The Greater Katy Area: Small Town Charm, Big City Access

Part of the appeal and charm of historic Katy, Texas, is centered around its events, culture, and museums. There’s plenty right in the Greater Katy Area to fill weekends or summer days, such as the festivals that bring the Historic Downtown Plaza to life or pulse-pounding Southland Conference basketball at the Merrell Center. Additionally, Houston is 30 miles away, offering distinct metropolitan choices such as theater and concerts.

Houston’s Museum District is divided into four walkable zones featuring 19 museums, including the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Holocaust Museum, and the Museum of African-American Culture. Houston has five professional major league teams to cheer on: the Houston Astros (MLB), Houston Texans (NFL), Houston Rockets (NBA), Houston Dynamo FC (MLS), and Houston Dash (NWSL). Catching Division I college sports action is always an option with five universities in the metro area.

Katy Area Arts and Culture

Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Depot and Caboose

Nestled in a beautifully landscaped “pocket park,” the historic, restored Depot serves as a Visitors Center and Railroad Museum. Tourists and visitors can access information, brochures, and maps for the City of Katy and Katy businesses and tour the Katy Heritage Society Railroad Museum and red caboose. The museum displays many original elements of operation for the passenger rail service that ran in Katy until 1957.

Art Museum TX

Formerly known as CAM Fort Bend, Art Museum TX serves as an energetic art museum that brings social and cultural transformation to the greater Katy-Fort Bend to create a vibrant art community. Art Museum TX provides an interchange for visual arts of the present and recent past, presents new directions in art, strives to engage the public, and encourages a greater understanding of contemporary art through education programs.

Katy Art School

At the Katy Art School, students work through activities and projects that meet specific Art Objectives. Students are introduced to Art History and how Art has progressed over time. Through their work using different mediums and practicing various techniques, the students learn about a variety of artists spanning the ages. 

Johnny Nelson Katy Heritage Museum

This museum features vintage farming equipment, artifacts from Katy’s agricultural and pioneering history, scores of old photographs, and fascinating antiques.  Schools, clubs, and groups can make arrangements for special tours of the museum. Admission is free.


 

Katy Heritage Park

Beautifully landscaped Katy Heritage Park displays three historic Katy homes and a post office. The Featherston and Wright houses date back to 1898, while the Stockdick house was built in 1916. Each building was purchased, moved to the park, and restored by the Katy Heritage Society. Heritage Park’s Tradition Bank bandstand pavilion and brick paved patio host many community events. The park is open from dawn to dusk, and home tours are given the first full weekend of every month.

Ancestral Homes of Katy

These homes were researched, and historical markers were erected by the local Texas Sesquicentennial Committee in 1986. The historical markers can be used to guide a walking or driving tour of more than a dozen historic homes and buildings in downtown Katy.

Katy VFW Museum

Katy's Veterans Memorial Museum is a first-class military exhibit of historical significance encompassing every foreign conflict involving the United States. Special group schedules are available upon request. Free admission.

 

Events

Katy Half Marathon

The Katy Half Marathon in early February is the only half marathon distance race in the west Houston area. It occurs in early February and boasts three events in one day — half marathon, 5K, and Kids 1K. The sanctioned USA Track & Field event has thousands of participants and partners with many charities. From start to finish, the race is well organized, has great support and amazing volunteers, and is enjoyable for both racers and spectators.

Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show & Rodeo

One of the largest school rodeos in Texas, the three-day event held in mid-February at the L.D. Robinson Pavilion and Rodeo Arena attracts some of the best rodeo professionals in the country. The rodeo and livestock show is a proud Katy tradition and one of our most historic events. The event brings entertainment to audiences and supports the FFA students. Some of the activities include a parade, livestock show, auction, carnival, bull riding, barrel racing, bronc riding, calf roping, calf scramble, and mutton busting.

Southland Conference Basketball Tournament

The Southland Conference Basketball Tournament tips off every March at the Merrell Center in Katy for the men's and women’s teams battling for a bid into the NCAA Tournament. It’s fun for the whole family!

Katy Market Day

Katy Market Day Events are held every third Saturday of the month — March through November — between Second Street and Avenue B in Downtown Historic Katy. The themed events — including quilt shows, a beer garden, and motorcycle and car shows — are fun for the entire family. Each month, arts and crafts booths, antiques and collectibles, local produce, and much more are featured.


 

Bi-Annual Community Campouts

In March and November, pre-registered families can pack their tents and sleeping bags for a free night of family fun under the stars in VFW Park. Activities include an outdoor movie, crafts and games, dinner, s'mores, and a light breakfast. Enjoying the festivities and skipping the camping is also an option.

Folklife Festival

Held in April at the Welch Outdoor Learning Center by Katy ISD, the festival takes place on the wooded 34.5-acre site to demonstrate what life was like on the prairie a hundred years ago. See, hear, and smell black powder rifles and cannons booming, campfires burning, pottery wheels turning, the soft twang of the dulcimers, and open fire cooking.

Wild West Brewfest

Hosted by the Rotary Club of Katy in mid-April in Katy Mills Mall, Wild West Brewfest is one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country and has been named the country’s #1 brewfest for multiple years in a row by BeerYeti.com. This family-friendly event provides energizing fellowship, delicious brews, and great entertainment. All proceeds benefit the Katy community. 

Katy Summer Nights Series

This monthly movie night in VFW Park keeps families entertained during the summer. Bring your chair and blanket!


 

Katy Freedom Celebration

The City of Katy hosts a spectacular daylong, citywide, family-oriented Independence Day celebration. The day starts at the City of Katy Fire Station on Avenue D with food, games, and fun. The Heritage Society Homes, Heritage Museum, and VFW Museum are open to visitors, while the Fire Department, VFW, and Parks and Recreation Department host activities. The festivities end with a magnificent fireworks display at Katy Mills Mall and Typhoon Texas. 

Katy Triathlon

Every September for decades, amateur athletes have come to Katy to test their grit and conditioning. The net proceeds from this event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Katy benefit need-based and character scholarship for graduating Katy ISD seniors. In excess of $500,000 in scholarships have been funded, and $175,000 has gone to an endowment with Katy ISD for their Dual Credit Program.

Katy Rice Festival

In partnership with the Rotary Club of Katy, the City of Katy hosts this iconic 3-day festival on the second weekend of October in Historic Downtown, with proceeds benefiting the community. This first-class event honors Katy’s beginnings as a rice-farming community. It features a parade, a student art competition, quality arts and craft vendors, excellent live music and food options, a carnival, and, of course, a rice cooking competition. The long-standing tradition is fun for the whole family!

Katy Old-Fashioned Christmas Festival

On the first Saturday of December, Katy Market Days kicks off this annual Christmas festival in Historic Downtown Katy. Visitors can enjoy produce, arts, antiques, jewelry, handmade goods, carolers, amazing food trucks, a petting zoo, and 50,000 pounds of snow for the kids and kids at heart! Santa makes his appearance for photos, and musical groups from local schools perform. No Label Brewery opens its famous beer garden all day long.​