Conroe’s catfish festival among 6 events to receive part of $93K in marketing grants

The city of Conroe’s visitors’ bureau Visit Conroe has awarded $93,000 in special marketing grants to six regular events and festivals in the city.

The grants are funded through hotel occupancy tax for the city and were granted to the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival, American Junior Golf Association Preview events in Bentwater and Panorama Village, the 68th Houston Money Show, the Texas Custom Knife Show and Founder’s Day in Conroe. 

“The intention behind these grants are to be seed money not feed money meaning these long-time recipients of the grants have been receiving full allotment without any stair stepping back,” said Sherry Chaney Morgan, director of Visit Conroe. “Ideally the structure that has been put in place is we need to start stair stepping backward so that we still have a remaining fund balance in our grants in case we have new events that come up. Our end goal is to help every event that comes to Conroe to be come self sustaining.” 

Conroe city council members approved the funds at the group’s Sept. 12 meeting. 

Here’s what to know about the events that received funding:

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Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival 

The nonprofit group the Friends of Conroe puts on the festival each year on the downtown Conroe square. The first festival was held in mid-November in 1990. In 1995, the 74th state Legislature designated the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival as the official Cajun Catfish Festival of the state of Texas.

This year’s festival is set for Oct. 11-13. Josh Ward and William Clark Green are the headliners with returning favorites including Wayne Toups, Geno Delafose and Bayou Roux. 

This year the group received $19,000 in special marketing grant funds, a step back from the previous $20,000 that has been awarded. 

American Junior Golf Association Preview 

The American Junior Golf Association is a nation nonprofit dedicated to the growth and development of young golfers who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. 

The organization’s preview events took place at Bentwater and Panorama Village golf courses in March and April this year. Both events received $17,500. 

“We did that last year and the estimated economic impact and actual economic impact substantiated an allotment of this size,” Morgan said. The golf association hosts events across the country. Both event will be titled Conroe previews in 2025. 

68th Annual Houston Money Show 

The event will take place Jan. 16-18 at the Lone Star Convention Center. The event is open to the public and features rare coins and paper money and the opportunity for visitors to have their coins and jewelry appraised or sold. The event is a project of the Greater Houston Money Club. 

This group received $14,000 in special marketing grant funding. 

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Texas Custom Knife Show 

The event is hosted by co-producers Mike Thomas and Jacob Sewell, from Conroe, a former contestant on “Forged in Fire.” 

Last year’s event brought Doug Marcaida and J. Neilson, judges from the custom knife show “Forged in Fire.” This year’s event is Nov. 9-10 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. 

The live “Forged in Fire” style bladesmithing competition is the main event during the show. Several “Forged in Fire” alumni and challengers will compete in a timed knife build with blade judging by the “Forged In Fire” judges. 

This event received $20,000 up from the $7,500 received the previous year. Morgan said last year’s event saw 25,000 visitors throughout the weekend. 

Conroe Founder’s Day 

This event honors Isaac Conroe, the town’s founder. He was a Civil War union captain who mustered out in Galveston. Conroe went on to establish a sawmill site that would become the town of Conroe. 

In 2018, businesswoman Lyn Howard organized the first Founder’s Day on Aug. 2 marking his death date. Due to the extreme heat in August, she has moved the Founder’s Day date to Feb. 11. A ceremony will take place at Isaac Conroe’s home on Avenue A. 

“This is the first time we’ve applied. I’m just so thrilled,” Howard said. They were awarded $5,000. She said the funds will assist with the Conroe Citizen of the Year Award and refreshments and planning for the event. 

The group honored a Conroe Citizen of the Year. Organizers are currently seeking nominations for the 2025 winner. Nominees must be over 21 and nominee names may be sent to dguinn@cityofconroe.org by Dec. 31. 

Arts and culture grants

Visit Conroe also approved $210,000 in arts and culture grants to the Montgomery County Choral Society, Montgomery County Literary Arts Council, Young Texas Artists, Player’s Theatre Company, Greater Conroe Arts Alliance, Conroe Symphony Orchestra, Christian Youth Theatre, Montgomery County Genealogical and Historical Society, Conroe Art League, Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, the Friends of the Flag Foundation, Jazz Connection, Crighton Theatre Foundation, Golden Needles Quilt Guild, The Daybreak Chorus and Main Stage Productions. 

These grants were approved at the Sept. 12 meeting as well and are also funded by the hotel occupancy tax. 

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