Labor Day weekend in Galveston brings a first-ever drone show over Moody Gardens on Sunday, Sept. 6, plus wine, waves and dinos. Plan your visit.
Labor Day weekend in Galveston just got a brand-new headliner. On Sunday, Sept. 6 at 9 p.m., hundreds of illuminated drones will take flight over the Moody Gardens pyramids in the destination's first-ever themed aerial show — and it caps a weekend already packed with wine, waves, dinosaurs and one last stretch of summer on the island.
Moody Gardens will debut its first-ever themed drone show on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026 at 9 p.m. Created by Sky Wonder Pyrotechnics, the 10-minute-plus production features hundreds of illuminated drones choreographed into designs inspired by Moody Gardens' attractions, marine life and icons. The show is visible across the property throughout Labor Day weekend in Galveston.
The show is custom-built for Moody Gardens, and it looks like it.
Created by Sky Wonder Pyrotechnics, the production runs more than 10 minutes and puts hundreds of illuminated drones into the sky above Offatts Bayou, choreographed into designs pulled straight from the property itself — the attractions, the marine life and the icons guests already know. Because the display sits high above the pyramids, it's visible throughout Moody Gardens, so you don't need a reserved seat or a special ticket line to catch it. Wherever you happen to be standing at 9 p.m. Sunday, look up.
A few tips if you want the best possible view. Arrive well before 9 p.m. — Sunday evening is the busiest stretch of the weekend, and parking fills up fast once the Wine Festival crowd arrives. Open sightlines matter more than proximity with a drone show, so anywhere with a clear stretch of sky above the pyramids works, and the lawn areas near the water tend to be the most comfortable place to settle in. Bring a blanket or a folding chair if you'd rather not stand.
It's the kind of thing you plan a weekend around, and conveniently, there's plenty already scheduled around it.
Sept. 4–6 belongs to the Galveston Island Wine Festival.
Presented by Yaga's Entertainment and Moody Gardens, the three-day celebration pours more than 100 wines and stacks the weekend with signature events: the White Linen Seafood Extravaganza, Penguins & Pinot: Grand Tasting, the Sunday Wine Dinner, Beck Bubbles & Brunch, the Tini's & Bikinis Pool Party and Wine'd Down after-hours entertainment.
The culinary lineup is genuinely stacked. Chef Brian Duffy, familiar to Food Network viewers from “Bar Rescue” and “Chopped,” joins Chef Concetta Maceo-Sims, owner of Maceo Spice & Import Co. and host of CW39's “H-Town Eats: Cooking with Concetta.” Chef Trinidad “Machete” Gonzalez of Gordo Niños — a Season 5 contestant on “Next Level Chef” — and Chef David Cordúa of The Lymbar round out the headliners, with additional talent working throughout the weekend.
Gulf Coast cuisine, live entertainment and a room full of penguins. It's a very Galveston way to close out summer.
The holiday weekend marks the final days for both exhibits.
At Dinos Alive, guests join a rescue team sent back in time, walking a trail of life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that move and roar — including a full-size Tyrannosaurus. Inside the Discovery Pyramid, Skeletown explores the 206 bones of the human body through authentic specimens and hands-on displays laid out like a small town, with a health center, a food truck and a cultural center to work through.
Both wrap up after the holiday weekend. After that, new exciting exhibits will arrive for guests to enjoy, so keep an eye out for those announcements!
The smartest Labor Day itineraries put the beach somewhere in them.
Palm Beach is Galveston's only private white sand beach, and it's built for a slow holiday afternoon: a 650-foot lazy river, a wave pool, two 18-foot tower slides, an interactive splash pad and the Aquarium Adventure play area for younger kids. Grab lunch at the Shoreline Grill, or book one of four rental options — Beach Cabana, Boardwalk Canopy, Wave Canopy or Bamboo Lounge — if you'd rather claim shade for the day.
For a different view of the same water, the Sky Trail Ropes Course is the tallest steel ropes course on the Gulf Coast, and the zip line sends you soaring above Palm Beach on a round trip. Both are worth the climb, and both are best done before the afternoon heat peaks.
When you're ready for air conditioning, the pyramids are waiting.
The Aquarium Pyramid takes you through oceans of the world, past penguins, seals, sharks and a tunnel that puts you underneath it all. The Rainforest Pyramid is ten stories of tropical canopy with sloths, monkeys, free-flying birds and a Komodo dragon. Then there's the MG 3D Theater with the largest screens in Texas, the 4D Special FX Theater, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, an interactive submarine adventure in the Discovery Pyramid.
Golfers, meanwhile, can get a round in at the Moody Gardens Golf Course, consistently ranked among the top public courses in Texas, with the Pelican Grille on site when you're done.
A drone show at 9 p.m. Sunday is a lot easier to enjoy when you're not driving home afterward.
Hotel packages at the Moody Gardens Hotel combine accommodations, attraction access and festival experiences in one booking, so the whole weekend is handled before you arrive. Refreshed hotel rooms sit steps from the pyramids, and the pool, spa and golf course are all on property — which means Monday can be as slow as you want it to be.
Dates: Friday, Sept. 4 – Monday, Sept. 7, 2026
Drone show: Sunday, Sept. 6 at 9 p.m., visible across the Moody Gardens property
Galveston Island Wine Festival: Sept. 4–6, 2026
Location: One Hope Blvd., Galveston, TX 77554 — I-45 South to Exit 1A
Parking: FREE on-site self-parking and valet available at the hotel
Tickets: The Value Pass covers most attractions, including Palm Beach, Dinos Alive and the Ropes Course and Zip Line
Questions: 409-744-4673
Wine Festival events are ticketed separately from general attraction admission, so if you're planning to do both, look at a hotel package or bundle before you book piecemeal.
As a photographer, it’s important to get the visuals right while establishing your online presence. Having a unique and professional portfolio will make you stand out to potential clients. The only problem? Most website builders out there offer cookie-cutter options — making lots of portfolios look the same.
That’s where a platform like Webflow comes to play. With Webflow you can either design and build a website from the ground up (without writing code) or start with a template that you can customize every aspect of. From unique animations and interactions to web app-like features, you have the opportunity to make your photography portfolio site stand out from the rest.
So, we put together a few photography portfolio websites that you can use yourself — whether you want to keep them the way they are or completely customize them to your liking.
Here are 12 photography portfolio templates you can use with Webflow to create your own personal platform for showing off your work.
.avif)
.avif)
%20(1).avif)
