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Chron •

Houston's nicknames for its Krogers: an updated guide

Houston Mayor John Whitmire caused a stir earlier this month when he implied that a Kroger grocery store in one of the city's fanciest zip codes was unsafe. As discourse swirled online about the mayor's statements, numerous Houstonians also pointed out that the city's Krogers each have a unique vibe, along with a nickname. For example, the Kroger the mayor was referencing, at 1938 West Gray in the River Oaks Shopping Center, is often known as "MILF Kroger," for the spandex-clad River Oaks moms c...
Chron •

Where to go in Houston to slow down and enjoy a moment of silence

Even in a city as vast and interesting as Houston, sometimes people need a place to slow down, contemplate life, and enjoy a moment of silence. The good news is that, for all its hustle and bustle, the Bayou City also offers plenty of spaces to take a break and spend some time alone.

Even in a city as vast and interesting as Houston, sometimes people need a place to slow down, contemplate life, and enjoy a moment of silence. The good news is that, for all its hustle and bustle, the Bayou City a...
Chron •

Simone Biles sported some extra bling at the Olympics

In Paris on Thursday, following her gold medal-winning performance in the women's all-around gymnastics competition, Texan Simone Biles showed off another piece of hardware—a diamond-encrusted G.O.A.T. pendant, signifying her status as the greatest gymnast, and one of the greatest athletes, of all time.

In Paris on Thursday, following her gold medal-winning performance in the women's all-around gymnastics competition, Texan Simone Biles showed off another piece of hardware—a diamond-encrusted G...
Chron •

Houston origami master will attempt to break world record

A longtime origami master will be attempting to build a 6-foot-tall paper dragon in Houston this weekend, in an attempt to break a world record. The attempt will also be part of the city's first Houston International Origami and Arts Festival (HIOAF), taking place Aug. 3–4 at PlazAmericas in Bellaire.

A longtime origami master will be attempting to build a 6-foot-tall paper dragon in Houston this weekend, in an attempt to break a world record. The attempt will also be part of the city's first H...
Chron •

Queer teens come from 90 minutes away for this Houston experience

In a time where queer teenagers are under attack—from school boards threatening to out them to doctors leaking their medical records—the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston hopes to create a safe space where kids can imagine a better future.

In a time where queer teenagers are under attack—from school boards threatening to out them to doctors leaking their medical records—the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston hopes to create a safe space where kids can imagine a better future.

The CAMH will...
Chron •

RodeoHouston 2025 season tickets go on sale next week

Heads up, rodeo fans. The first round of tickets for the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are set to go on sale next week.

Heads up, rodeo fans. The first round of tickets for the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are set to go on sale next week.

RodeoHouston announced Thursday that season tickets for the 2025 event will be available starting Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. The ticket packages, which start at $500 plus service fees, will include access to rodeo grounds, all rodeo events and all 20...
Chron •

Texas Renaissance Fest is even darker than 'Ren Faire' shows

The podcast comes from the Peabody-winning journalist and producer Sean Cannon, previously of Louisville (KY) Public Media, and investigative reporter Heather Schroering, whose work includes the first podcast on Tiger King Joe Exotic, as well as WeCrashed, the story behind WeWork. Their reporting draws on previous work done by journalist David Kushner and the Houston Press, as well as numerous police reports and other legal documents highlighting lax security at the festival, a toxic work enviro
Chron •

Texas’ most diverse county finally gets its first Pride festival

While Houston is in the middle of back-to-back competing Pride parades, queer residents and allies in Fort Bend County will soon be able to celebrate their own Pride festival without having to make the 45-minute drive into Downtown.

Hunny Phillips, who founded Fort Bend County Pride as a 501(c)(3) last year, said she was getting tired of having to drive to central Houston for access to queer community celebrations, whether that be Pride events or even just a night out in the Montrose.

"I'm a H
Chron •

Houston rodeo's economic impact second only to Super Bowl

The economic impact of 2024's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo season rivaled that of SuperBowl LI, which Houston hosted in 2017, according to a Houston Business Journal report.

This year's rodeo was the highest attended since 2017, after years of scaled-back festivities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total economic impact for the three-week event was $326.41 million, an increase of nearly 44 percent over 2019, the last time RodeoHouston measured its economic impact.

HBJ also reported that
Chron •

Houston Pride parade to get extra security this year after alerts

"We want to reassure our community that your safety is our utmost priority," Pride Houston 365 said in a statement released earlier this week. "Pride has always been an event to celebrate despite hate and fear. We are taking every measure possible to ensure that our festival and parade remains a safe space for everyone to come together in celebration and solidarity."

The move comes after a series of warnings issued by the FBI, the U.S. State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security w
Chron •

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston unveils renovated Korea Gallery

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Korea Gallery, the first gallery dedicated to Korean art in the southern United States, will reopen on May 16 after a renovation and newly configured installation.

The gallery, part of the museum's Arts of Asia collection, includes several new acquisitions and loans that have been added to the museum since the gallery first debuted in 2007. The works span several centuries, with a heavy focus on the 500-year-long Joseon Dynasty, a transformative period in Kore
Chron •

Take a little trip: Museum showcases Texas' lowrider culture

Austin's Bullock Texas State History Museum is opening a new exhibit on lowrider culture that will highlight the Mexican American origins of the vehicular art form.

The show, called Carros y Cultura, will include not just classic lowrider cars, but also custom lowrider bicycles from Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Laredo, Pecos and other Texas locales.

Lowrider car culture began in Los Angeles in the post-war era when Mexican Americans began customizing cars as a way to express individua
Chron •

Slow, low and bangin': Houston car culture, explained

Texas culture can get boiled down to barbecue and country music, but some things are unique to a city like Houston. One of them? Swangas, which confused some drivers in Austin recently.

This week, a user posted to the Austin subreddit a photo of an otherwise staid-looking Kia sedan sporting major rims. The post now has more than 900 comments, asking everything from, "What is the point of these?" to, "How is this legal?" A good number of the comments reference classic Houston rap, including Lil'
Chron •

Not everyone is celebrating Houston's dueling Pride parades

During a council meeting last week, District H Councilmember Mario Castillo, who is gay, voiced concerns about the city having two Pride parades, calling it a “leadership gap in the community.” Mayor John Whitmire agreed, saying that he wants to bring the two Pride organizations together for a joint celebration.

New Faces of Pride consists of former members of Pride Houston 365, who split with the original group over allegations of financial mismanagement and other issues. Meanwhile, Pride Hous
Chron •

Houston rodeo announces dates for 2025

Mark your calendars, rodeo fans. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will be returning for 2025, and has just announced the dates for the nearly century-old event. The 93rd Houston rodeo will take place Tuesday, March 4 through Sunday, March 23.

That means the opening date of the rodeo will coincide with Mardi Gras 2025—the perfect opportunity for the festival to book a zydeco band for the event's ever-popular concert series. The Rodeo Run and Parade will take place on Saturday, March 1, with
Chron •

Houston Pokémon fans battling local toy store 'scalping' rare cards

MadRat Toys owner David Doehring confirmed to the site that he purchased "about 100" of the Pokémon bundles. He told the publication that the shop had to turn to Costco because the packs were sold out elsewhere and unavailable from distributors that sell directly to hobby and toy stores. LoneStarLive confirmed that, unlike distributors, Costco did not have purchasing limits on the packs. Each box includes about 50 cards, and the set of two boxes retailed for about $37 at Costco. The sets are now
Chron •

Houston rodeo broke lots of records this year, including attendance

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo had its best year since before the COVID-19 pandemic, breaking attendance records, selling out concerts, and even tying a record for the most expensive steer sold during the cattle auction.

It's the best year for the annual festival since 2017, according to rodeo officials, showing that the nearly century-old event is back on track after two years of cancellations due to the pandemic.

The official attendance for the 2024 rodeo was 2,553,185 people across 23
Chron •

Legendary Houston rodeo clown is retiring after this weekend

On the first day of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, volunteers waited by the entrance gates, ready to hand out that day's giveaway: a bobblehead statue of celebrated rodeo clown Leon Coffee.

Now, as the rodeo wraps up its third and final weekend, Coffee has announced that he'll be hanging up his suspenders. After half a century, he's retiring as a rodeo clown. He'll instead return next year to the rodeo's fan zone, as well as entertaining rodeo goers in the stands.

"I wouldn't take a mil
Chron •

Pornhub blocked Texas users. Now, they're looking for VPNs.

Less than 24 hours after adult video site Pornhub blocked users in Texas from accessing its content, Google searches for VPNs have soared in the state.

VPNs, or virtual private networks, are software that spoof an internet user's physical location. They are often used to access streaming content only available in other countries, blacked-out sports games, and other geographically limited internet content.

New data on Google search trends, compiled by tech site SlashGear, show searches for VPNs
Chron •

Pornhub blocked in Texas, thanks to Ken Paxton

"As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website," the statement reads in part. "Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’ stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors."

That law, previously known as House Bill 1811, was passed in the 2023 legislative session and
Chron •

Oddities Expo returns to Houston with more creepy curiosities

Lovers of the weird, macabre, creepy crawlies and more need not wait until Halloween to get their morbid fix. The Oddities and Curiosities Expo is headed back to Houston, this time with an expanded schedule featuring more than 150 vendors plus taxidermy workshops, tarot readings, sideshow performers and more.

The Expo last visited Houston in 2023 for a single day. This year, the event will take place March 16 and 17 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Attendees can expect preserved animal
Chron •

What to do (and what to skip) at the Houston rodeo this year

Rodeo season is in full swing, and with three weeks worth of concerts, competitions and other events, it's easy to get overwhelmed with everything that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo offers.

The last time Chron wrote a Rodeo dos and don'ts guide was in 2020. That year's festivities were unfortunately cut short just a week in due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Plenty has changed at the rodeo in the past four years, so here's some advice on what to hit and what to miss, whether this is y
Chron •

Black queer Houstonians getting a needed community space

A permanent community space for Black queer Houstonians is set to open next month in the Third Ward thanks to the Normal Anomaly Initiative, a nonprofit working to uplift queer Black folks through business mentorships, medical assistance, community services and more. The space, called the BQ+ Center for Liberation, will open in a former home at 2310 Arbor St. on March 15, kicking off Normal Anomaly's three-year anniversary and the organization's Black Queer Advancement music festival, which will
Chron •

Houston to host city-wide art crawl celebrating Black History Month

Houston's creative community will host a city-wide art crawl during President's Day weekend to honor Black History Month and showcase several exhibits focused on African American culture and art.

Black Art Houston, which takes place Feb. 17–19, is a collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and several other institutions, including the Holocaust Museum Houston, Sanman Studios, the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, The Reading Room HTX, Project Row Houses and more. The weekend wil
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