2023 Texas Mardi Gras
February 9th – 11th, 2023
Cowboy Mardi Gras is a Mardi Gras like event held in Bandara Texas every year. Much of the music is at the 11th St bar located just off of Main St, and isn’t “family friendly. ” On Saturday February 11th the floats and parade entries travel down Bandera’s main street in the Mardi Gras Parade, gumbo cookoff on 11th Street, and arts and crafts on the Courthouse Lawn 10am-5pm. Parade starts at Noon. Tickets required for most of the events except for the Main St parade.
We have not had a chance to make it to Cowboy Mardi Gras in Bandera yet. Three times we have booked our room and something came up where we could not make it. We did make a recent trip to Bandera for the first time and had a fun time. We stayed in the golf resort about a mile out of town and did a little fishing in a very nice new spot. It’s two hour from our home base in Austin, so we might make a day time appearance for the Gras to take some photos and sneak in a little fishing this year, even if we can’t make the full celebration.
Other Texas Mardi Gras Celebrations
Galveston is home to the biggest Mardi Gras celebration in Texas, and has been for a long time. It’s arguably the 5th biggest Gras in the US, behind New Orleans, Mobile, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge. They have a full slate of Parades and all the stuff you would expect from a Big Easy style Mardi Gras. Just on a much smaller scale and more family friendly atmosphere. The cool beach town vibe also adds to the fun when the weather is nice. It’s a full week of fun. Book your hotels rooms in advance as they can sell out way before the event. Hopefully COVID cases will be back down in 2022 so this is event is a possibility for us. There are some lame celebrations in Austin and San Antonio, but those aren’t really worth a trip if you are from out of state. Austin does host a Brazilian style “Carnival”, that is very cool, but it’s typically before “Gras”, and more of a ball than the traditional style celebration with floats and beads.
About Bandera
The town of Bandera is the entertainment hub of Bandera County, a vast 800 square mile oasis for Hill Country fun. For those of you looking for some old west charm, this place can’t be beat. There are cowboy shows and mock gun fights on main street (most Saturdays). dude ranches and old school motels also help give this town some Texas Cowboy charm. The river that runs trough town is one of my favorite spots to fish from the bank in all the of the Texas Hill Country with huge cypress trees lining the bank. The town is a little smaller than some of the other popular tourist detonations near buy, but it does have more of the Cowboy charm.
Read More about Bandera – Click Here
About Texas Hill County Surf
Texas Hill Country Surf is an online e-zine covering all the fun the Texas Hill Country. Our staff of fun bloggers travels to the small towns in central Texas attending events, music venues, and enjoying all things outdoors. Some of the attractions include:
- rivers & lakes
- vineyards, breweries, and distilleries
- small town antique shops
- golf resorts
- romantic bed and breakfasts
- camping & hiking
- restaurants
- museums
For those looking to for an authentic western cowboy vacation, there is no better destination than the Texas Hill Country.
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