Jazz fans, listen up! The 25th Annual Houston International Jazz Festival is back for a three-day live music extravaganza from July 31 through Aug. 2.

The festival celebrates jazz with live music and good vibes all weekend long. Jazz takes the spotlight, but a number of other musical genres that call on jazz for inspiration will also be featured during the three-day celebration. You can look forward to blues, soul, hip hop, and folk performances, too. Festival guests are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and folding chairs. Vendors selling food and drink will also be on hand.

Beyond the live music at the festival grounds, there are four main events of the festival — the kickoff party on Friday night, a pre-concert dinner on Saturday, the main concert at the Bayou Music Center on Saturday night, and the mayor’s scholarship jazz brunch on Sunday.

Tickets are required for entry to the festival and are available online. Tickets vary in price depending on the event you choose to go to.

The fun will places only two miles from Siena at Memorial Heights.

25th Houston International Jazz Festival
July 31-Aug. 2
www.houstoninternationaljazzfestival.com

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr Benjamin A Cowling

Featuring arts, crafts, music, food, and comedy, Bayou City Bonanza offers 14 hours of fun that will also does some good in the community. Located about 20 minutes away from Siena at Memorial Heights, Bayou City Bonanza will have food including barbecue, pancakes, and donuts from Fantastic Donuts and Croissants, games like an all-day water balloon fight, arts and crafts such as live body painting and glass blowing, and musical performances in a variety of genres.

A portion of the proceeds will go to bringing home a service puppy for a three-year old girl, Honor Monroe Tinsley, who was born with spina bifida. Pre-sale tickets are $15 for adults and include complimentary Lone Star Beer, snacks, and other giveaways. Kids 12 and under are free. Come during the day with the whole family, or gather up some friends to party late night – the event ends at 2 a.m.!

Bayou City Bonanza
Saturday, July 25, noon to 2 a.m.
Eastdown Warehouse
850 McKee St.
Houston, TX, 77002
www.masterpiecemotives.com/events/bayoucitybonanza

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr Instant Vantage

At first glance, Ula’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina might just appear to be a new place to eat near Siena at Memorial Heights, and it is. But look a little closer and you’ll learn that the team behind Ula’s brings four decades of restaurant experience, and perhaps the most significant is that of Ula himself.

Ulises Gonzalez, known as Ula, grew up in his family’s kitchen in Mexico, helping his mother cook authentic meals for the family. The menu at Ula’s is a nod to that background, and after you taste the cuisine, you’ll understand why the restaurant has earned so much acclaim in the short time it’s been open. (The first location in Missouri City, TX opened its doors in 2014, while the Washington Avenue location opened in April of this year.) texmexicanfood.com
www.yelp.com/biz/ulas-mexican-restaurant-and-cantina-houston

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr ShanMcG213