This year’s Via Colori festival takes place Saturday, November 19, 2011 and Sunday, November 20, 2011. Events will take place around Downtown Houston; Sam Houston Park & the streets of Allen Parkway & Bagby.

Admission to the festival is free, but there are several optional activities (including bungee jumping!) available for a fee. All proceeds benefit The Center for Hearing and Speech, which has helped thousands of children develop listening, speaking and literacy skills needed to succeed in the mainstream hearing world.

The video below introduces some of the artists who will be drawing at the 2011 festival.

The Via Colori Street Scene features beer and wine sampling, live music, light bites provided by Carrabba’s, and even a festival-wide scavenger hunt with prizes. Tickets for Street Scene are available for $20 at http://viacoloristreetscene.eventbrite.com.

Here are some photos from previous years’ festivals.

Photo Credit: Ed Schipul http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo Credit: Ed Schipul http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo Credit: Linda MacPhee-Cobb http://www.flickr.com/photos/herselfsphotos/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo Credit: Ed Schipul http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo Credit: Ed Schipul http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

The 2011 Quilt Festival will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston, Texas on November 3 – 6, 2011, with a preview on November 2, 2011.

The festival includes juried competitions, 1000+ vendor booths offering fabrics and other supplies, and more than 400 courses on all aspects of quilting. Class registration is available onsite. A complete listing of classes is available at the quilt festival website.

Even non-quilters can enjoy viewing the amazing works of art on display. More than 1,500 antique and contemporary quilts, original cloth dolls and wearable art will be displayed at the quilt festival.

Photo credit: Big Bang Quilt by zephrene, on Flickr

Daily admission is $10 with a discounted rate of $8 for seniors and students. Children 10 and younger are admitted free with a paying adult. A pass for the entire festival is $35.

Location: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston, Texas, 77010 USA
Dates and Times:

• Thursday, November 3, 2011, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Friday, November 4, 2011, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Saturday, November 5, 2011, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Sunday, November 6, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

For more information about the show:
Call: 713-781-6864
E-mAIL: shows@quilts.com
Website: http://Quilts.com/

Although the skyline has changed a lot over the years, I still think that Houston has one of the best skylines around. When I return from out of town, I love it when the towering buildings come in to view, whether I am viewing them from my car or the window of an airplane.

The video below shows off downtown Houston as seen from the air.

Unlike most cities, Houston has more than one “downtown” skyline. The Texas Medical Center is the largest in the world. The Williams Tower dominates a busy Galleria skyline. Add in Park 10, Greenway Plaza and Greenspoint, and you could forgive a visitor for wondering how many downtowns Houston really has. Downtown is still impressive, day or night, and a great example of what a modern city can be.

The BBP recently introduced their new pontoon boat, Spirit of the Bayou, with a cruise along Buffalo Bayou. (The Spirit of the Bayou replaces a boat lost to an arson fire over the summer.)

On this cruise, the boat traveled east along the Bayou from Allen’s Landing, through historic east Houston with historian Louis F. Aulbach providing insight, commentary and fun facts about Houston history along the way. Aulbach is the BBP’s resident historian, and he leads monthly historical tours.

Viewing the city from the bayou gives you a brand new perspective on Houston. Passengers can view industry, nature, history and striking views of the downtown Houston skyline, while taking a relaxing boat trip along a portion of Houston’s main waterway.

Several Buffalo Bayou boat tours are available at various times of the year, from the Christmas cruises happening this month to bat colony tours, historical tours and more. Tours depart from Sabine Promenade. You can get information about scheduled tours, or how to schedule a private Buffalo Bayou boat tour for your group, at the Buffalo Bayou Partnership website.

Be sure to book your cruise to discover this little-seen side of Houston. Meanwhile, take a look at some of the photos from the recent preview cruise offered by BBP.

Buffalo Bayou from Allen’s Landing

Buffalo Bayou Nature

One of Many Bridges Over Buffalo Bayou

Downtown Houston Skyline from Buffalo Bayou

Share in the excitement as costumed re-enactors participate in historical vignettes portraying holiday celebrations from the past. Crafters will demonstrate long-forgotten holiday traditions. You can visit the Gingerbread tent to create holiday crafts or have your photo taken with St. Nick. You might even thrill to the experience of an unexpected snowfall, right in downtown Houston!

Tickets are available for $10.00 (adults 19+) and $5.00 (students 13-18 and Seniors 65+). Children (12 and under) are admitted free. Advance tickets may be purchased by contacting The Heritage Society Business Office at (713) 655-1912 or at their website, www.heritagesociety.org. Cash, check, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express may be used to purchase tickets. Tickets may also be purchased at the gate.

All proceeds from the Holiday Candlelight Tour in the Park benefit The Heritage Society to further the mission of preserving the past while educating for the future.

Image Credit: Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

You can take a 30-minute pontoon boat ride along Buffalo Bayou and enjoy the decorations, brightly colored lights, song and cheer! These trips will be aboard Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s new boat, the Spirit of the Bayou, which replaces a boat lost to arson in July of this year.

Cruises will be offered on three Saturdays, November 27, December 4 and 18, 2010, from 5 – 8 p.m., weather permitting. No reservations are taken—tours are on a first come, first serve basis and there is a limit of 26 persons per trip. Weather cancellations, if they occur, will be posted on the BBP website.

To get on one of the Buffalo Bayou Christmas Cruises, head to downtown’s Sabine Promenade boat launch between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive, at150 Sabine Street. Parking is available in the Theater District parking Lot H. Take the Sabine Street exit off of Memorial Drive – Lot H will be on the right hand side before Houston Avenue.

The 30-minute trip costs $7 for adults and $5 for children (ages 4 -12). No strollers are allowed on the boat. Fares must be paid in cash.

For more information, call 713-752-0314 ext. 3, email tsmith@buffalobayou.org or go to www.buffalobayou.org.

Looking for a great holiday event for your family, friends or staff? Private tours are available. Call 713-752-0314 ext. 4 for information and reservations.

The classes are presented by Dick Myers of Small Business Consultants and Jay Mock of commercial lighting design company RLLDesign, along with occasional guest speakers.

There is information for both beginners and more advanced Internet marketers. Classes led by Dick Myers cover the basic and intermediate strategies for optimizing your website. Those topics include:

• Keywords: What they are, how you identify them, and how you use them to benefit your web site.
• What makes a web site work; a review of the primary elements of a site that allow it to produce leads for a business.
• Links and Link Building; How you do it and what it can do for your site performance.
• Starting a business on-line; Some ideas and some tools for a startup to use.
• Blogging: Why and how you do it. How to set up a blog.

Sessions led by Jay Mock typically cover new developments in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (an ever-changing field) and the strategies that are helping his sites to get high rankings in the search engines.

Guest speakers have led sessions on everything from intellectual property law to affiliate marketing to choosing a web hosting company and more.

Classes are held from 7 – 9 p.m on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the SBDC classrooms on Fannin. Free parking is available. Although the classes are free, space is limited and it is recommended that you pre-register.

You can verify the class schedule, learn what topics are planned for each class and register at the Internet marketing clinic website, http://www.small-business-consultants.net/small_business_resource/Internet_marketing_clinic.htm. The website also includes links to class notes from past sessions, and a map to the class location.

Sign up for an upcoming class so you can learn how to conquer the search engines and grow your business.

Did you know that more than 250,000 bats call Waugh Bridge on Buffalo Bayou home?

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership offers boat tours of the bat colony on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, March through October. Guests on these tours will enjoy an amazing view from pontoon boats on the bayou’s waters as the bats emerge from under the bridge.  It is a fun and educational evening where you and your family can view and learn about these magnificent flying mammals that share the city with us.

Dates for the remainder of 2010 are:

• July 9 & 23
• August 13 & 27
• September 10 & 24
• October 8 & 22

$35 per adult; $25 per child (ages 4-12) no children under 4
Children under the age of 13 must wear (provided) life jackets while onboard.

All bat tours leave from Sabine Promenade.
For more information, or to register, call 713.752.0314 ext. 4 or e-mail jballard@buffalobayou.org

Image Credit: darklama based on works by Oliver Herold, Yug, Rugby471 | Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The first tour, featuring a beer and cheese tasting with the Houston Dairymaids and Saint Arnold Brewing Company, will take place on April 15, 2010. As you cruise down our city’s historic waterway, you’ll enjoy local Texas cheeses coupled with Saint Arnold’s award-winning beers.

Additional tours, featuring other local Houston chefs and food purveyors, will take place on April 29 and May 13. The 1-1/2 hour boat tours launch from Sabine Promenade. Tours are limited to just 20 people, and reservations are required.

Make your reservations now to be a part of this unique Houston experience.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership Foodie Floats
Thursdays – April 15, 29 and May 13
6-7:30pm

Cost per person: $50

To make your reservation or to get more information, please call the Buffalo Bayou Partnership at 713.752.0314 ext. 3 or e-mail tsmith@buffalobayou.org or log onto the Buffalo Bayou Partnership website at www.buffalobayou.org.

You can walk through downtown Houston via the 6.2-mile tunnel system without having to set foot in the hot, humid weather! Take a tour with Discover Houston tours (Call 713-222-WALK.) or do it yourself with a map from the Visitor’s Center in City Hall. You can also download a map courtesy of Treebeard’s restaurant (one of the many businesses you’ll find in the tunnel) at: http://www.treebeards.com/location/tunnel.html

Sandra Lord, aka The Tunnel Lady, leads groups on walking tours of the Tunnel System and other downtown attractions. Try the Tunnel & Trolley Tours, NiteCrawls, Sunday Strolls, Ghost Walks in October and Holiday Lights Walks in December. Sandra offers several options, including customized itineraries.

Want to see more of Houston’s unusual sights? Get your copy of “Offbeat Houston” and you can see places even the natives don’t know about!

Photo Credit: GHCVB