Houstonfest

Founded in 1980, Houstonfest is an annual competition for Houston-area students in grades 8 through 12 who are learning German.  It offers 43 contests for students in German I, II, III, IV, and V, including written and oral tests, declamation, drama, art, and music.  There are also categories for "advantaged speakers."  Registration is accepted only from German teachers registering their participating students as a group; we do not accept registration from individual students.  For the pre-pandemic 2020 contest we had 562 students registered from 21 schools.  In the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022, our all-online version of Houstonfest drew 166 students from 12 schools and 371 students from 19 schools respectively.  Unfortunately, because the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the decision was made on January 4, 2022, that this year's regional contests as well as the State contest will also have to take place entirely online.  On the positive side, more events will be offered in the online format in 2022 than in 2021. Click on "Changes and updates for 2022" in the column to the left for details about the 2022 contest.  Teachers and others from the local German-speaking community serve as judges; we had 117 teachers and volunteers serve as judges and proctors in 2022!  If you are interested in serving as a judge, contact director Rustin Buck by email and he'll add you to his email list.

Entrants placing in the top five in each event at Houstonfest, traditionally held on the first Saturday of February (which was February 5 in 2022), advance to the Texas State German Contest, traditionally held on the last Saturday of February (which was February 26 in 2022 - 40th anniversary!).  At State, Houstonfest's winners compete against the winners of the other two Texas regional German competitions, Winterfest for the Dallas and North Texas area and Sprachfest for the Central and South Texas area.

In non-pandemic years, Houstonfest is held at Heights High School in Houston and State at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Brochure about Texas German contest system

Contest Promo Video #1

(students from one school tell why they love contest)

Contest Promo Video #2

(one student tells why she loves contest)

Incentives for schools new to Houstonfest

Show your love for the Texas German contest system by producing a promotional video and entering our contest.  You could win $250!  Click here for the contest guidelines.

When we have contest in person:  after competition is over and while everyone is waiting for the awards to be tabulated, we have entertainment by the band Das ist lustig and members of the folk dance group Keine Kunst.  The Tomball German Festival also traditionally invites winning Chorus, Folk Dance, and Polka Band groups as well as Vocal Soloists to perform at their festival each year and makes donations to the German Clubs of all schools that perform.