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APRIL 10-13, 2025
The Parade Rolls April 12 @ 2pm

Allen Parkway & Downtown Houston

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Submit Your Entry!

Submissions are now being accepted for the 38th Annual Houston Art Car Parade!

Do you have, or are planning to create, a mobile masterpiece that you want to show in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering fans? Whether it's painted, sculpted, welded, lit, lifted, chopped, screwed, diced, scattered, smothered, covered (wait, is this a Waffle House order?).... we want to see it!

Click on the link below to learn more about our rules, regulations, special events, and various categories of Art Cars that participate in the parade. Who knows, maybe you'll go home with the grand prize in 2025!

Deadline for submissions is February 15, 2025

2024 Ann Harithas Legacy Award Winner

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The Ploppet

Claire & Kyle Johnson and The Ploppet Crew

Scottsdale, AZ

Houston Art Car Parade Photo Archive

For 38 years, people around the globe have captured photos of the unique, surreal, and majestic rolling masterpieces presented annually in the Orange Show's Houston Art Car Parade. We've spent hundreds of hours compiling these images into an online archive free for anyone to view and enjoy.

Do you have photos of Art Cars rolling in the Houston Art Car Parade that you'd like to submit to our archives? Email us at archives@orangeshow.org!

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2024 Houston Art Car Parade Grand Marshal

In celebration of Saint Arnold's 30th Anniversary, and their continued commitment to supporting the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and the Houston Art Car Parade - as well as their significant contributions to many other Houston arts and culture organizations - we are pleased to be recognizing Brock Wagner as this year's Houston Art Car Parade Grand Marshal!

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Brock Wagner
Founder / Brewer of Saint Arnold Brewing Company 

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2024 Featured Artist

Jacob Heredia
Student, The HUB Houston

2024 Honorees

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Becky Mustachio 
Art Teacher
Spring Forest Middle School

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Moon Papas
Artist Collaborative
Houston, TX

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Barbara & Marks Hinton
Patrons & Volunteers of the Orange Show

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Watch the Video

Schedule

History of the Parade

Houston's largest free cultural event and one of its most iconic celebrations started out nearly four decades ago with humble beginnings. Through the passion and commitment of like-minded artists across the country and the leadership of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, the Houston Art Car Parade has become a world-wide phenomenon, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to witness the awe and splendor of mobile art on wheels.

Photo Galleries

Photos

What is an Art Car?

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Art Car /ärt kär/

noun

A vehicle whose owner has modified its appearance in a way to suit their own aesthetic, personality, or creative inspiration.

Since the invention of the automobile, art cars have been found in cultures across the globe as a way to express individuality, rebel against cultural norms, and stand out from the mundane. People of all walks of life have created art cars, from the most celebrated of contemporary artists, to your weird neighbor with the chickens, and everyone in between. Most art cars have started out as something you may see in a car dealership parking lot - four normal wheels, a socially-acceptable color, and a major auto company's chrome-plated branding. It's through the eyes, brain, and sweat of an Art Car Artist that the Art Car is born. Whether it's been painted, welded, sculpted, dropped, chopped, beaded, smashed, crashed, lit, or lifted - Art Cars come in all shapes, sizes and forms! The only rule is that it must roll!

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