Best Bets: Islamic Arts Festival, Zine Fest Houston and Enlighten

The holiday season draws closer, and though it’s starting to show in our best bets, there’s still plenty of variety out there. This week, we have the return of the largest and oldest festival of Islamic arts in the country, the return of a Christmas classic, and world premiere music and dance. Keep reading for these and more.

Asia Society Texas, in partnership with the Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum, will host a screening of Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story on Friday, November 14, at 5:30 p.m. Virgo Lee, a personal friend the Chinese American photographer, will introduce the film, which highlights Lee’s five decades documenting Asian American life, and it will be followed by a discussion with director Jennifer Takaki and producer Raj R. Vaswani. Ahead of a book about Lee’s work, his brother, John, wrote that Lee “chose a camera as his tool for social change,” saying that he “described his camera as a ‘sword against injustice’ and quickly began to document, highlight, and advocate for the Asian American communities.” The event is free, but please register here.

Natural disasters run like an undercurrent through Group Acorde’s latest dance program, Gasp, which will open on Friday, November 14, at 8 p.m. at the MATCH. Composer Andrew Lienhard contributes a soundscape to a work that will be performed on a set containing recycled instruments, including a piano and bass, that were found on the street in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and choreographer Anat Grigorio’s Inperson, originally created for the company’s first full-evening production, explores breath, anxiety, and the body’s response to natural disaster. Each performance will be followed by a Q&A with the artists. Gasp will be performed again on Saturday, November 15, at 6 p.m. and Sunday, November 16, at 4 p.m. Tickets to any of the performances can be purchased here for $20 to $35.

Appreciate and celebrate Islamic arts on Saturday, November 15, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. when the largest and oldest festival of Islamic arts in the country returns to the University of Houston. The Islamic Arts Festival will feature more than 5,000 pieces across various art forms – calligraphy, Ebru, henna, music, paintings, woodwork, and more – from over 50 artists. In addition to the art, visitors can enjoy live art demonstrations, a live Sufi music program, a stand-up Muslim comedy show, a film festival, spoken word program, and more. The festival continues on Sunday, November 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission to the festival is free, and you can register here. Note that admission to special entertainment performances must be purchased separately.

You don’t have to wait for rodeo season to don your best western wear. Instead, head over to Orange Show Center for Visionary Art on Saturday, November 15, from 12 to 6 p.m., when Zine Fest Houston returns for the fifth year. This year’s theme is Western, and if you dress for the occasion, you can participate in the fashion show towards the festival’s conclusion. But before that, you can enjoy a performance by LoFi Puppets, live music with Sam Turner and The Cactus Cats, a zine workshop by Kill My TV, a talk with featured artist Isaiah Broussard, food and drink, almost 200 vendors on hand to showcase a variety of self-published works, and more. All ages are welcome, and admission is free.

The Singing Revolution, a famous (and successful) example of nonviolent resistance that eventually led Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to break from the Soviet Union, served as an inspiration to Estonian American composer Lembit Beecher for Cassette Dreams of the Singing Revolution, a new work Apollo Chamber Players will world premiere at 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, at the James Turrell Live Oak Meeting House during Enlighten, the second concert in its season-long American Story series. In the spirit of the series, the program will also highlight Native American influences via the work of Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and narration by Houston-based indigenous actress Amelia Rico. The concert will be performed a second time at 6 p.m. Tickets to either performance are available here for $10 to $40.

It’s beginning to look a lot like A Christmas Carol over at the Alley Theatre, as the company’s annual holiday production of Charles Dickens’s classic tale, faithfully adapted by Alley Artistic Director Rob Melrose, officially opens on Sunday, November 16, at 6:30 p.m. Returning to the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge, the man who goes through a transformative experience after being visited by ghosts on Christmas eve, is David Rainey, whose “down to a science” take on the character had the Houston Press saying it “should be preserved in a bottle and sold at the concession stand.” Performances will continue through December 28 at 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets can be purchased here for $36 to $138.

The Tony Award-winning musical The Outsiders, drawn from S.E. Hinton’s classic coming-of-age novel turned classic 1983 film, will arrive in Houston on Tuesday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. courtesy of Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center. Jaydon Nget, who plays Two-Bit in the production, recently told the Houston Press that the haves vs. have-nots story “ties generations,” adding, “It’s a beautiful message of how there is an outsider in all of us and a sense of wanting to belong. To find that light even in the darkest times. That you’re never alone.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets can be purchased here for $55 to $265.

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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