Horsepower, Haunted Tours, And A Tater Trot

Cooler Weather And Quick Getaways

Find out to take a look at where the roads can take us this week. And everybody's waiting on a little bit cooler weather here in Texas, regardless of where you're at. Might be pressing it a little bit, but there is cooler weather coming, and it's not going to take too long. So let's take a look at what we can do with some southeast Texas trips that don't take a full tank of gas.

Rice Festivals And County Fair Fun

Now we're going to start with the Texas Rice Festival. This is in Winnie. It runs September the 30th through October the 3rd. So if you're looking for one that doesn't take a going very far, this is a pretty good answer whether you're coming out of Houston or you're coming out of the Beaumont, Port Arthur area or even into Louisiana. It's not that far out here. It celebrates the region's rice-growing heritage with food, entertainment, and usually got some pretty good entertainment. Family activities got livestock events and a nice family festival atmosphere out in the Windy Stowe Park. Now it does again run September the 30th through October the 3rd, and the car show, the annual car show, is on that Saturday. And coming up next, we're going to take a look at the Austin County Fairgrounds. Now, this is in Belleville, October 7 through 11. And you you head out to Belleville for the Austin County Fairground is in rodeo. Now this is where you're going to find a Texas County Fair experience. You're going to find the livestock, the rodeo, carnival attractions, food, and entertainment. This is just north of downtown Belleville. And on the busy nights, you can park at the Margaret. And on the busy nights, you can park at the Margaret Chelsea Park. And there's a shuttle that takes you out to the fairgrounds on that. Then from there, we're going to slide on over to the Katy Rice Harvest Festival. Now, this is in Katy, October the 10th through the 11th. And it does the 2026 event returns to the historic down. The Katy Rice Harvest Festival. Now, this is another the Katy Rice Harvest Festival is another connection between Texas agriculture and automobiles. Now the event for 26 does return to historic downtown square. And there's more than 100 vendors. There's food trucks, got live music, there's a carnival, agricultural activities, and lots of family entertainment. This runs between October the 10th and 11th, with Saturday being a 10 to 10 day and Sunday, noon to 6. And in there we have a car show as well as the next up is the Katy Rice Harvest Festival in Katy, October 10 and 11th. And this gives us another connection between Texas agriculture and automobiles. Now for 2026, the event returns to the historic town square. You're going to find more than 100 vendors, food trucks, live music, a carnival, got lots of agricultural activities and plenty of family entertainment. Now on that Saturday, it's 10 to 10 p.m. Sunday, it's noon to 6 p.m. So this is a great example of how familiar Houston area community can become without going very far.

Ghost Tours Make Galveston A Destination

From there, we are going to make a drive. We're going to run down to Galveston. Now, this is Ghostly Galveston Festival, October 1 through 15. Now, instead of making Galveston just another festival stop, this October gives us a chance to make the island itself a destination. Ghostly Galveston runs through October with ghost tours and opportunities to explore the island's historic buildings, the mansions, cemeteries, and the harbor after dark. It gives drivers a reason to leave Southeast Texas in the afternoon, enjoy the island, grab dinner, and then take one of the evening tours. And of course, getting there is part of the experience, whether you're coming down through the uh I-45 coming out of Houston, or if you come across the ferry on the Bolivar Peninsula. Then we're going to go back up to East Texas to the Texas.

East Texas Yamboree And Sweet Potatoes

Then we're going to go back up to East Texas for the East Texas Yambree in Gilmer. This is October 14 to 15. Now this is a little bit longer road trip, but you can part your now. We're going to head up for the Texas for the East. We're going to head up to the East Texas Yamboree in Gilmer. Now, this is October 14 and 15. It is a longer road trip. Just part your it is a longer road tip. It is a longer road trip. Just point your car north toward Gilmer and the East Texas Yamboree for the 89th annual event. Is October 14 and 17, goes all the way back to 1935. And the idea was to celebrate the region's sweet potato harvest. There is a carnival, there is livestock shows, contests, entertainment, and the famous tater trot. I'm just going to tell you till you've gone and experienced the tater trot, you just haven't done it. The event annually attracts nearly 100,000 visitors across two days. So this is a kind of destination where the road trip through East Texas is almost as important as what waits at the other end.

Houston Art Festival For A Change

Up next is the Houston Bayou City Art Festival. Now, this is October 9 through 11. This is a little bit different. You go head off to Houston for the Bayou City Art Festival. It's in Memorial Park. Now there's more than 250 artists from around the country are expected to be there this year. They're going to turn the park into a giant outdoor gallery with art, food, and entertainment. Now it's going to give you some a different feature. It's going to have some variety. So not every road trip has to involve a rodeo or a carnival. It can just simply be a beautiful fall Saturday. Drive into Houston, walk through Memorial Park, and take a chance to see something you wouldn't normally see on a typical weekend.

State Fair Dallas Plus Auto Show

Then if you're willing to make a little bit longer road trip, the State Fair of Texas is back at Fair Park in Dallas from September the 25th through October the 18th. Now that's 24 days of Texas food, music, livestock, midway rides, and more than 100 daily attractions. So just pick your cooler October day because it's coming. Point the car north and make a day of it. And don't forget to go through the auto show. This is one of the biggest auto shows in Texas because of the time it's there. All the manufacturers are going to have all their new stuff there. They've got a couple of driving events. It should be a great event this year. So the weather's going to get better. The windows can come down, and the road is calling you. Just pick a destination, fill the tank. And remember, sometimes the best part of the weekend is just getting there.

Weekend Auto Scene Rapid Roundup

All right, we're running a little bit short on time here because we ran a little bit long. We talked too much, I guess. And so we're going to go through a couple of things pretty quick. I wanted to talk about the weekend auto scene, the weekend update here we've got going on. And first up, we're going to run through this kind of quick. It's going to be cruising Silsby, Silsby, Texas. This is September the 25th and 26th. It's this weekend. And it's at the Kirby Memorial Football Stadium located in Silsby. Plenty of time to get on out there if you're within you know an hour or so drive. If you want to make it out and check it out. Got registration. Uh the event gets away at 8 o'clock. So it's cruising Silsby, Silsby, Texas. If you're looking for something close to home on September the 26th, Cruising Silsby puts cars, trucks, and motorcycles on display at Kirby Memorial Football Stadium. Gets started at 8 a.m. And so it's got plenty of time. You want to make a quick road trip over and check out East Texas and check out what's going on in Silsby, by all means, here it is. Also, today, the Big Woody's Waterfront Car Club. Now, this is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. And it's in San Leon at the Topwater Grill. Got a beautiful place out on the water's edge. Great place to take your car out there, get some pictures of it, enjoy it. They're expecting a pretty good sized crowd, I understand, this year. So you gotta make it on out. There's uh like 60 awards are planned across 10 classes, and it's presented by the American Pontiac Association. It's really a family event, and it's a nice day out almost on the water. And from there, we're gonna run over to uh Houston. Now, this is the Hot Import Nights that's in Houston. And then so if you're running more towards the imports or JDM builds, exotics, and some really seriously customized cars. So from there, we're gonna run into Houston for the hot import nights. Now, if you're looking for more imports, JDM builds, exotics, a lot of customized stuff, hot import nights returns to the NRG stadium from September the 26th and 27th. Now it's got a lot of things to do with cars, anime, cosplay, vendors, food, entertainment. Got a lot of things if you're looking for the uh hot import night type of event. From there, we're gonna bounce up to the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. Now, this is up at the Texas Motor Speedway. This is a really big show, and it's got lots of rods, customs, classics, muscle cars, imports, trucks, it all runs together there for the show. Runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. So if you enjoy getting out to the hot rod side of the hobby, this is more than just a parking lot gathering because good guys is really known across the country for cruising, autocross, burnout competitions. Got lots of music. It is a car show to say the least.

Road Trips For Big Regional Car Shows

If you want to go a little bit more to the east, maybe slide on over to the Nackedish 20th Annual Car Show. This is Nackadish, Louisiana. It's not too far, a little further, but it gets Southeast Texas drivers a reason to point the car east for their 20th annual car show. Now, this is October 2nd and 3rd. They have a Friday poker run that's followed by a fish fry and got some live music downtown on the riverbank, which is really cool place to be for Christmas in particular. Saturday brings the main show running from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. And the awards are at four. Great setting there on the water and uh really nice, lots of trees. Great place to go and set. Then we're gonna run up to Friendswood. Then we're gonna run over back to Houston for the Volkstoberfest. Now you can get it's Volkswagen, and they're having fun. It's Oktoberfest, Saturday, October the 3rd, 2026, at the shop club 13150 Brinton Ridge in Houston, Texas. Then we're gonna slide on over to Good Guy. It's really it's it's a combination of event that the good guys are grub and the car show are bringing this on, but it's really the Friendswood. So this is the Friendswood Classic Car Show and Burnout Houston, October the 3rd. Now you got multiple choices on third, but Friendswood hosts its 21st annual classic car show at Stevenson Park from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Got vintage rides, vendors, uh food, awards. Now Burnout Houston brings a different flavor to the 2334 Gulf Terminal Drive featuring pre-1972 cars and motorcycles. You do have live music, DJs, and vendors. So whether your idea of Saturday is to run around with a bunch of classics that are really polished and look really cool and a nice setting in the park, or maybe you want something with a little more attitude. Houston's got both options on this Saturday.

Barbecue, Fundraisers, And Community Events

Now this combines horsepower and barbecue. What more could you ask for? The Yellow Eight, the Yellow Out, the Yellow Out Barbecue and Car Show in Pearland, Texas. Now, this one combines the horsepower and barbecue. The Yellow Eight, the Yellow Out Campaign State Champion Barbecue Cook-Off and Yellow Out Day. All takes place on October the 10th at the Pearl, at the Pearl Land Knights of Columbus Hall. Now, this is a free family-friendly event. So you've got the IBCA Sanctioned Championship Barbecue Cook-Off. You got a car show, you got live music, you got vendors, even got a kid zone and a petting zoo. So lots of things going on. Car registration begins at 11 a.m. The awards at 4 p.m. So you've got plenty of time to come out, check out some interesting rides, smell the barbecue, and support the fundraiser for the community. Then stepping up to October the 17th is a little bit further out. This is the Back to the Past car show that goes on for uh from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Cornerstone Academy. It's at 9016 Westview Drive. Got a nice car show here. It's also to support the Spring Branch Independent School District Alumni Museum they've got on the grounds there. It's fascinating to go in and see it, even if you didn't go to that particular school. Made me wonder why we didn't do that at my school, because we've got a hundred years worth of tradition that we could have put in the idea. Anyway, it's just a great place to go. It's a great car show and lots of stuff to see and do. We got plenty of beverages and food on hand.

Send Event Flyers And Wrap Up

So that's the weekend update. So if you've got some things that you'd like to put on a send us, then we'll try and put them on the list. Send us the flyer, send it to events at nwheeltime.com, include dates and times, things like that, so that we can give out the information. And we'll do our best to try and get it put on and get it included in the weekend update.