What's on in Houston, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Chevron Houston Marathon, Winter / Christmas break in United States

• Festival

  Chevron Houston Marathon

  10–20 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Twenty-five thousand runners through downtown and the Heights on a Sunday in mid-January, on the one weekend the weather here is reliably good for it. Downtown closes from before dawn. Source ↗

Still on: Cedar and oak pollen (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

• Festival

  Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

  25 Feb – 25 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Twenty days at NRG Park with a rodeo and a stadium concert every night, plus a barbecue contest the week before and a trail ride into downtown. It is the biggest thing Houston does. Source ↗

Still on: Cedar and oak pollen (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Spring break in United States

• Nature

  Azaleas and spring bloom

  1 Mar – 5 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  River Oaks and the Bayou Bend gardens flower in March, and the Hill Country bluebonnets are a three-hour drive west at the same time. The short, decent stretch of the Houston year. Source ↗

Still on: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (25 Feb – 25 Mar (usually)), Cedar and oak pollen (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Art Car Parade

  5–20 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalClosures

  Two hundred and fifty mutated vehicles down Allen Parkway on a Saturday in April, free to watch and genuinely strange. The largest event of its kind anywhere. Source ↗

Still on: Azaleas and spring bloom (1 Mar – 5 Apr (usually)), Cedar and oak pollen (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Mosquito season

  1 May – 31 Oct · usuallyInsect season

  Harris County runs one of the largest mosquito control operations in the country and still sprays by air after a wet week. Anything on a bayou trail or a patio needs repellent until the first front arrives. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Gulf coast heat and humidity

  20 May – 25 Sep · usuallyExtreme heat

  Four months where the dew point does not drop and the heat index sits above forty most afternoons. The city is built to be crossed by car and air conditioning for a reason. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Houston Pride, Summer break in United States

• Hazard

  Atlantic hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  The risk concentrates from mid-August into September. The bigger and more frequent problem here is not the wind but the rainfall: this is a flat city that floods on a stalled storm. Source ↗

• Festival

  Houston Pride

  20–30 Jun · usuallyCrowded

  The parade runs downtown after dark at the end of June, which is the only sensible way to hold one here that month. Smith and Lamar close from the afternoon and the downtown hotels sell out. Source ↗

Still on: Mosquito season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Gulf coast heat and humidity (20 May – 25 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Freedom Over Texas, Summer break in United States

• Holiday

  Freedom Over Texas

  4 JulNational holidayCrowded

  The city's Fourth of July festival on the lawns at Eleanor Tinsley Park, ending with fireworks over Buffalo Bayou. Allen Parkway and Memorial shut for most of the day and the bayou trail with them. Source ↗

Still on: Mosquito season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Gulf coast heat and humidity (20 May – 25 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Mosquito season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Gulf coast heat and humidity (20 May – 25 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Mosquito season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Gulf coast heat and humidity (20 May – 25 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  The first cool fronts

  15 Oct – 10 Dec · usuallyDry season

  From mid-October the fronts start reaching the coast and the humidity finally breaks. Late autumn is the best stretch of the year here and almost nobody books it.

Still on: Mosquito season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), The first cool fronts (15 Oct – 10 Dec (usually))

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Cedar and oak pollen

  15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyPollen season

  Mountain cedar blows in from the Hill Country around the turn of the year, oak takes over through February and March, and the city publishes a pollen count daily because enough people plan their week around it. Source ↗

Still on: The first cool fronts (15 Oct – 10 Dec (usually))