At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, the Great Lawn at Bellaire Town Square starts filling with tents, staked side by side a short walk from the Bellaire Civic Center at 7008 S. Rice Ave. Bounce houses go up, telescopes come out after dark, and by 10:00 a.m. Sunday the lawn is a lawn again. This is the 17th annual Tents in Town, which its organizers call the "Ultimate Urban Campout."
You can read it as a family night out with s'mores. It is also a fundraiser. The group behind it, PATRONS for Bellaire Parks, has put money into the play equipment at several of the city's neighborhood parks and into planning for Evergreen Park's redevelopment. A campsite ticket is one of the smaller, steadier ways that money comes in.
Friday night is free
The weekend starts a day early on the same lawn. On Friday, Nov. 6, the free Party at the Pavilion concert series brings the Larry Glass Band to Bellaire Town Square from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event page tells people to bring blankets, lawn chairs and coolers, and it allows beer and wine under its posted age and ID rules.
The series has the same backers as the campout. PATRONS for Bellaire Parks and the City of Bellaire Parks and Recreation Department present it together. The fall season already held shows on Sept. 4 and Oct. 23, and Friday's concert is the second-to-last of the year. So for one weekend the lawn runs on a single schedule:
- Friday, Nov. 6, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Larry Glass Band, free, on the Great Lawn.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 1:00 p.m. Tents go up for Tents in Town.
- Saturday evening. Dinner, s'mores, activities and stargazing through telescopes.
- Sunday, Nov. 8, 10:00 a.m. The campout wraps and the lawn clears.
What a campsite costs, and what comes with it
Tickets are sold through the PATRONS event page, and you choose between two ways to camp. A standard campsite means you bring your own tent and pick your spot on the Great Lawn. A VIP glamping spot means your tent, beds and linens are already set up when you arrive.
| Ticket | Price | Service fee | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campsite, Family of 4 | $200 | $5 | Event admission and a family campsite; you bring the tent |
| Additional camper, campsite | $40 | $1 | Must be bought in the same order as a Family of 4 campsite |
| VIP Family of 4 | $600 | $15 | X-Large tent, two plush beds, linens and blankets; you bring pillows |
| Additional camper, VIP | $80 | $2 | Must be bought in the same order as a VIP Family of 4 campsite |
A household of six would pay $287 including fees for a standard campsite, or $779 for VIP. The VIP spots are listed as limited, and the page doesn't say how many there are.
Everything else costs the same no matter which ticket you buy. The 2026 listing covers bounce houses, face painting, balloon art, telescope stargazing, food and activities, all included with registration. PATRONS' sponsorship page names dinner and s'mores. The campout page also says the price stays this simple because of the sponsors.
"Tents in Town runs on local businesses and families who love Bellaire's parks. Sponsors keep food and activities included for every camper."
That line comes from the PATRONS sponsorship pitch. Sponsors pay for the meal and the bounce houses, which leaves the ticket money free to go to the group's park work.
Where the ticket money goes
PATRONS for Bellaire Parks is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It describes its work as volunteering, programming, advocacy and financial support for the city's public parks and green spaces. The group says it has given the City of Bellaire more than $2 million since 2002. That covers 24 years of concerts, campouts and donations.
Several of those gifts went to places Bellaire families already use:
- Neighborhood playgrounds. In 2019, the Houston Chronicle's Bellaire Examiner reported that PATRONS gave the city $110,000 for play equipment at Lafayette, Mulberry, Feld, Evergreen and Loftin parks and at Officer Lucy Dog Park. The report ran in a story previewing that year's campout.
- Evergreen Park planning. In July 2025, Community Impact reported a $50,000 PATRONS donation toward the Evergreen Park Master Plan. The Evergreen Park and Pool Complex was built in the 1960s and sits across from the Nature Discovery Center, and the plan is meant to guide its improvements.
When the donation was announced, the Evergreen ideas named in earlier city outreach included an all-inclusive playground, a renovated pool with better lighting and restrooms, and flexible green space with a covered event venue.
Some of the money has also gone back into the lawn the tents sit on. In 2011, the Examiner described Tents in Town as a fundraiser run by PATRONS and the Bellaire Parks & Recreation Department, with proceeds set aside for further development of Bellaire Town Square. On Nov. 7, campers will sleep on a town square that earlier campouts were raising money for 15 years ago.
How the campout has changed
Tents in Town wasn't always a November event. The Examiner's 2012 preview placed that year's campout on March 24 and 25, with a cookout dinner, breakfast, s'mores, storytelling, games and live music. Its follow-up story reported that 116 families sold out the event. By 2019 it had moved to the first weekend of November, Nov. 2 and 3 that year. The lineup then included a climbing wall, a bounce house, a silly-string fight, a balloon artist, face painting, yoga, s'mores, sports, a cookout, breakfast and snacks. In 2025, Community Impact's listing for the Nov. 8-9 campout showed a family of four at $200, the same base price as this year, and named bouncy houses, face painting, balloon art and a climbing wall.
This year's materials list bounce houses, face painting, balloon art, telescope stargazing, dinner and s'mores. For details beyond that, such as parking, pets or what happens if it rains, the Tents in Town page is the place to check before you pack the car.
The next date on the lawn
After the Nov. 7-8 campout, the Great Lawn has one more Party at the Pavilion show this year. Thunderpants plays a free concert at Bellaire Town Square on Friday, Dec. 11, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The PATRONS events calendar lists it along with registration for the campout.
Bellaire's parks shape how a house here gets used: which playground is on the walk home, and which lawn hosts a free concert on Friday nights. If you're weighing a move within Bellaire, or getting a home ready for spring and want to know how buyers read the blocks near Town Square and Evergreen Park, Brenna Abels can walk the streets with you and show you where the parks fit in. Book an appointment, and we'll start at the Great Lawn.
