Parade of Artifacts

Wurstfest hats and Fiesta gowns: New exhibit salutes Texas festivals

Bullock Texas State History Museum Texas festivals exhibit

A visitor looks at a gown and train from a Fiesta San Antonio court.

Photo courtesy of the Bullock Texas State History Museum

The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin is offering new perspectives from 27 annual celebrations around the state in an exhibition called Texas Festivals, open now through September 27. The collection is a Texana collector's dream, with objects ranging from a pearl-wearing pig to a lumberjack mask to lavish San Antonio Fiesta gowns.

Although the Capital City is known for relatively newer fests like Austin City Limits Music Festival or South by Southwest, many of the artifacts on display in Texas Festivals emphasize more old-fashioned and country traditions: lots of farm imagery and pageantry. Some of them are contemporary, while others reach back to give context about the state's festival history.

The exhibition, presented in English and Spanish, gets curious about what makes a festival, and what different festivals say about their respective towns. Some answers can be gleaned by looking at the artifacts — a Tyrolean hat (Alpine cap) from Wurstfest in New Braunfels or a trophy from the Luling Watermelon Thump — while others are less self-explanatory.Other objects on display include:

Sandfest in Port Aransas: A sculpture made for the exhibit using sand from Port Aransas
The Art Car Parade in Houston: An art car honoring Stevie Ray Vaughan
Fiesta San Antonio: Regalia from "royal courts"
Texas Citrus Fiesta in Mission: More court fashions
Various festivals: Mascots from Texas Onion Fest in Weslaco, the Hogeye Festival in Elgin, and the Texas State Forest Festival in Lufkin

This regal pig is from Elgin's Hogeye FestivalPhoto courtesy of Bullock Texas State History Museum

To help organize curators' and visitors' thoughts on the matter, the exhibition is divided into three sections that ask different questions, like "How do festivals create community?" There will also be more musing in a short documentary about how festivals are planned, and more sources will be organized in another collection of video clips.

Interactive activities will invite visitors to decorate the train of a gown like the intricate masterpieces that would be worn at Fiesta San Antonio, create a festival by filling in blanks from a word cloud, and, for young kids (ages 2-5), play with food truck-themed toys.

On May 3, the exhibition will really come to life with themed activities from 10 am to 2 pm and a talk with Fiesta San Antonio historian Dr. Michaele Thurgood Haynes. The museum will be free to visit that day, but non-members will need to buy a $10 ticket to attend Haynes' talk.

“For the Bullock Museum’s 25th anniversary, we wanted to create an exhibit that brought people together in a celebratory way,” said senior curator Kathryn Siefker in a press release. “We developed several concepts and then asked Museum staff to vote for their favorite. The idea of Texas festivals was the unanimous winner. As we dug into the research, we realized how fitting the exhibit truly is. Festivals celebrate the best parts of Texas — its people, economy, cultural heritage, and pride.

”Whether or not Texans stop by the exhibition in person, they can see the artifacts online at TheStoryOfTexas.com/artifacts. There are 815 items listed, with only 155 of them currently on display at the museum.

The Bullock Museum is located at 1800 Congress Ave in Austin. Admission is $17 for adults and $11 for youth (4-17 years), with discounts available for seniors, military, and students.

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Cool Texas shop named one of America's best indie bookstores

Deep Vellum Books, independent bookstores in Dallas

Deep Vellum Books/Facebook

Reading is all the rage in 2026.

Dallas' Deep Vellum Bookstore is claiming new bragging rights as one of the 20 best independent bookstores in America, according to a new guide from Condé Nast Traveler. San Antonio, sadly, was snubbed.

The list was published in celebration of Independent Bookstore Day on April 25 — but every day can be Indie Bookstore Day when you're supporting your local shop rather than a national chain like Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Indie bookstores and physical media have been having a much needed renaissance in today's digital (and AI slop-filled) era. More than 400 new bookshops opened in 2025 alone, the American Booksellers Association reported, and local bookstores are welcome third spaces for many literature loving individuals.

Deep Vellum won the title as the best indie bookstore in the Lone Star State, outshining several other popular Texas booksellers, including San Antonio's own Nowhere Bookshop and The Twig Book Shop.

Located at 3000 Commerce St. in Dallas' Deep Ellum neighborhood, Condé Nast said Deep Vellum serves as "one of the country’s premier translators of contemporary global literature."

"As esoteric as its collection may seem, the bookstore itself makes exploration approachable," wrote editorial assistant Kat Chen. "Crack into a can of craft beer, gaze at the wall plastered with polaroids of smiling patrons, and tuck into an engrossing read on one of the tweed armchairs."

Deep Vellum was founded by Will Evans in 2013 as a community-focused literary arts center and nonprofit publishing house for diverse international literature, as well as local Dallas writers. The bookstore soon followed in 2015, and operations have now expanded to five publishing imprints that produce half English-original works and half international literature.

This mighty bookshop and publishing house has long proved its staying power even after its federal funding was axed last year. In early April, the organization revealed it would launch its inaugural Deep Vellum Music and Literature Festival from July 10-12, 2026.

"Through literary readings, author panels, spoken word, live music performances, and community activations this festival will bring voices from across Texas and around the world," a press release said.

Until then, Condé Nast provided some recommended reading for Texas bibliophiles that want to check out some (new-to-you) literary and psychological fiction: Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (translated by Roland Glasser) and Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young.

And if you want to pick up a few books (or a whole stack), our guide to San Antonio's many indie booksellers will get you started.

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