There is a buzz around the city of Houston that has not been felt in nearly 20 years as professional playoff football is set to soon return.

The Houston Texans have clinched a spot in the AFC.

The Houston Texans are the 2011 AFC South champions and hold a franchise-best 10-5 record with one final regular season game this weekend. The team is guaranteed its first-ever playoff game at Reliant Stadium, the date and time of which will be announced the evening of Sunday, January 1. It will be either Saturday or Sunday, Jan. 7 or 8.

Houston plays host to a major college football bowl game as the Texas A&M Aggies face the Northwestern University Wildcats at the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas at Reliant Stadium on Saturday, December 31, beginning at 11 AM.

This will be a game with great interest in the Houston area as a large number of Texas A&M students and alumni call the city home.

There will be no shortage of intriguing story lines to this game as well.

There is good news for Houston’s economic growth prospects for the new year.

According to the 2012 Employment Forecast produced by the Greater Houston Partnership, new jobs in Houston are expected to surge in the year ahead.

84,600 new jobs are expected in the area over the next 12 months. These will be lead by energy sector employment in exploration, production, distribution, and equipment manufacturing, which are predicted to account for one in seven of all jobs created.

Have you been to many of Houston’s art shows and think you’ve seen all there is to see? Think again, because a new generation of highly-skilled artists are now on display. 

Wade Wilson Art presents a special exhibit: On the Edge of New: New Paintings by New Artists, now through December 31.

On the Edge of New includes works by promising young artists Justin Garcia, Felipe Lopez, Winston Lee Mascarenhas, Deborah Porter, Cheryl Schubert, Nazar Yahya.

For those who enjoy a touch of art with their miniature golf, Discovery Green has the perfect course for you.

Visit the Insperity Golf Experience at Discovery Green now through December 25, for a round of mini-golf like you’ve never experienced before.

This first-of-its kind attraction is a nine-hole course created by Houston artists. These unique holes include “A Sure Thing”, a narrow ramp that leads directly into a guaranteed hole-in-one, and “The Galactic Forfeit Cowboy Lounge”, a larger-than-life pin-ball machine where golfers use a spring launcher to sink their putts.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents a collection of works from the great Dutch Old Masters at the “Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection” exhibit lasting through February 12.

This collection features more than 60 17th century master works by Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Hals, Gerrit Dou and others.

Houston is one of America’s most diverse cities. To travel the city can be like traveling to see cultures from across the world. One can enjoy an endless variety of foods, music, dancing and cultural identities made by people from virtually any corner of the globe.

A great part of this experience is learning what makes the various people’s of the world so similar.

Now you can view this first-hand at RACE: Are We So Different?, an exhibit at the Health Museum of Houston now through January 1, 2012.

The 22nd Annual Texas Championship Pow Wow takes place November 12 and 13 at Traders Village in Houston.

This two-day Native American pow wow features representatives from dozens of tribes across the country and is a celebration of rich culture and heritage.

Witness colorful tribal dance contests, arts and crafts shows, a tipi village, singing and much more as you learn about these various traditions.

The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959 comes to Miller Outdoor Theatre on Thursday, November 3 at 7:30 pm.

Witness the Birth of Cool and relax to Kind of Blue, as this musical experience captures the sound, history and culture of this era in American history through the creativity of jazz music and its greatest innovator, Miles Davis, as performed by the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet.

Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA) of Houston hosts Dia De Los Muertos: Honoring our Past, Celebrating our Future, a festival on Saturday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Oct. 30, at their campus at 1900 Kane Street, Houston.

MECA’s event will feature Dia de los Muertos celebrations from throughout Latin America with an altar exhibit competition, foods from the Americas, vendors selling authentic Dia de los Muertos arts and crafts, and a Calavera fashion show.