🎉 Friday!

🥁 Today's weather: Showers and thunderstorms likely, with a high of — drumroll, please — the upper 80s.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Thomas Fish!

Today’s newsletter is 896 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Picture this: A concert venue filled with glow sticks, dance beats and tiny hands in the air.

Why it matters: Family-friendly raves are taking off, and Australian DJ Lenny Pearce's Toddler Rave is coming to Houston in November.

The big picture: The event category grew 93% from 2024 to 2025 nationally, per Eventbrite data shared with Axios.

Catch up quick: Pearce has built a following by turning songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" into EDM tracks featured in an interactive show that caters both to little ones and their raver parents.

• Pearce's first viral hit was a "Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" techno remix in 2023. Last year, he toured internationally and sold out U.S. dates.
• The kids' music genre is familiar to the producer: He's the twin brother of a Wiggle and the father of two young kids.

Yes, but: Entertaining the world's most brutally honest audience isn't easy.

• "Kids can stare at you and I'm like, 'Oh my God, is he bored of me?'" Pearce tells Axios. He's learned that toddlers do better with action and cues than music alone.

Vibe check: Pearce says he tries to avoid making his sets all about putting hands up and jumping. He brings out props and characters such as Kuma the monkey, Bubbles the DJ duck and Mr. Glow the glowstick maker.

• Costumes are welcome, even for adults.

If you go: Tickets to the Nov. 8 rave at Bayou Music Center start at $53. VIP packages start around $125 per person.

The bottom line: Today's toddler rave participants will be tomorrow's festival-goers.

👋 Shafaq here! Last weekend, I got my mom's sewing machine fixed for free at Harris County Public Library's Repair Cafe at West University.

Why it matters: The community event saves people money and keeps broken items out of landfills.

• 😏 The fix also means my mom can sew more things for me.

How it works: You just bring in what needs fixing and volunteers take a look. People bring jewelry, clocks, dehydrators, lamps and stuffed animals in need of mending.

My experience: I replaced my mom's two-decade-old sewing machine with a new Singer for her birthday a few years ago.

• But quickly, the new one's zigzag function stopped working, and our YouTube University skills got us only so far.
• Getting a sewing machine fixed can cost upward of $100 — not exactly ideal for a machine I paid about $250 for.

Luckily, it was just the job for a Repair Cafe volunteer. And we weren't alone: Only an hour into the event and four sewing machines had already been brought in. Finicky little things!

• We chatted with the lovely volunteers and librarians, learned a little about fixing things and perused some books. Overall, a very successful and delightful Saturday afternoon.

Between the lines: Last month, the Texas Library Association released a study finding that Texas public libraries generate nearly $5 in economic value for every $1 invested.

The bottom line: Community is at the library.

What's next: The next cafe is 11am-3pm Nov. 14 at Maud Marks Branch Library.

🏟️ Rice University announced a 20-year naming rights deal to rename Rice Stadium as First Community Stadium, effective Saturday. (Rice University Athletics)

🗑️ Houston's new garbage fee will be subject to state sales tax, bringing in less than anticipated. (ABC13)

A man accused of shooting a Harris County sheriff's deputy and fleeing in a patrol car faces five felony charges. (Click2Houston)

💰 Stat du jour: PAC spending

A political action committee supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate bid spent $131 million in 17 days, according to federal campaign finance reports.

• Paxton trails Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in recent polls.
• The contest is expected to be the nation's most expensive Senate race this year.

Dust off your lederhosen: Oktoberfest season is in full swing across Houston.

Why it matters: You don't have to fly to Germany to get a taste of the Bavarian tradition.

Fun fact: Houston served as a major gateway and disembarkation point for German immigrants arriving via Galveston. That's also why a lot of nearby towns have German names.

• So it only makes sense that Oktoberfest is big here. Plus, of course, the celebration comes with beer and bratwurst.

Here's how to celebrate:

🇩🇪 Oktoberfest Nation Houston: This monthlong pop-up has taken over East Downtown with Hofbräu beer imported from Munich, German food and oompah bands, plus carnival games and stein holding contests.

• Thursdays through Sundays. Tickets start at about $15. All ages.

🥨 Saint Arnold Oktoberfest: Saint Arnold Brewing celebrates with German-inspired food, special beer releases, live music and games this weekend.

• Today and tomorrow include live music and a local market, and Sunday's finale features a Bavarian brunch with the Houston Brass Band.

🐾 Karbachtoberfest: Karbach Brewing Co.'s final celebration today through Sunday has beer, brats, stein hoisting and — wait for it — wiener dog races.

Four more ways to celebrate

Thanks to Bob Gee for editing this newsletter.

📚 Shafaq scored a whole lot of books from the Friends of West University Library sale when she was at the Repair Cafe, including "Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai.