I remember when I first started this blog, a lot of the entries were just me riding my bike down town and then running into a festival or parade. I’m not trying to pretend like they were all spontaneous, but there was a little feeling of adventure to be had when I’d cycle out of the suburbs and into the urban “mountains” of downtown Houston to see something cool. Things are inarguably different in my life now, but hey, I rode my bike downtown and saw something cool last weekend.
I’ve known about the Houston Art Car Parade for over a decade, but have never gone once in 20+ years I’ve lived here. I even have friends who have built cars for it (shout out to HP and Giselle, miss y’all!). So I decided to give my weekly bike ride a destination and finally checked it out.
I don’t know if I’ve ever shared anything about Bike Houston before, but they’re our city’s cycling advocates. I’ve done group rides before with them in the past when they do little historic tours of our fair city, and they really do a lot to make one of the least walkable cities on earth a fun place to ride. At the Art Car Parade they had a free Bike Valet service and trhat worked out nicely since I forgot the keys to my bike locks.
The Art Cars were really something else. In addition to the hundreds of Art Cars that were sometimes evocative, often times whimsical and usually just fun to look at, many more people in full costume were parading a long with them by foot, bike, scooter, rollerskates and more.
I was told that this year that the parade organizers wanted to prohibit politically charged cars, but it didn’t seem like that stopped anyone. Kind of a weak policy if you consider how much our of our everyday lives are affected by the whims of career politicians, and art just tends to reflect the human condition. No stress though as the soft ass anti-politics rule they hung out there was clearly not enforced. Check out the big orange piss baby float. Nice.
Anyway, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my full attention was taken from the rest of the parade by the line up of candy paint SLABS and hydraulic suspension equipped lowriders.
The view of them swanging and hitting switches as they came down Allen Parkway with the iconic Houston skyline looming in the background made the whole trip for me.
I know it’s not what typically fits with the rest of the Art Car Parade population, but if there was ever a style of build that could be considered a car that is all art, these would be it.
Check out the gallery below for a few more snaps from the parade. I had a great time, and just like everytime I got to a damn car show, I left wanting to build something. If you are also so easily influenced and inspired, visit the Houston Art Car Parade’s website to see how you can join in.
