by Heinz Sladek

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: December 05, 2008

Because of the weather in Houston, Texas, summer is filled with both outdoor and indoor fun for all. There is plenty to do during the summer months including theaters, museums, festivals, water activities, and outdoor fun.

THEATER
Houston has a large theater district. Though many of the companies take the summer off, several theaters offer summer programs for children. Hermann Park is the home of the Miller Outdoor Theater. During the summer months, the theater is an open-aired amphitheatre where visitors can take a picnic and a blanket, find a place on the hill and enjoy a wonderful theatric performance. Some of the recent events at the theater are the Houston Symphony's Sounds Like Fund, the Annual Juneteenth Celebration, the bilingual version of Beauty and the Beast, Peter and the Wolf, and the Annual Shakespeare Festival. For Christian based entertainment, the A.D. Players offer theatrical performances year-round at their home on the Mainstage Theatre on West Alabama Street and, Theatre Southwest offers a wide selection of plays and entertainment at their annual Festival of Originals. If it is musicals you are looking for, just South of Houston on Galveston Island, visitors will find the Galveston Summer Musicals. Recent performances included All Shook Up and The Johnny Cash Show. Also, on Galveston Island, the Grand 1894 Opera House is truly a historical place. It has survived the great Galveston hurricane of 1900 and is one of the few remaining theatres of its kind from the 19th century. Recent summer productions have included Tuna Does Vegas, and Robert Earl Keen in concert.

MUSEUMS
Houston has a wide range of museum offerings in the museum district that is clustered central to downtown Houston. Visitors looking for history can choose from the Buffalo Soldiers Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the Czech Center Museum. If it is art you are looking for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Arts Museum, the Houston Museum of Contemporary Craft, the Menil Collection, and the Houston Center for Photography all are open during the summer months. For children there is the Children's Museum, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo, the Houston Weather Museum, and the Houston Health & Medical Science Museum. Also, do not forget the spectacular Byzantine and spiritual art offered at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum and the Rothko Chapel on the University of St. Thomas campus.

FESTIVALS
Because of its tropical weather, Houstonians like outdoor

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