Bayou City Art Festival Returns to Downtown Houston with More Art, Entertainment, and New Culinary Arts and Tasting Experience

Bayou City Art Festival, produced by Art Colony Association (ACA), will transform Downtown Houston into a lively outdoor gallery and interactive art event with more art, entertainment, and a new intimate culinary art and tasting experience with some of Houston’s top chefs for the 50th Annual Bayou City Art Festival Downtown. The weekend festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9, 2022, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. in Sam Houston Park and along Allen Parkway.

Bayou City Art Festival will celebrate culinary arts with the new Chef’s Table. Each chef will demonstrate a signature recipe and pass out samples for attendees after each demonstration. The Chef’s Table demonstration schedule includes:

Saturday, October 8, 2022

• 12 p.m. – Bludorn’s Chef Aaron Bludorn
• 1:30 p.m. – Sorriso Modern Italian Kitchen’s Chef David Buckley
• 3 p.m. – Brio Tuscan Grille’s Chef William Aguiar

Sunday, October 9, 2022

• 12 p.m. – Georgia James Tavern’s Chef Tim Reading
• 1:30 p.m. – Houston Grazing Tables’ Chef Chelsea Sargent Lira
• 3 p.m. – George’s Bistro & Bar Chef David Hernandez

The 50th Annual Bayou City Art Festival Downtown will spotlight the festival’s featured artist Cindy Olmes, a mixed media artist from Cincinnati, along with 250 artists from across the country. As one of the top art festivals in the U.S., Bayou City Art Festival will provide patrons with the opportunity to personally meet artists, view original works, and purchase artwork from 19 art disciplines, including world-class paintings, prints, jewelry, and sculptures.

Guests are invited to experience art and nonstop live entertainment at the Stella Artois Main Stage and at the KPRC 2 Hitch Stage. Click here for Bayou City Art Festival’s entertainment schedule.

For art-loving foodies, Bayou City Art Festival will feature onsite food trucks catering to everyone’s taste buds. A list of food vendors and food trucks can be found here.

In the Active Imagination Zone, guests of all ages can play with oversized bubbles, visit caricature artist Bonnie Blue, and create art with the festival’s nonprofit partners. Patrons can enjoy Houston’s skyline views while hanging out at the festival’s craft beer garden and Haak Vineyard wine garden.

To celebrate 50 years, Bayou City Art Festival collaborated with Karbach Brewing Co. and local Houston artist April Murphy to create limited edition artwork for Karbach’s Light Hazy IPA. The artwork will be displayed throughout the festival at all beverage booths, and the limited-edition Light Circus 6-pack carton is available on retailer shelves throughout Texas, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Bayou City Art Festival.

Haak Vineyards is introducing its 2019 Tempranillo in a special 50th anniversary labeled wine bottle for Bayou City Art Festival. The special edition wine bottle will only be available for purchase during Bayou City Art Festival at all beverage booths. Guests can purchase the bottle for $30 and a portion of the proceeds will go back to the festival.

Bayou City Art Festival will also premiere a new Collegiate Art Collective, a collection of art composed of five Houston-area college art students. The colleges that will be represented at Bayou City Art Festival include the University of Houston, Houston Community College and Lone Star College.

A portion of the proceeds from the 50th Annual Bayou City Art Festival Downtown will benefit the festival’s nonprofit partners, including ArtReach, Fresh Arts, Orange Show For Visionary Art, Second Servings, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Women’s Fund for Health Education and Resiliency.

See Also

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Exploring The Green Book History Coming to Holocaust Museum Houston

For the ultimate art lover, Bayou City Art Festival will offer a limited availability VIP Hospitality Lounge presented by Frost Bank, including complimentary light bites, beer, wine, and other refreshments. The relaxing setting under a canopy of trees will feature roaming musicians, artistic décor, a phone charging station, and more. VIPs will receive access from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to the VIP area and VIP parking.

Online tickets are available at www.bayoucityartfestival.com for $18 for adults, $5 for children 6-12, and children under five are free. VIP tickets are $70. Online pre-purchased tickets are required to enter the festival. Tickets will not be sold at the gate and can only be purchased online.

For the most recent updates, follow the official event hashtags #HouArtFest50 and #BCAF50, like the Facebook page, or follow on Twitter and Instagram. Also, subscribe to our newsletter here.

About Bayou City Art Festival:

Since the founding of the Westheimer Art Festival, now known as Bayou City Art Festival, the Art Colony Association, Inc. has raised more than $3.6 million for local nonprofit programs from the proceeds of its festivals. Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park in the spring and Bayou City Art Festival Downtown in the fall has provided a venue for more than 20,000 artists to showcase their work to thousands of art lovers from all over the world. The festivals are funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, corporate sponsorships, private contributions, in-kind support and volunteer assistance.

For more information, please visit www.artcolonyassociation.org.