A black and white illustration of White Linen Night in the Heights.
Courtesy of /AG Antiques
Will Vaughn and Kristal Kirksey in Kirksey’s store, Jubilee, during White Linen Night in the Heights in 2018.
Annie Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
Emerson Rose owner Bonnie Reay shows off her look for White Linen Night in 2017.
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Emerson Rose owner Bonnie Reay show off her look for White Linen Night Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in Houston. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle )
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Manready Mercantile owner Travis Weaver during White Linen Night in the Heights in 2018.
Annie Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
Manready Mercantile owner Travis Weaver throws beads through a window in his store during White Linen Night in the Heights in 2018.
Annie Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
Mitch Cohen dyed his hair blonde for the inaugural White Linen Night in the Heights.
Courtesy of/Mitch Cohen
The crowd outside for Emerson Rose for Pipe Dream’s performance at White Linen Night in the Heights in 2025.
Courtesy of/Bonnie Reay
Pipe Dreams performs outside of Emerson Rose at White Linen Night in the Heights in 2025.
Courtesy of/Bonnie Reay
The Eclectic Home team poses on 19th Street during White Linen Night in the Heights.
Courtesy of/Dale Johnson
On-theme attire hangs on 19th Street during White Linen Night in the Heights.
Courtesy of/Mitch Cohen
Jubilee owner Kristal Kirksey hangs a flag outside her Heights boutique for White Linen Night.
Courtesy of/Jubilee
After New Orleans transplants Kay and Chris Thayer relocated to the Heights following Hurricane Katrina, they pitched an idea from their hometown to local business owners with a presence on 19th Street. White Linen Night, originally conceived on Magazine Street in Louisiana, encouraged shopping and spending in late summer, when sales often lagged.
Could such an event work in Houston, too?
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Everything to know about White Linen Night’s 20th anniversary in the Heights
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In 2006, several dozen Heights small business owners gave it a go. For one Saturday in August, they extended their hours of operation, prepared to pour wine or serve cocktails behind cash registers, and hoped for the best.
Group consensus? The first year was solid. So were many of the years that followed, until too much of a good thing evolved into too much for the 19th Street Merchants Association to manage on their own. Today the Feel Good Group operates and oversees White Linen Night in the Heights, which became a ticketed event in 2024. Before that, admission was free.
In honor of White Linen Night’s 20th anniversary, we asked longtime participants to share some of the event’s lore. Here are their best memories from the last 20 years.
Kristal Kirksey, owner of Jubilee
“I am one of the originators, which makes me feel really old,” says Kristal Kirksey, who has owned Jubilee, a personality-filled boutique on 19th Street for more than 30 years. “It was after Hurricane Katrina, and we had a lovely man on the street who moved here that told us, ‘We do this fun thing in New Orleans, where we go out, meet our neighbors, walk the streets and wear linen because it’s so hot. It’s a great way to go out in the neighborhood.’”
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That’s partially why organizers haven’t moved the event from August to a cooler month. Kirksey explains White Linen Night in the Heights was a considerable success from the start. And once it started, participants agreed not to change it.
Jubilee owner Kristal Kirksey celebrating White Linen Night in the Heights over the years.
“It’s become a thing in and of itself. It’s like Christmas, you can’t cancel it,” she says. “It started very small, though we were very agreeably surprised with the reaction we had. We all stayed open late and served wine; I don’t even remember if we had live music.”
Over the years, that changed — as did Jubilee’s location. Kirksey previously operated out of a two-story building. She would survey the crowd from the top floor and see a sea of white.
“One of my very best friends met her life partner at White Linen Night, maybe 10 years ago,” she adds. “They were on the street listening to a band, and they’re still together to this day.”
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During the COVID pandemic, the 19th Street business owners decided against hosting and publicizing an official White Linen Night. Kirksey recalls seeing small groups of people wander the streets in clusters of white anyway, trying to show support.
Russell Murrell, former co-owner of Shade and Alice Blue
When Russell Murrell opened Shade, which later became Alice Blue, with his wife, chef and business partner, Claire Smith, on 19th Street back in 2003, it was a big deal. Their restaurant became the first establishment with a liquor license for miles; the original municipality of the Heights was a dry community from 1912 to 2017.
Chris and Kay Thayer wandered in one day in 2006 and told the story of White Linen Night.
“They asked, ‘Would y’all be interested?’” Murrell recalls. “Which led to eight or 10 of us sitting around the table at Shade one afternoon. There wasn’t much going on on 19th Street; it was pretty new as a destination. And that’s literally how it started.”
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The first year drew enough of a crowd for them to do it again. The event grew in 2007, and after that, Murrell says it just exploded.
Claire Smith and Russell Murrell
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
The premise was innocent; business owners wanted to market 19th Street. Murrell describes the early “micro” years as warm and fuzzy. Eventually, they may have become victims of their success.
“It was pretty cool back in the early days,” he says. “I think it shocked all of us how quickly it caught on and became successful. But you know what? Good for them.”
He has vivid memories of needing to remove a customer from his establishment only twice during the 20-year run in the Heights. Both occasions were on White Linen Night.
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“In those days we were one of the only places you could get a drink. People would just flood into our bar,” he says.
Bonnie Reay, owner of Emerson Rose
Emerson Rose owner Bonnie Reay show off her look for White Linen Night Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in Houston. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle )
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Emerson Rose owner Bonnie Reay show off her look for White Linen Night Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in Houston. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle )
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Pipe Dreams performs outside of Emerson Rose at White Linen Night in the Heights in 2025.
Courtesy of/Bonnie Reay
The crowd outside for Emerson Rose for Pipe Dream’s performance at White Linen Night in the Heights in 2025.
Courtesy of/Bonnie Reay
Bonnie Reay opened Emerson Rose, a women’s wear boutique on 19th Street, in 2014 at age 24. That year was her first and favorite White Linen Night.
“I had no idea what to expect, and it blew me away. It was such a surprise to see what this event was and what it meant to the Heights,” she says. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to prepare. Thankfully, Deep Eddy reached out; at that time they were really hot stuff. They were pouring amazing cocktails and (vodka) is such a good fit for the heat of the summer.”
In 2016, her friend Holly Knudsen, who owned a floral design business called Flower Vibes, sold flower crowns. By the end of the night, Reay says the hair accessory was all over the street.
Holly Knudsen models one of her Flower Vibes floral crowns for White Linen Night.
Emerson Rose
“My second favorite year of White Linen Night was absolutely last year, because my husband’s band Pipe Dream performed,” she shared. “They’re performing again this year in front of Emerson Rose. And we’re going to serve Deep Eddy’s espresso martini in the bottle on both sides of the street. We have a gift shop now — we’ve grown. In this new era of my life, I enjoy the progress.”
Travis Weaver, owner of Manready Mercantile
Ever since Travis Weaver opened Manready Mercantile in 2013, his candle company turned hipster hot spot for all-American menswear has become White Linen Night’s unofficial party central. A queue for access forms early and snakes across the street, dividing foot traffic. One year, he gave out special wristbands for a secret, VIP shindig next door, taking over an unused retail space for one night only.
Problem was, Weaver’s parties became so popular, he never got to enjoy them. That changed in 2024 when White Linen Night became a ticketed event.
Manready Mercantile owner Travis Weaver during White Linen Night in the Heights over the years.
“My favorite thing was when we started charging for people to get in, because it made it safer,” he says. “I can’t state how much more comforting that is. It’s just a better experience for the customers, and it was one of the first years I’d been able to step out of our store and check things out like a normal human. Full-blown, done right — that was the year.”
Spotting Derek Cooper, better known as Legacy Man, proved a memorable year, too.
“He’s that guy on Rollerblades who sings Japanese music. Lo and behold, he showed up out there, and he’s like this really jacked dude. He plays karaoke with an electric guitar, and he has a mullet,” Weaver recalls. “There was a mosh pit around him. That was a really cool year.”
Erica del Gardo, owner of Erica del Gardo Jewelry Designs
Bench jeweler and engagement ring specialist Erica del Gardo remembers when White Linen Night used to be more of a locals’ event. This is her 19th year participating.
“The people who came in used to be our neighbors. Now other people who are not from the area get to come to 19th Street and see what we’re about,” she says. “Locals started coming back again after COVID when things scaled back a bit. Being fenced in has also allowed locals to come again.”
She and her staff treat White Linen Night like an open house. Recently, they began wearing all black to identify each other quicker as the shop fills up.
Del Gardo used to keep more silver in stock; shoppers might buy a pair of earrings and carry them out of her store. Now that her business has shifted more toward designing custom engagement rings, White Linen Night has become a lucrative marketing opportunity.
Erica del Gardo assists new customers in her shop on White Linen Night.
“We have a couple right now where the bride actually stopped in with her girlfriends. It was a girls’ night out for them,” Del Gardo says. “She saw a prototype and told her now-fiancé, ‘When the time comes, we better not go anywhere else! ‘”
That scenario is not uncommon. When Del Gardo asks her team to ask customers how they discovered the shop, the response is often White Linen Night.
“The first many, many years were very good. Then it went down a bit,” she admits. “People have gotten the hang of how to do it. And they’ve taken opportunities to make it better.”
Dale Johnson, co-owner of Eclectic Home
Eclectic Home has been a fixture on 19th Street for the past 25 years. Still, co-owner Dale Johnson attests that White Linen Night is one of the biggest drivers of new business.
“The biggest benefit for me is new customers. My regulars won’t come out,” he says with a laugh. “People always ask why we do this in the summer when it’s the hottest time, but they still show up, because they don’t want to miss all the fun. And 95% wear white. It’s pretty cool.”
Johnson is proud to have been part of the original planning committee. Over the years, he’s found creative ways to make an impression.
White Linen Night event-goers pose with Eclectic Home stilt-walkers.
Eclectic Home
“The one year I remember the most… we had stilt walkers with these white feather headdresses. Everyone wanted to take their pictures with them,” he recalls. “They wore white pants and white T-shirts with Eclectic Home written on them because I had to get my plug in there. They got a lot of attention.”
Debbie Greenbaum, co-owner of AG Antiques
When Debbie Greenbaum and Cynthia Anhalt’s grandfather opened a dry goods store in 1937 on West 19th Street in the Heights, he called it the White House. Some 76 years later, the first cousins took ownership and renamed the shop AG Antiques, with each utilizing the first letter of their last names.
Together they manage the 47 dealers who rent booths. On White Linen Night, everyone participates.
“It’s just a party. Everybody dances down the aisles,” Greenbaum says. “Everybody’s vignette is curated. It’s fun to see people who come every year and people who’ve never been in the shop.”
Debbie Greenbaum and Cynthia Anhalt flank one of their White Linen Night regulars.
Courtesy of AG Antiques
She’s made a tradition of sneaking off to an upstairs area that she and Anhalt use as their offices. In the past, that section has served as an architect’s workspace and a hair salon.
Greenbaum likes to sit in front of the large windows and look out on the crowd.
“It’s just fun,” she says. “You prepare as much as you can every year, and it’s like holy moly! One year it poured rain; everyone was wet and shoulder-to-shoulder. We finally have it down. We’ll have someone come and hang out with a bunny on a leash. We had the nicest guy come in wearing alligator loafers, shorts and a blazer with no shirt under. He was such a fixture for many, many years.”
Mitch Cohen, founder of First Saturday Art Market
Mitch Cohen was part of the original scene in 2006 back when the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee had an office on 19th Street.
“When we started White Linen Night … Heights Democrats had a booth here on Ashland and 19th. Harold’s original owner was across the street. They were opposing factions. It was funny!” Cohen recalls. “Harold’s had a guy come out dressed as Uncle Sam on stilts taking photos with people. We all thought maybe he was hired by an opponent running against Sheila, though it was all tongue-in-cheek.”
In those days, Cohen operated his market on the corner of Rutland and 19th Street. He participated until roughly 2019.
Mitch Cohen revisits White Linen Nights in the Heights over the years.
Cohen says he and fellow organizers never expected White Linen Night to be huge. They were happily wrong from the get-go, and underestimated that Houstonians were looking for something to do in the summer.
For his market and other vendors, White Linen Night was one of their best sales days of the year.
“What I remember now is setting up the booth at 6 p.m. and watching the crowd slowly expand. There weren’t that many people, then suddenly you look up, and there’s more,” he says. “You can almost play music to it. By 8:30 p.m. it was just shoulder-to-shoulder. It was unreal.”