For the third consecutive year the city of Tomball brought home multiple top marketing awards at the Texas Festivals & Events Association annual conference held this summer in Austin.

Tomball's marketing and festivals program, which was started in 2011 under the direction of Tomball Marketing Director Mike Baxter, earned 15 awards including 11 top awards at this year's conference.

Among these top awards were Best Mascot for Rusty Rails, Best New Promotion for Applebee's Restaurant, Best Community Outreach Program for the July 4th Celebration and Street Party, Best Sponsor Solicitation Video, Best Single Newspaper Ad for the Rails & Tails Mudbug Festival, Best Event Photograph for Bunny Run 2014, Best Volunteer Program, Best Event Hat, Best Event T-Shirt for Bunny Run 2014, Best Event within an Existing Festival for the Belly Buster Chow-lenge at the Rails & Tails Mudbug Festival and Best New Merchandise for Bunny Run 2014.

The city was also awarded four second place awards, which included Best Social Media Site, Best Promotional Poster for Bunny Run 2014, Best Single Newspaper Ad for Memorial Day Weekend Chili Challenge and Best Event Photo for the July 4th Celebration and Street Party.

The number of awards given to Tomball in 2014 topped the combined total of awards the city received in 2012 and 2013, Baxter said. More than 450 entries from across Texas were submitted for consideration by the TFEA, he said.

Tomball's upcoming scheduled major events are the Tomball Texas Music Festival on Aug. 30, Bugs, Brew and Barbecue on Sept. 27, and the Tomball Bluegrass Festival on Oct. 25.

For more information on city festivals, visit tomballtx.gov.