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BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The third annual Space Fest wrapped Saturday after three days of STEM exhibits, robotics, live music, and space-themed attractions across downtown Brownsville, drawing families, students, and visitors to the city nearest SpaceX’s Starbase.
The festival ran September 24 to 26 and expanded from a single-day event in its first two years to a multi-site program organized by the City of Brownsville’s Convention and Visitors Bureau and Office of Space Commerce. SpaceX was listed as an event partner and sponsor. Admission was free.
City officials projected 5,000 to 6,000 attendees. Previous one-day Space Fest Saturdays drew about 6,000 to 7,000 people, organizers said before the weekend.
Space Fest 2026 extra days and new STEM programming were meant to attract out-of-town makers and robotics teams as well as local residents.
The City of Brownsville’s main objective is to use the annual Space Fest to inspire young people to see all the future the possibilities and good opportunities that are available in the Brownsville to Starbase region, thanks to SpaceX and the spaceflight economy that is starting in south Texas.
Cool open-air photo booths I saw at Space Fest 2026
— Evelyn Janeidy (@JaneidyEve) September 27, 2026
SpaceX had cool places for people to take photos & some had a printer, so people got to take home their pics. https://t.co/18fZ5Z91Az pic.twitter.com/tzyawpgDRb
Programming included Brownsville’s first Maker Faire at the George Ramirez Performing Arts Academy, a FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition at the Mitte Arts & Cultural Center and Linear Park, vendor markets, art and costume contests, and a Saturday evening downtown festival with live music, including the band Wreckless Texas and DJs.
The city said the lineup also included a flair bartending competition, an orchestra concert, space presentations, and roughly 200 to 300 local vendors.
The Space Fest Pavilion featured a drone show and a Mars rover display. Cybertrucks and self-driving Tesla cars ran shuttle routes between downtown and Linear Park alongside BTX Connect buses and pedicabs and were also displayed on site, including Starbase, Texas, police Cybertrucks.
SpaceX also set up open-air photo booths, some with printers so visitors could take (free) photos home, which people people loved.
The festival closed two days before SpaceX’s planned Starship Flight 14 window from nearby Boca Chica Beach. That test is intended to send Starship into Earth orbit for and deploy Starlink V3 satellites, and it brought additional space tourists into the Brownsville area over the same weekend.
City officials framed Space Fest as both a community celebration and a workforce pipeline for the Rio Grande Valley’s growing aerospace economy. Space Fest organizers are already considering additions for 2027, including a possible experimental rocket competition for the next festival.
Author’s note: Thanks for reading Cosmic Chronicles. Write your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have story suggestions or feedback, Direct Message me on social media 𝕏: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve. Read the most recent stories featured below. Thank You.
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