–Thu) · Discovery Green · Downtown

50+ gourd varieties, a hay maze, a 30-foot slide and rides light up downtown after dark — peak fall-season atmosphere for a horror-and-Halloween head.

Scout Bar · Clear Lake / Webster

The UK duo's riff-heavy, electronics-laced nu-metal is built to detonate a small room — right in your loud-and-heavy wheelhouse to close the week.

7:00 PM · White Oak Music Hall · Near Northside

SoCal garage-punk meets Chicago post-punk/darkwave for a moody, driving Friday bill — cheap, loud and a little bit gothy.

7:00 PM · White Oak Music Hall — Downstairs · Near Northside

Maximalist hyperpop provocateur Slayyyter turns the Downstairs room into a glittering, high-energy dance party to kick off the weekend.

Fri 7:00 PM • Sat 2:00 & 7:00 PM • Sun 2:00 PM · Stages — The Gordy · Montrose / Upper Kirby

The Tony-winning musical about 7,000 air travelers stranded in tiny Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11 — real history turned into a warm, rousing true story.

Fri–Sun (see program for hours) · National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa · Spring Branch

Home-cooked pierogi and kielbasa, folk dancers in full costume, live polka and a colorful harvest celebration — one of Houston's most charming cultural fests, free.

On view daily (through Oct 18) · Discovery Green · Downtown

Eight towering, 20-foot folk-art creatures by Mexican artists turn the downtown park into a free open-air gallery of magical-realist beasts — great by day or lit at night.

Fri–Sun (Brownout live Sat 5:30 PM) · Karbach Brewing Co. Biergarten · Spring Branch / Northwest

Houston's biggest Bavarian bash: a genuine German-malt Märzen, wiener-dog races, stein-hoisting contests and live music — and no cover to get in.

6:00 – 10:00 PM (21+) · Houston Zoo · Hermann Park / Museum District

After-hours craft-beer sampling as you roam the zoo with a drink in hand — dozens of pours, food and music, all for adults only.

7:00 PM (doors 6:00 PM) · White Oak Music Hall — Upstairs · Near Northside

Local heavy talent takes the Upstairs stage for a night of crushing metal/hardcore — $5 Lone Star tall boys and $6 wells to keep the pit fueled.

7:00 PM (also Sun 9/20, 7:00 PM) · Toyota Center · Downtown

Kevin Parker brings his kaleidoscopic psych-rock and a full immersive light show downtown for two nights — one of the year's biggest arena spectacles.

10:00 AM – 9:00 PM (Sat & Sun) · East Beach (R.A. Apffel Park) · Galveston Island

Architecture and engineering teams sculpt jaw-dropping sand creations on the beach, with live music, a market, food and drinks — parking included.

Market 6:00 PM • Film 7:00–9:00 PM · Discovery Green · Downtown

A free outdoor screening of the beloved Selena under the skyline, paired with a night market of local makers, vintage and art — perfect Hispanic Heritage Month evening.

Sat 6:10 PM (Hispanic Heritage Street Fest) • Sun 1:10 PM (Fan Appreciation) · Daikin Park · Downtown / East End

Late-season baseball under the retractable roof with playoff stakes on the line — Saturday adds a Hispanic Heritage street fest, Sunday is Fan Appreciation Day.

Museum hours (Sat & Sun) · Houston Museum of Natural Science · Museum District

A visually stunning journey into Chile's Atacama — the driest desert on Earth and one of the best places in the world to stargaze — with otherworldly landscapes and science.

6:00 – 9:00 PM (21+) · Kemah Boardwalk · Kemah

Waterfront tequila and taco fest with 20 drink samples, taco tickets, a mariachi band and a DJ — sip and graze with a bay breeze off Galveston Bay.