Texas-style Mardi Gras Celebrations

There will be plenty of celebrations in Texas to mark Mardi Gras. A quick search of the TravelTex website makes it easy to find Mardi Gras fun no matter where you are in the state. Here are some ideas on ways to celebrate:

Mardi Gras on Galveston Island

From Feb. 5 – 16, Galveston Island is overtaken by spectacular parades, elaborate masked balls and flamboyant costumes. Mardi Gras! Galveston is a series of festive events, bead throwing, exhibits, live music, and some of the best Gulf Coast cuisine in the world.

The weekend of Feb. 11 – 14, Port Arthur celebrates Mardi Gras Southeast Texas with headliner bands, parades, carnival rides, arts & crafts, food vendors and strolling street entertainment.

Mardi Gras in Port Arthur

On Feb. 13^th, the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society hosts their Annual Mardi Gras Ball. Enjoy a night of beads, masks, dancing, a live and silent auction, dinner and Mardi Gras merriment. In San Antonio on that same night, a procession of decorated river barges will transform the San Antonio River Walk into a floating Mardi Gras. Krewes of costumed revelers and live entertainment celebrate Mardi Gras San Antonio-style.

On Feb. 20^th, a train ride on the Hill Country Flyer in Austin turns deadly when a guest is murdered during the Mardi Gras Murder Mystery. Enjoy food, drinks and entertainment on board the train while interacting with the Capital City Mystery Players to solve the whodunit mystery.

There’s no need to leave the state when Texas offers so many fun Mardi Gras celebrations right here at home.

Check out the Speakers “Building Partnerships” in April

The Texas Cultural and Heritage Tourism Seminar, scheduled for April 28, 2010 in Corpus Christi, will feature several great speakers and a variety of pertinent topics for arts organizations seeking to increase audience attendance at performances and venues.

Texas Cultural and Heritage Tourism Council Logo

Elizabeth Regner, executive director of Lubbock Arts Alliance, will join Stephanie O’Banion, President, Belton Area Chamber of Commerce,  for a session titled, “Building Partnerships to Achieve a Shared Vision.” Elizabeth heads up the newly designated Cultural District in Lubbock, just one of her many accomplishments. Elizabeth has expanded activities to support artists and musicians with an eye toward making Lubbock an arts destination. Similarly, Stephanie has a great deal of experience dating back to her days in Abilene where she promoted that city’s many museums and cultural activities. Now the City of Belton is benefiting from Stephanie’s experience and creative approach to marketing.

Both Elizabeth and Stephanie understand the arts are an important part of what makes a city vibrant and animated, not to mention the economic boost from arts tourism. They will share their experience and insights on ways to build partnerships to achieve shared goals. Working in partnership with others makes it possible for even the smallest of nonprofit arts organizations to play a significant role in shaping community vision.

The Cultural and Heritage Tourism Seminar will feature several other valuable sessions and great speakers. Details are coming soon.

Shen Yun Performing Arts coming to Dallas

Thanks in part to a TCA grant, Shen Yun Performing Arts is scheduled to appear at the Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas on February 5 – 6, 2010. This Chinese dance and music company has performed in over 100 cities around the world. This unique performance showcases diverse folkloric arts and draws inspiration from the legends, values and spirit of ancient Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts seeks to create original performances that not only entertain, but also educate, enrich and inspire.

You can get more information and purchase tickets on the Music Hall at Fair Park website. If you decide to travel to Dallas to take in a performance, the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau is a great resource for finding hotels and restaurants, as well as other arts and cultural offerings in the area.

Vida Verde Earth Day Festival By Mia Marisol Buentello

During a recent site visit to La Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen, Texas, I was taken with the beauty of the vegetation and birds, in spite of the rain and cold weather. Chachalacas and other birds roamed freely as I made my way to the main entrance to meet with staff.

Bird at Quinta Mazatlan

La Quinta Mazatlan is a 20-acre Tamaulipan Thornforest property that joins other protected areas from South Padre Island in the Gulf all the way to Roma in the west under the World Birding Center (WBC) organization.

The Vida Verde Earth Day Festival, scheduled for April 17, 2010, is in its third year and provides families with day long activities that include art exhibits, hands-on activities, lectures on recycling and caring for the environment, birds of prey show, reptile show and musical performances in the park. Last year, two members of the Texas Commission on the Arts’ Touring Artists Roster, Rumbo Al’ Anacua and Bill Oliver, performed at the event.

Texas Folklife’s Big Squeeze Coming to a Town Near You!

Texas Folklife announces its fourth annual “Big Squeeze” accordion contest for up-and-coming Texas musicians, 21 years of age or younger. This year the contest goes on the road and auditions will be held throughout Texas. Finalists will perform at Texas Folklife’s highly acclaimed “Accordion Kings & Queens” festival at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre on June 5th, 2010, where the “Big Squeeze” winner will be selected.

“The ‘Big Squeeze’ contest allows us to fulfill our mission to preserve and celebrate Texas culture in a very real way,” says Texas Folklife Executive Director Nancy Bless. “By supporting these young musicians we encourage them to continue playing the accordion, an instrument that is so central to Texas’ traditional music that it’s been dubbed, ‘the national instrument of Texas.’ It is so exciting to see a new generation carry on this heritage and to see the thrill that their mastery and extraordinary talent give to audiences.”

Auditions will be held in sites across Texas. Find an audition near you by going to the website.

Family Fun at Texas Arts Venues

Families traveling with kids can always find plenty of fun and entertaining arts events in Texas. There are kid-friendly museums and performances for the whole family to enjoy. Here are just a few examples of upcoming children’s performances presented by TCA funded organizations:

Goodnight Moon at the Grand 1894 Opera House

In Galveston, The Grand 1894 Opera House hosts the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia’s production of Goodnight Moon and the Runaway Bunny on January 20^th. This show features whimsical puppetry and evocative original music and is suitable for grades K-3. An innovative double-bill adaptation of Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s beloved bedtime classics, Goodnight Moon is a celebration of familiar nighttime rituals, while the Runaway Bunny’s pretend tale of leaving home evokes reassuring responses from his loving mum.

The Dallas Children’s Theater presents How I Became a Pirate from Jan. 22 through Feb. 21 at the Baker Theater in the Rosewood Center. Based on the award-winning book, Young Jeremy Jacobs joins Captain Braid Beard’s scurvy crew for some high seas adventure but learns that the important things in life are worth much more than buried treasure. This performance is great for kids ages 4 years and above.

Nate the Great at the Paramount in Abilene

In Abilene, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council presents Nate the Great at the Paramount Theatre on January 24^th. This new musical about teamwork and friendship is based on the first volume in Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s classic book series about a pint-sized young detective.

To find more family-friendly arts events visit the TravelTex website.

Cultural and Heritage Tourism Website a Great Resource

The Cultural and Heritage Tourism Website is a great resource for arts organizations seeking to expand their audience by connecting with cultural tourists. The Cultural and Heritage Tourism website was developed to help organizations and individuals develop, market and manage cultural and heritage tourism attractions or programs. This includes museums, music and film festivals, craft fairs, public art programs, and more.

Visitors to Winsboro Enjoy the Arts

The site features a section titled “Getting Started: How to Succeed in Cultural Heritage Tourism” that outlines easy to implement ways to develop and manage cultural tourism. There are also examples of success stories, links to other cultural tourism resources and the latest research information related to cultural tourism.

Arts organizations funded with Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) dollars are in the tourism industry since the law states that every HOT tax expenditure “must directly enhance and promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry.” Resources like the Cultural and Heritage Tourism website make it easier for artists and arts organizations to comply with the law. Even better, successful cultural tourism initiatives result in larger audience attendance and more money for arts events and venues from earned income .

Resolve to Be Artistic in the New Year

It’s hard to believe how quickly the past year flew past! Once again, it is the time when people everywhere strive to live up to their New Year’s resolutions. Many people resolve to lose weight, exercise more or break a habit. These resolutions are well-intended, but typically fizzle out after just a few weeks.

Happy New Year 2010!

So how about trying something a little different this year? Why not resolve to experience more art? This is a resolution you can really follow through with all year long. You could take in a museum exhibition or go to a theatre production. There are musical performances for every taste and the same holds true for dance. Poetry slams and film series are entertaining and enlightening. With so many choices, this is a resolution that cannot fail!

Another way to resolve to experience more art is to begin creating art of your own. Learn to weave textiles, throw pottery, paint, sing – whatever floats your boat! Maybe you’ll decide to organize a group of friends to go gallery hopping. Or maybe you prefer some solitude – just you and your camera taking in the world together.

Finally, it’s fun to travel to new places to experience local festivals, galleries, museums and arts events. Resources like Texas Highways Magazine and TravelTex make it easy to find lots of great arts events, and many communities promote their artistic offerings on their Chamber or CVB websites. With so many wonderful art offerings in Texas, you will always be able to find something to help you make good on this New Year’s resolution!

Coming Soon: Binational Film Festival

The Binational Film Festival, a TCA funded event, is just around the corner. The festival will run January 8 – 16, 2010 in El Paso and features films from the United States, Mexico, South Africa and Canada.

Binational Film Festival Logo

This annual independent film festival attracts film celebrities, filmmakers, tourists and the general public to the El Paso area.  Activities include screenings of feature and documentary films, as well as discussions with actors, directors and producers. In addition to the positive economic impact the Festival has on the local community, there is also hope the event may spark development of the film industry in far West Texas.

Study Reveals Popularity of Cultural Travel

A new study demonstrates an impressive number of U.S. travelers seek out cultural and heritage experiences. Here is a summary of the findings:

• 78% of all U.S. leisure travelers (118.3 million adults) participate in cultural and/or heritage activities while traveling each year.

• Cultural and heritage travelers spend an average of $994 per trip

• Cultural and heritage travelers contribute more than $192 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

• Cultural and heritage travelers as a whole are more frequent travelers, reporting an average of 5.01 leisure trips in the past 12 months versus non-cultural/heritage travelers with 3.98 trips.

• More than half of cultural/heritage travelers agree that they prefer their leisure travel to be educational and nearly half said they spend more money on cultural and heritage activities.

• Cultural and heritage travelers are likely to travel farther to get the experiences they seek: about half of most recent overnight leisure trips were 500 miles or more from home. More than a third say they traveled between 100 and 300 miles for a day trip.

• The study found that cultural and heritage travelers are more likely to participate in culinary activities, such as sampling artisan food and wines, attending food and wine festivals, visiting farmers’ markets, shopping for gourmet foods, and enjoying unique dining experiences as well as fine dining.

• Other cultural and heritage activities identified by travelers include visiting historic sites (66%); attending historical re-enactments (64%); visiting art museums/galleries (54%); attending an art/craft fair or festival (45%); attending a professional dance performance (44%); visiting state/national parks (41%); shopping in museum stores (32%); and exploring urban neighborhoods (30%).

• The vast majority of these travelers (65%) say that they seek travel experiences where the “destination, its buildings and surroundings have retained their historic character.”

Cultural Tourists in Lubbock, TX

The study was conducted by Mandala Research for the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism (USCHT) Marketing Council, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Center for Socioeconomic Research and Education at Texas A&M University was one of several sponsors of the study.

These findings demonstrate how important the development of Texas’ Cultural Districts can be in terms of attracting visitors into communities to experience area art, culture and history. The economic impact of these travelers is evident in the research. Also, many arts organizations in Texas receive Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds. Organizations receiving HOT funds are required to demonstrate their work directly enhances and promotes tourism and the convention and hotel industry. The information in this study indicates the arts are strongly positioned to meet that requirement.

Visitors Enjoy The Sam Houston Folk Festival