Sober Event Calendar for 2024

At Justice Forward, we are all about our clients and graduates having fun in their new, sober lives. This is harder to achieve than you might think. When the source of all of your fun was a mind-altering substance, it’s hard to figure out how to enjoy yourself without your drug of choice.

Because of this dilemma, which confronts the majority of those we serve, we helped create the Party Sober Partnership, a nonprofit organization made up of several local nonprofits that hosts sober FUN events. This is our third year in existence, and here is what we've decided to host this year:

• First up is The Sober Chili Cookoff on February 24^th from 12pm to 4 pm at Fair Haven United Methodist Church. Register HERE

This is FREE event that is family-friendly, unlike the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Cookoff. We host our sober cookoff the same weekend as the Rodeo’s for a reason. This is a competitive event for chili connoisseurs with cash prizes awarded by celebrity judges to the winning teams. You can put a group together and register a team or just come taste all kinds of chili and enjoy music by DJ Stevie Vaughn.

• Next is Recover Out Loud: Sober Fest 2024 on May 18^th at White Oak Music Hall. Registration coming soon.

This is an all-day music festival featuring artists in recovery. This is the second year we’ve hosted this event, and will once again have live music indoors, with food trucks and a DJ outside. We will provide space for an artisan's market featuring vendors who are also in recovery. You can bring your kids (or not). This festival is a blast!

• Our third event for 2024 is the Greater Houston Big Texas Rally for Recovery on September 28^th from 10:00 am to 4pm at the Houston Botanic Garden.

This is a huge celebration of recovery that is hosted simultaneously in cities across Texas. Houston’s is the biggest, of course, with over 1000 people attending in past years. You can visit informational tables of over 60 recovery-related sponsor tables, eat at the food trucks, and enjoy live music. There is a youth section with lawn games and face painting, as well as inspirational speakers for all ages. 

• Finally, our newest event is Recovery Day with the Houston Texans (date and time TBD).

The Party Sober Partnership was honored to be selected to rally our recovery community to attend the Texas v. Titans game on December 31^st as they celebrated their first Recovery Day.  The Texans reserved several sections for our community and 800 tickets at a reduced price. We sold almost all of those tickets, so the Texans want to do it again this year! 

Go to www.partysober.org and follow us on social media to get the latest on all of these events.

There are two other nonprofits in Houston that also host sober events, The Sober Recreation Committee (SRC) and The Phoenix. Their events have a different focus and fill in the months between PSP events. The Sober Recreation Committee has several events planned for 2024 including a Pickleball Tournament in March, an Escape Room event in May, Bingo in July, and the very popular Jingle Bell Bowl in December. The Phoenix hosts outdoor and fitness events for anyone with at least 48 hours of sobriety. From CrossFit to Yoga to Bouldering, the Phoenix has something for everyone.
 

So, I hope it’s now clear: sobriety is not the beginning of the end of fun. We are fortunate in Houston to have many ways to connect with the recovery community and have sober fun in the process!