Texans love their celebrations, which gives planners a multitude of agenda-enhancing choices. Following are five top picks from the state’s year-long festival line-up.
- Overseen by “Big Tex,” the State Fair of Texas (www.bigtex.com)—the event that made Dallas great—turns 125 this year. Also legendary is the stage: the 277-acre National Historic Landmark Fair Park, home to seven museums, stunning Art Deco architecture and North America’s largest Ferris wheel.
- Close to 100,000 people descend on the “Hot Air Balloon Capital of Texas” for the annual Plano Balloon Festival (www.planoballoonfest.org) each September. Celebrating 32 years in 2011, the three-day festival features some 100 colorful hot-air balloons and activities galore.
- Born in Gainesville, Texas, Red Steagall, famed for his Texas swing dance music, was honored as the Poet Laureate of Texas in 2006. Held every October in Fort Worth, his Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering & Western Swing Festival (www.redsteagallcowboygathering.com) is one of the world’s top authentic cowboy festivals, featuring numerous family-oriented activities where visitors can experience the true west.
- More than 250,000 spectators line the streets of downtown Houston each May to view the annual Art Car Parade (www.orangeshow.org), which showcases outlandish folk art creations on wheels. Truly a sight to see, the parade celebrates 25 years in 2012.
- One of the state’s most popular annual events, Mardi Gras! Galveston (www.mardigrasgalveston.com), which turned 100 this year, draws around a quarter-million revelers to Galveston each February.
