Attention anyone who will be planning to visit, working in or running a service establishment in Downtown Houston next week. Be prepared for Downtown Houston to be quite busy.

The International Quilt Market will be taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center from Oct. 29 – 31. The “Market” is a Trade Show/Vendor only event.

The big event is The International Quilt Festival, also taking place at the George R. Brown. This is open to the public and it is one of the absolute largest events in Houston every year…oh, yes it is! The dates of the festival are Thursday, Nov. 3 through Sunday, Nov. 6.

Quilters will be everywhere. They are generally ladies and they share hotel rooms so there will be quite a few of them patronizing the hospitality establishments in the downtown area. They’re always a fun bunch and I always enjoy meeting a lot of them as they travel in from all over the country – in fact, all over the world – for the biggest Quilt Festival on the planet. They’re always one of the nicest groups of conference attendees we get in Houston every year.

For hotels and restaurants, the nights of Wednesday, November 3 and Thursday, November 4 should be the busiest nights for the Quilters. I’m fairly sure Restaurants will remain busy on Friday night as well.

As if that weren’t enough, Taylor Swift is performing at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, November 5. Obviously, November 5 is going to be a big night for the hospitality industry as well.

If you’re interested in more information about The International Quilt Festival, please take a look at their website: www.quilts.com .