Houston Weekend Events: Sept 29-Oct 2

What to do in Houston this weekend!

Amanda Seales will be shutting down the Bayou City Music Center on Friday, September 30 for The Black Outside Again tour. The doors open at 6 pm. Get your tickets while they're still available!

---

MJB is back in Houston and she's bringing along a knockout line-up of R&B entertainment. Mary J. Blige is on her "Good Morning Gorgeous" tour with openers, Queen Naija and Ella Mai. Get ready to be in your feelings and experience the concert at the Toyota Center on Saturday, October 1!

---

Need something to do before the MJB concert? Celebrate with the flavors of the bayou at the Houston Creole Heritage Festival. There will be local vendors, a Kids Zone and PLENTY of Creole food! Enjoy live music acts on the main stage, the VIP Lounge, and the Creole Bar. General admission is $10; VIP $50; ages 12-17 $5; children under 12 are FREE. The festival takes place Saturday, October 1 from 11 am - 10 pm at Emancipation Park.

---

If you're in the festival-hopping mood, the 6th Annual Nigeria Cultural Parade & Festival is taking place in Downtown Houston Saturday, October 1. Entry is FREE, but tickets are required. You'll be entered into a $1,000 drawing, sponsored by Wazobia African Market. Celebrate Nigerian culture near the Toyota Center at 1400 Clay Street. If you would like to attend precursor celebratory events (Sept 28-29) register ASAP.

---

Follow the F.R.E.S.H. Media Blog and sign-up for our newsletter to learn more about things to do in Houston and surrounding areas.

#events #art #painters #livemusic #music #houston #festivals #nigerianculture #creoleculture #MJB #ellamai #queennaija #smartfunnyandblack #amandaseales

Upcoming Events in Houston: October 10-13

The 41st Houston Italian Festival is back and will last all weekend long! There will be musical performances from DJ Italia, The Fab 5, The Shades of Gray Band, the Tarantellas Italian Folk Dance Group, and Vince King. The festival will take place at the University of St. Thomas and there will be a variety of activities for your entire family to enjoy! Admission is free today (Friday) until 4pm, then $8 for adults and free for children under 12 the rest of the weekend.

To purchase discounted tickets, make reservations for festival activities, or view the weekend schedule, visit the festival Facebook page or houstonitalianfestival.com.

---

Courtesy of Bayou City Arts Festival.

Are you looking for a festival with less wine, but more FOOD TRUCKS?! The Bayou City Art Festival will be underway on Saturday and Sunday. Hosted by Art Colony Association, Inc., the annual festival raises money for local non-profit organizations. Hundreds of artists and vendors will be in attendance to showcase and sell their work to the public, so bring some spending money! Whether you want to listen to live music or create crafts with your kids, the Bayou City Art Festival has the family-friendly entertainment you've been seeking!

Photo by Clifton Henri.

The festival will take place in Downtown, Houston at 901 Bagby St. For more information on this year's featured artist, Clifton Henri, or to purchase tickets, visit www.artcolonyassociation.org.

---

Courtesy of Historic Market Square Houston.

Expecting not a drop of rain in sight and a high temperature of 78 Degrees, the Market Square block party is sure to motivate you to celebrate the fall season and all it has to offer! Historic Market Square Houston has organized the ultimate Día de Muertos pre-celebration festivities for this weekend. There will be art installations, activities, and live music to honor National Hispanic Heritage Month before it comes to an end next week.

A few artists, venues, restaurants, and bars that will be participating include David Beck's Tejano Weekend, El Tule, 1 Stop Shop, Aprons-N-More, Bellaflor, Bowtique, Designs by Aida, and #1 Garden Bling by GASP.

The Dia de Muertos Market Square Block Party will take place on Saturday, October 12th from 6pm-2pm at 301 Milam St. To find out if your favorite artist or venue is participating, or to see what time your chosen activity is taken place, visit the event Facebook page.

---

Courtesy of the Annual Galveston Greek Festival.

Lastly, if you are not hungover from all the weekend festivities, go and have some fun at the beach! The 36th Annual Greek Festival will take place on both Saturday & Sunday and will have all the gyros, shish kabobs, and pastries you could dream of! There's a petting zoo for the kids or you can take a tour of the Greek Orthodox Church. To keep a memory of this family outing, take a trip to the gift shop and find authentic Greek jewelry, paintings, and...Christmas ornaments? Yes. It's NEVER too early to start Christmas shopping!

The festival will take place at the Greek Orthodox Church, 714 19th Street. Festival hours are Saturday 11am - 8pm, and Sunday noon to 6pm. To find out parking information or what other activities will be taking place, click here to see Galveston's activity calendar.

#events #art #painters #livemusic #music #diademuertos #houston #festivals

The Inspiration, Lauren Burke

Choreographer, Lauren Burke, discusses her creative process. Photo Credit: Zondra Victor.

According to atlantaballet.com, becoming a professional dancer takes between 8-10 years. Typically, students begin dancing around age 7. However, this is not always true for dancers. Professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Lauren Burke began dancing in high school and continued dancing as an elective into her college years.

Lauren first attended Lamar University where she studied nursing in hopes of pursuing the medical field. She had finished all of her prerequisites but ended up moving back to Houston where she attempted to enroll in Texas Women’s University – Downtown. It was too late to enroll, so she took dance, art, and piano classes at Houston Community College in order to satisfy her scholarship credit requirements. It was there she realized her true calling to dance.

Since graduating as a dance major at the University of Houston, Lauren has kept busy in her many performances with Urban Souls, FrenetiCore, The Hunter Dance Center, and other projects.

“This piece is called Find the Water and we are basing it on a documentary presented by Valvisions Foundation. [They] are trying to bring awareness to female mutilation that is happening primarily in Africa, along that middle band in Africa.”

Lauren Burke teaches choreography to dancers featured in her newest piece. Photo credit: Zondra Victor

As a contemporary dancer, Lauren has evolved both as a teacher and a dancer within the Houston community.

“For me it depends on the given. Are the dancers a given? Is there music given? For this piece that I am working on, the music was a given…The inspiration for the movement comes a lot from who is watching it, where is its source, the music that was given to me, and dynamics. I’m trying to work with dynamics and changing things up. I really love form. As a personal mover, I really do love form, strength, lines. I love those picture moments. When you’re doing something and you hit it, a picture can be taken and it would be like an art on its own.”

Lauren has upcoming performances including one called The Snow Queen with FrenetiCore. This show will run from December 4th through the 12th. Lauren will perform her piece called The Match with Hunter Dance Studio from February 18th through the 21st.

“I learned that it’s best to have no expectations…I try to live so much in the moment. I think about my next step. And I dream about the next step after that. My next step here, is to finish out my season here with Open Dance Project…Houston is great and growing in the arts, but I want to push myself to the next limit. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot here in Houston, but my next step is New York, and from there, we will see.”

#dance #culture #choreography #arts #Houston