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Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

Alex Bentley
May 12, 2022 | 6:00 am

This weekend in Fort Worth will be focused on one big event — the PBR World Finals — with a couple of others playing off the excitement about its first visit to Fort Worth. You can also see a new local theater production, a classical music concert, two country music concerts, a festival featuring tacos and margaritas, a tribute to the King of Pop, a new art exhibition, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Friday, May 13

Magnolia at the Modern: Memoria
The latest film in the Magnolia at the Modern series is Memoria, about a Scottish woman (Tilda Swinton) who, after hearing a loud bang at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Stockyards presents Daniel Hsu
The Fort Worth Stockyards will present a free performance by Daniel Hsu as a teaser event to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which is taking place at TCU and Bass Hall this June. Hsu is the competition’s reigning bronze medalist and will be joined by Fort Worth artists Lou Charle$ and Averi Burk for a genre-bending collaboration.

PBR World Finals
PBR (Professional Bull Riding) will bring their World Finals to Fort Worth for the first time. Over two weekends at Dickies Arena, the top bull riders in the world will compete for the championship, the coveted gold buckle, and accompanying $1 million bonus. There will be also be other events over the next week outside the arena, in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and at Cowtown Coliseum, including on days with no competitions.

Artisan Center Theater presents Steel Magnolias
In Steel Magnolias, a tight-knit group of Louisiana women gather regularly to bond, dish and offer advice on everything from motherhood and marriage to tragedy and loss. Beloved characters like the wise-cracking Truvy and her eager new assistant Annelle, curmudgeonly Ouiser, millionaire Miss Clairee, and local social leader M’lynn and her sweet-natured daughter Shelby all find their lives and relationships tested. But in the face of impossible decisions, their bonds with one another only strengthen. The play will run at Artisan Theater Center in Hurst through June 11.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "Holst's Planets: Bach, Tomasi, and Holst"
A bit of musical astrology, Holst's The Planets conjure the emotions of each planet on the human psyche, whether that's the aggression and militancy of Mars or the jolliness of Jupiter. The concert, taking place at Bass Performance Hall through Sunday, will also include Bach's Passacaglia in C Minor and Tomasini's Trumpet Concerto. The concert will feature the Women of Voices of Fort Worth and Wesleyan Women’s Chorus of Texas Wesleyan University.

Charley Crockett in concert
In conjunction with the PBR World Finals will be a Concert Series featuring a few well-known musicians. First up is Charley Crockett, a Texas original who has made his own path in the blues genre. He's as relentless a music producer as anybody out there, as he's released at least an album every year since 2015, including two in 2021 alone, most recently Music City USA. He'll play at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium.

Aaron Lewis in concert
Aaron Lewis, formerly the lead singer of the rock band Staind, moved into country music in 2012 and has stayed there throughout the band's extended hiatus. Country fans have welcomed him with open arms, as all four of his albums have made the top 10 on the Billboard Country charts, including his latest, 2021's Frayed at Both Ends. He'll play once again at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, May 14

Fort Worth Taco & Margarita Festival
At the 4th annual Fort Worth Taco & Margarita Festival, guests will be able to sample some of the best tacos and margaritas that Fort Worth has to offer. There will also be a live DJ, beer garden, vendors, and more. The event will take place at The Yard in the Cultural District.

Forever Michael - A Michael Jackson Tribute in concert
Forever Michael pays tribute to the most successful pop star in history, Michael Jackson. J Lucas performs an unbeatable set list of songs live from the King of Pop's incredible collection. The audience is taken on a journey through Jackson's legacy with iconic No. 1 hits such as "Thriller," "Bad," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Smooth Criminal," and more. The concert will be at Downtown Cowtown at the Isis.

Easton Corbin in concert
Country singer Easton Corbin was among the fastest rising artists in the genre in the early 2010s, releasing three albums in five years, including 2015's About to Get Real, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard County charts. Strangely, he has yet to release a fourth album, although he did release an EP, Didn't Miss a Beat, in 2020. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.

Sunday, May 15

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "Women Painting Women"
"Women Painting Women" is a thematic exhibition featuring more than 30 female artists who choose women as subject matter in their works. This presentation is the first of its kind and includes approximately 50 evocative portraits that span the 1940s to the present. International in scope, the exhibition recognizes female perspectives that have been underrepresented in the history of postwar figuration. It will remain on display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth through September 25.

Historic Fort Worth presents Hidden Gardens of Fort Worth Tour
The 18th annual Hidden Gardens of Fort Worth Tour will showcase five private gardens in the charming and historic Crestwood Neighborhood. This year's tour, which highlights gardens of all sizes, will inspire ideas for visitors' own backyard paradise. Local artists will be painting “plein air” in each garden during the tour, which will be available for sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Historic Fort Worth, Inc.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "Women Painting Women" starting on May 15, running through September 25.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "Women Painting Women"
Image courtesy of Emma Amos
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "Women Painting Women" starting on May 15, running through September 25.
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Oh, what fun!

Expert Fort Worth Christmas lights family plugs in sweet new drive-thru Sugar Lane Lights

Cecilia Lenzen
Nov 8, 2022 | 3:38 pm
Tell Family Lights
Facebook/Tell Family Lights

They know a thing or two from their annual Tell Family Lights display in far north Fort Worth.

This year, Jeff Tell and his family are spreading holiday cheer even further than usual with their new drive-thru lights experience called "Sugar Lane Lights."

The Tell family has been lighting up their own home in far north Fort Worth since 2018 with Tell Family Lights, a synchronized Christmas lights show that annually makes CultureMap's lists of must-see displays. They still plan to host the free event at their 76244 home this year but have expanded their efforts to include Sugar Lane Lights, which they describe as the “sweetest holiday light show in Texas.”

Sugar Lane Lights will be hosted on rented land in Haslet and feature a mile-long drive with 2 million LED lights programmed to shine in sync with upbeat holiday songs. Each light can be changed to over 16 million possible colors, creating a unique holiday show.

Tell says the family worked with Murphy Christmas Lighting, a local Christmas light service company, but otherwise outsourced no help to create the show. The display’s props, configuration, network, sequencing, effects and everything else that went into creating the show was 100 percent designed by the family.

“A lot of these other displays are different,” Tell says of the rarity of their in-house model. “A lot of them are outsourced and kind of pieced together. So the person that owns it, if you ask them how it’s done, they have no idea. So doing this all ourselves, we have full control of everything.”

Tell’s experience as an IT consultant helped him manage the creation of the display. He says he has worked with other companies since 2018 to configure other major lights displays in Texas.

The Sugar Lane Lights display will feature 1,200 props, including a 50-foot tall Christmas tree decorated with 90,000 lights, a 25-foot tall gingerbread house, and a 16-foot tall snowflake. Guests will also be able to purchase battery-charged LED bracelets that are synced to the show’s music.

Tells says his wife, Jennifer, sequenced the show’s effects and programmed the lights to sync with the show’s music. Oftentimes, light shows will sequence all props to be doing the same thing — Sugar Lane Lights didn’t. Each of the eight songs took 180 hours of programming, Tell says.

“The artistic part of it is just going to be a lot more detailed than a lot of the other [shows],” he says.

Prices for the show vary from $30 to $55 per car depending on entry time, and tickets can be purchased online. Entry times are categorized on the website as sweet (no traffic), semi-sweet (light traffic) and toothache (medium to heavy traffic). Tell says the family decided to discount sweet entry times to encourage more people to visit the show during less popular hours and hopefully reduce traffic congestion.

There's a handy FAQ about vehicle height, pets, and more here.

Tell says the family hopes to open the show on Friday, November 11, but recent storms have caused delays. Most likely it will open on November 17, they predict. They'll be open nightly until December 31, 5:30-10 pm on weekdays and 5:30-11 pm on weekends.

Sugar Lane Lights can be found at 12452 Willow Springs Rd., Haslet. (The entrance is directly after the shipping containers, right before the Oasis Church.)

Follow their website or Facebook page for more information and updates.

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Closure News

Fort Worth chef reluctantly closes Near Southside brunch favorite

Teresa Gubbins
Nov 8, 2022 | 12:54 pm
Salmon, Fixture
Photo courtesy of Farrar Food Photography [http://www.farrarfoodphotography.com]
Fixture had many creative dishes at a reasonable price like this salmon.

A neighborhood restaurant from an acclaimed Fort Worth chef has closed: Fixture, which served comfort food and craft cocktails in Fort Worth's trendy Near Southside, closed on November 7, after eight years.

Chef-owner Ben Merritt says he was sad to have to shutter the restaurant, but that circumstances that have emerged since the pandemic forced the closure.

"We were able to survive COVID, but the tsunami that has occurred with rising labor costs and the cost of ingredients have made it hard for restaurants, especially a neighborhood restaurant like Fixture," he says.

"Last year was our best year in sales, everyone came out after the lockdown to support small businesses," he says. "But I think now we're seeing the real aftereffect of the pandemic. People aren't dining out as much as they used to, and the costs are so much higher."

That includes not only ingredients but wages.

"I remember when we opened eight years ago, a line cook would get $10 an hour," he says. "Now you can't find a dishwasher for that. I'm glad to see wages go up, but it makes it difficult for moderate priced restaurants."

Fixture was a revelation when it opened: a chef-driven great-quality restaurant with moderate prices in a hip neighborhood, and a philosophy that "food doesn't have to be expensive to be great, nor require a white tablecloth." It was nominated for Best New Restaurant of the year in CultureMap's 2016 Tastemaker awards.

The menu ranged from sandwiches like pork loin & apple and a Texas cheesesteak to entrees such as tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes, shrimp & green chili cheese grits, and chicken & waffles.

Fixture was early on the brunch scene, a meal that Merritt says accounted for a good chunk of their business.

"We always did a great brunch, but it wasn't enough to pay the bills for the rest of the week," he says.

The chef also opened a small place in 2019 called Ben's Triple B: Biscuits, Burgers and Brews near the campus of Texas Wesleyan University, part of the Rosedale Renaissance, a charge led by Texas Wesleyan, in partnership with the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, to revitalize the historic Polytechnic Heights neighborhood and East Fort Worth. It closed it in 2021, also due to the pandemic.

Merritt has received numerous awards including a nomination for Best Chef of the Year in CultureMap's 2018 Tastemaker Awards, as well as a nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2022 for Fitzgerald, Merritt's upscale restaurant on Camp Bowie Boulevard, which he says is doing well.

"It's a higher price point and I think people don't bat an eye on the west side," he says.

"I feel horrible shutting Fixture down," he says. "Probably the best way to describe it is like the family pet that we spent a lot of money on vet bills to keep it alive, and you finally reach that point where it's time to put it down."

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Fort Worth gets its first taste of acclaimed New York ice cream shop

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This week in gluttony

These are the 5 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Celestina Blok
Nov 8, 2022 | 9:17 am
Tacos a Go Go tacos
Photo by Julie Nong
Tacos for everyone this week.

It’s a week of giving and sharing, with multiple restaurants honoring veterans with complimentary meals and the return of a big free dinner to those who'd like one. Step back in time with a Dutch oven cooking demonstration at one of Fort Worth’s most cherished museums, learn to smoke the perfect BBQ brisket, and save room for tacos during a two-day festival.

Wednesday, November 9

Feast of Sharing 10th Annual Holiday Dinner
Hosted by H-E-B and Central Market, this community celebration will provide complimentary dinner to anyone who wishes to attend. The event is back after a two-year hiatus and is expected to draw around 10,000 people to Dickies Arena. (Volunteers are still needed.) Besides a meal, there will be kids’ activities, live entertainment, health and family services, and an appearance by Santa. The event will run from 3-7 pm.

Thursday, November 10-Friday, November 11

Veterans Day deals and discounts
Dozens of local restaurants are offering free and discounted meals and menu items for active military and veterans. For a complete list, go here.

Saturday, November 12

Dutch Oven Cooking at Log Cabin Village
Visit this living history museum and learn how ancestors used to prepare meals over hot coals during a Dutch oven cooking demonstration led by the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society. The demonstrations (which often include samples) will run from 10 am- 2 pm and are free with admission ($7 for adults, and $6 for kids ages 4-17 and adults 60-plus).

Texas Taco Festival at Texas Live
More than two dozen restaurants and food vendors will participate in the two-day event, which will feature not only tacos but margaritas, tequila flights, desserts, and more. Tickets range from general admission ($12.99 on Sunday, $16.99 on Saturday), which allows for entry at 2 pm and includes one beer or cocktail, to VIP ($59.99 Sunday, sold out for Saturday), which grants early admission at noon and includes private bars, five taco vouchers, chips and salsa, two beers or cocktails, and gift bag with swag. Additional vouchers may be purchased at the event. Children 10 and under do not need a ticket.

BrisketU at Rahr & Sons Brewing
Backyard Pitmasters’ acclaimed BrisketU class promises to teach the everyday meat lover how to work a pit and create a perfectly smoked brisket. Renowned pitmasters will teach participants about BBQ pits, choosing the right cut of brisket, trimming techniques, rubs and prep, wood selection, starting and managing a fire, timing the cook, and properly slicing the end result. The three-hour class is $119 per person; register here.

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Fort Worth gets its first taste of acclaimed New York ice cream shop

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Texas' Big Bend named one of the world's must-see destinations for 2023

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