Where to Watch the 2024 Houston Art Car Parade

Make your plans for prime viewing spots and other festivities at the 37th Art Car Parade in Downtown Houston on Saturday, April 13, 2024.

For a few hours in April, several blocks of Downtown Houston and a stretch of Allen Parkway are decorated by hundreds of wildly imaginative autos—and bicycles, unicycles, lawnmowers, go-carts and more—rolling past some 250,000 spectators flocking to see Houston’s signature Art Car Parade.

The largest celebration of its kind in the world returns for its 37th spectacle, thanks to the ceaseless grass roots work of the Orange Show, who bring together more than 250 art cars from across 23 states, Canada and Mexico for an unabashed showcase of the inner artist in each of us.

Ranging from tongue-in-cheek expressions of culture to magnificent efforts of artistic skill and ingenious design, the transformed automobiles are the work of anyone from local students, youth groups and families to artists from Houston and the international community alike.

Whether this is your first time taking it in or you’re a seasoned art car veteran, read on to find info about the parade route, how to get there, and more festivities taking place across the weekend.

2024 Houston Art Car Parade: Route, Viewing Spots & Events

The centerpiece of a weekend of creative revelry, the Art Car Parade begins rolling through Downtown at 2pm with Grand Marshall Brock Wagner, the founder of Saint Arnold Brewing Company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The parade route will send art cars looping around six blocks of Downtown near City Hall, before heading outbound on Allen Parkway to the finish line near Waugh Drive.

Where to Watch the Art Car Parade

There is no cost to attend the Art Car Parade, which means you can stake out a spot pretty much anywhere along the route.

The route opens to the public at 11am, which also provides your first chance to see all the participating art cars lined up along a stretch of Allen Parkway inbound to Downtown. There, you can walk the line to see every creation, chat with the artists behind the work, and enjoy pre-parade festivities like live music, food trucks, street performers and more.

Downtown Houston

Contained to the west side of Downtown, the parade route passes by locations like the Julia Ideson Library and HPL’s Central Library, Hermann Square, City Hall, and Sam Houston Park.

Paid street parking and garage parking is available throughout nearby Downtown streets, placing you just blocks from the parade route.

The MetroRail Red Line stop at Central Station Main is also a six-block walk to hit the north end of the parade.

Allen Parkway

For a more laid back spot to catch the parade action, you can find spots along the length of Allen Parkway from Downtown to Waugh Drive.

Arrive early to park near stretches of Buffalo Bayou Park, or tap into the sprawling bicycle networks that link the bayou to areas in Downtown, the Heights and East End.

If riding the bus, the 56 Bus Stop at Montrose and Allen Parkway will get you into several areas of the parade’s final stretch.

Other Art Car Parade Events

Want to get in on more Art Car celebrations with the Orange Show?

In addition to Saturday’s parade, the festivities stretch across a four-day weekend that includes:

• Art Car Sneak Peek at Discovery Green | Thursday, April 11 | FREE – Nearly 100 art cars, contraptions, lowriders, SLABs and more will be parked across the Discovery Green campus and along Avenida Houston, offering a chance to preview the parade art pieces, chat with the artists and enjoy kids crafts, music and more. 6pm to 10pm.
• The Legendary Art Car Ball at the Orange Show World HQ | Friday, April 12 – The annual Orange Show celebration kicks off another year of wild partying ahead of the annual art car parade. Expect live music from Heartbyrne playing Talking Heads, Henry Invisible, Free Radicals and more—plus interactive and performance art, food and drink, extravagant costumes, and hundreds of illuminated and fire-breathing art cars. 18+ only. $45 and up. 6pm to 11pm.

Learn more about Art Car Parade weekend festivities.

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