40 April 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com

It’s been said that “everything’sbigger in Texas.” Even the state’stourism slogan likens the LoneStar State to “a whole other coun-

try.” Granted, it is as big as some othercountries and this largesse is not limitedto land mass. It also extends to the over-whelming “to do” list of Texas eventsand festivals, which average in excess of3,350 throughout the year.

With the state divided into seventravel regions, ferreting out the “best-of-the-best” is a daunting task and a sub-jective one. To be sure, fairs, rodeos androundups still reign supreme in this, the

capital of all things Western-flavored.But wandering off the traditional pathcan yield some delightful, off-beat andwell-attended surprises, like the GreatTexas Mosquito Festival staged everyJuly in Clute, the Watermelon Thumpeach June in Luling, the World’s LargestRattlesnake Roundup every March inSweetwater and Marshall’s famous FireAnt Festival in October.

Broken down another way, Texasevents celebrate everything from cul-tural heritage (with festivals devoted toCzech, German, Irish and Scottish tra-ditions, not to mention major Cinco de

Mayo celebrations) to cuisine (seafoodon the Gulf Coast, the Chili SuperBowl in Buffalo Gap). Sports star inlongstanding mainstream events likefootball bowl games (think Cotton andSun) to more specialty genres, such asthe Great Texas Balloon Race inLongview or the Hotter ‘n Hell Hun-dred Bicycle Event in Wichita Falls.Several major NASCAR and Indy Carevents heat up the Texas Motor Speed-way in Fort Worth, while the PGA tourswings through Texas each May.

Music and drama certainly aren’toverlooked, with some events so long-

Top TexasFEstIvALs

From food fests to Western lore, each of the state’s travel regions boasts a

jam-packed calendar of annual celebrations

on location: west � melinda hughey

&EvEnts

Christmas festivities take center stage during the popular Fiesta de las Luminarias, a San Antonio tradition.

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LeisureGroupTravel.com April 2010 41

standing and large that they transcendregional boundaries and are known andbeloved statewide. For example, thesummertime musical drama TEXAS,staged in an amphitheater in Palo DuroCanyon State Park, is entering its 45thseason in 2010.

Here is a region-by-region look atsome of the top offerings to consider for2010 and beyond:

Panhandle Plains

The Texas Panhandle Plains regionoffers beautiful canyon lands andplenty of Old West heritage. Majorcities include Abilene, Amarillo, Lub-bock, Midland, San Angelo and Wi-chita Falls.Chili Super Bowl XXIX, Buffalo

Gap, Sept. 3-5. See and sample theworld’s largest bowl ofchili. Enjoy live music,concessions and nightlydances. (325-675-8412,chilisuperbowl.com)Western Heritage

Classic, Abilene, May6-8. A parade, ranchrodeo, nightly dancesand more preserve the heritage of the

ranch cowboy. (325-677-4376,westernheritageclassic.com)TEXAS, Canyon, June 4-

Aug. 25. Enjoy an evening ofmusic, dance and entertainmentprovided by 80 professionalperformers from around thecountry. Come early to explorethe nation’s second largestcanyon. (806-655-2181, texas-show.com)

hill Country

Known for its spirited peo-ple, gorgeous wildflowers andlush hills, the Texas Hill Coun-try has a laid-back charm thatmakes everyone who visits want

to stay forever.Bluebonnet Festival, Burnet, sec-

ond weekend in April. Burnet, recog-nized by the state legislature as the“Bluebonnet Capital of Texas,” cele-brates the blooming of the wildflowerswith an air show, antique and classiccars, parades, music and a street dance,plus a Wild West Show & Shootout.(512-756-4297, burnetchamber.org)

37th Annual World ChampionshipBBQ Goat Cookoff, Brady, Sept. 3-4. On the agenda are a goat cook-off, mys-tery meat challenge, arts and crafts,horseshoe tournament and live music.(325-597-3491, bradytx.com)14th Annual Texas Book Festival,

Austin, Oct. 16-17. Established in1995 by First Lady Laura Bush, a for-

mer librarian and an ar-dent advocate of literacy,the festival has quicklyevolved into one of thepremier literary events inthe country, annuallyhosting over 200 Texasand nationally knownauthors at the State

Capitol. (texasbookfestival.org)

Gulf Coast

There are more than 624 miles ofcoastline arching southward from theLouisiana border to the Mexican bor-der near Brownsville. The warm waterof the Gulf beckons visitors who wantto swim, fish, sail, sunbathe, build sandcastles or just take a relaxing stroll onthe beach.41st Annual Texas Rice Festival,

Winnie, Oct. 16-17. Honoring theregion’s rice farming, the festival in-cludes a carnival,  two parades, live-stock show, longhorn show, open horseshow, BBQ cook-off, nightly streetdances, antique car show and ricecooking contest. Typical fare includesrice balls, gumbo, étouffée, pistolettes,blooming onions, crab balls, boudainballs and funnel cakes. (409-296-4404,texasricefestival.org)63rd Annual Texas Shrimporee,

Aransas Pass, June 11-13. Touted as“the largest shrimp festival in Texas” andstaged in the self-proclaimed “Saltwa-ter Heaven” of Aransas Pass, the Shrim-poree attracts 50,000-60,000 people

The Texas Folklife Festival spotlights

San Antonio’s rich cultural makeup.

from all over the state. Attendees enjoyarts and crafts, cooking demonstrations,carnival rides and music, plus shrimpcooked more ways than you can imag-ine. (800-633-3028, aransaspass.org)Texas Gatorfest, Anahuac, Sept.

10-12. Anahuac, where alligators out-number humans by almost 3 to 1, is rec-ognized by the state legislature as theAlligator Capital of Texas. This celebra-tion offers carnival rides, arts and crafts,and unique attractions like airboat ridesand Trinity River boat tours. The GreatTexas Alligator Roundup, the premierevent of Gatorfest, invites alligatorhunters to bring in their “harvest” tocompete for cash prizes. The festival co-incides with the opening of Texas’ 20-day alligator season. (409-267-4190,texasgatorfest.com)

Piney Woods

Explore the historic towns and thenget back to nature. The great outdoorsdoesn’t get much greater than 12 stateparks and four national forests. Fromtowering pines to expansive lakes, thePiney Woods is a nature lover’s paradise. Great Texas Balloon Race, Long-

view, July 30-Aug. 1. Morning balloonflights, evening balloon glows, arts andcrafts vendors, plenty of food and liveconcerts make this a full weekend offun. (903-753-3281, http://greattexas-balloonrace.com)Fire Ant Festival, Marshall, Oct. 9.

This zany, fun-filled festival is completewith a fire ant calling contest, arts andcrafts booths, food vendors, live enter-tainment, chili-cooking contest, Tour deFire Ant Bike Race, 5K run, ugly facemaking contest, rubber chicken chunk-ing and domino tournament. (800-953-7868, marshall-chamber.com)General Sam Houston Folk Festi-

val, Huntsville, late April/early May.The festival’s mission is to increase vis-itors’ appreciation for Texas history, the

life of Sam Houston and frontier her-itage. Events on the 18-acre Sam Hous-ton Memorial Museum complexinclude craft demonstrations, living his-tory re-enactors, and musical and his-torical entertainment. (samhoustonfolkfestival.org)

BiG Bend Country

Rugged mountains. Breathtakingsunsets. Skies that go on for miles. For atrue Old West experience, Big BendCountry is like no other region.

24th Annual Texas Cowboy PoetryGathering, Alpine, late February/earlyMarch. Created in 1987 on the campusof Sul Ross State University, the Gath-ering is the oldest of its kind in Texasand second oldest in the United States.In addition to traditional and contem-porary cowboy poetry, the event in-cludes cowboy music and storytelling.(800-361-3735, cowboy-poetry.org)35th Annual Permian Basin Fair &

Exposition, Odessa, Sept. 10-18. Thisold-time, no-holds-barred, weeklongfamily event has it ALL, from bull rides,rodeos and Wild West Shows to talentshowcases, dog shows and various eat-

on location: west �

42 April 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com

Alligators steal the show at the

annual Texas Gatorfest in Anahuac.

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44 April 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com

ing contests, plus the usual midway andexhibits. (permianbasinfair.com)44th Annual Terlingua Interna-

tional Chili Exposition, Terlingua,Nov. 4-6. The world-famous Frank X.Tolbert - Wick Fowler MemorialChampionship Chili Cook-off is heldbehind White’s Store, just east ofdowntown Terlingua. Nightly musicalentertainment. (abowlofred.com)

south Plains

A rich history, unparalleled birdingand an abundance of Mexican culturemake the South Plains a truly uniquedestination.120th Fiesta San Antonio, April 7-

17, 2011. For 11 days each spring, thiscolorful extravaganza stages more than100 events, including the Battle ofFlowers Parade, one of the biggest inthe nation, and two other parades.With more than 3.5 million people at-tending, the celebration of San Anto-

nio’s diverse cultures really is one ofAmerica’s truly great festivals. (877-723-4378, fiesta-sa.org)

39th Annual Texas Folklife Festi-val, San Antonio, June 11-13. Locatedon the grounds of the Institute ofTexan Cultures on the UTSA Hemis-

Fair Park campus, theevent showcases morethan 40 cultural groupsthrough a variety of eth-nic food, music, dance,arts and crafts. (210-458-2224, texasfolklife-festival.org)Fiesta de las Lumi-

narias, San Antonio,Dec. 3-19. Warmlyglowing candles insand-filled bags line thecity’s famous RiverWalk to symbolicallymark the “lighting ofthe way” for the HolyFamily. This centuries-old holiday traditionbegins at dusk Friday,Saturday and Sundayonly. (210-227-4262, thesanantonior iver-walk.com)

Prairies & lakes

Big cities, big attractions and bigfun fill the 47,000-square-mile Prairiesand Lakes region. With hundreds ofannual events in this one region alone,there is assuredly “something for every-one.” Here are just three examples:

48th Annual National Champi-onship Pow-Wow, Grand Prairie, Sept.10-12. Held at Traders Village, a sprawl-ing flea market and festival complex,this event features colorful tribal dancecontests, cultural heritage demonstra-tions, teepees and Indian food. NativeAmerican artists and craftsmen fromacross the country showcase their wares.(972-647-2331, tradersvillage.com)State Fair of Texas, Dallas, Sept.

24-Oct. 17. This 24-day event in his-toric Fair Park offers big-name enter-tainment, exhibits, great food and thelargest auto show in the Southwest.(214-565-9931, bigtex.com)24th Annual GrapeFest, Grape-

vine, Sept. 16-19. The largest winefestival in the Southwest invites you tosample Texas wines and enjoy nonstopentertainment, not to mention a grapestomp, vintners auction and carnivalmidway. (817-410-3149, grapevinetexasusa.com LGT

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on location: west �

The show TEXAS soon begins its 45th season at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.