The final weekend in July will be a bit slower in and around Fort Worth. While there are plenty of continuing events happening, the number of new ones is less than usual. Among the fresh offerings are a great indie movie, a visit from a former Idol, new local theater, the start of an art exhibit, a celebration of an American icon, and two chances to spend time on the river.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.
Friday, July 27
Magnolia at the Modern Film presents Hearts Beat Loud
The latest in the Magnolia at the Modern series is Hearts Beat Loud, in which widower and aging Brooklyn hipster Frank (Nick Offerman) starts a band with his teenage daughter, Sam (Kiersey Clemons), just before she leaves home to attend college in California. When a song of theirs finds success online, it complicates Frank's attempts to let go of his dreams of stardom and allow his daughter to find her own path in life. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
David Archuleta in concert
It's been 10 years since the then 18-year-old David Archuleta won the hearts of many fans on the seventh season of American Idol, eventually finishing second to rocker David Cook. Though he has not become as big as some other Idol alumni, he's sold enough albums to keep him going in the business. He'll perform at Arlington Music Hall in support of his 2017 album, Postcards in the Sky.
Jubilee Theatre presents Blues in the Night
Set in a rundown Chicago hotel in 1938, this musical revue focuses on three women’s relationships with the same “snake-of-a-man” and their interweaving stories told through the torch songs and blues of Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, and Alberta Hunter, among others. The Tony Award-nominated musical, which features over 25 songs, will run at Jubilee Theatre through August 26.
Saturday, July 28
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents Hedda Sterne: "Printed Variations"
From luscious leafy tendrils to stark horizon lines, this exhibition of prints by Hedda Sterne celebrates the artist’s exquisite variety of formal interests. Although most often associated with a group of artists called the “Irascibles," avant-garde forerunners of Abstract Expressionism, Sterne defied stylistic categorization. Her aesthetic experimentations fluctuated between organic and geometric, figural and abstract, and painterly and graphic. The exhibit will be on display through January 27, 2019.
National Day of the American Cowboy
The Fort Worth Stockyards will celebrate National Day of the American Cowboy with activities and events like cow milking, quick draw, a fiddle contest, The Legends of Texas Gunfights, Stockyards Championship Rodeo, and more. In honor of the day, Riscky's BBQ will host their annual Rib-Eating Contest, where 30 barbecue enthusiasts will be challenged to eat as many Riscky’s beef ribs as possible in 60 seconds.
Panther Island Pavilion presents Rockin’ The River
The fourth Rockin' The River of the summer will feature a concert with headliner The Dirty River Boys. They will be joined at Panther Island Pavilion by opening acts The Buffalo Ruckus, Eve Monsees and The Exiles, Brent Alexander, and Saints Eleven. Visitors can watch the concert, which also features a fireworks show, from a tube on the river or from the shore.
The Shops at Clearfork presents fwFLAVOR
The Shops at Clearfork will present fwFLAVOR, where your childhood days of Candy Land come to life. At this new-fashioned ice cream social, participating shops and restaurants will have frozen treats, activities for the whole family, and cocktails.
Sunday, July 29
Panther Island Pavilion presents Sunday Funday
Sunday Funday is a day of relaxation and fun in the sun. Tubes and pedal boats area available to rent, along with kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddle boards from Backwoods Paddlesports. Local craft beer will be sold from award-winning Panther Island Brewing. Visitors can enjoy music, friends, food trucks like Rollin' Stone and Aloha Shave Ice, and floating the Trinity River.
Rockin' the River will welcome The Dirty River Boys and more to Panther Island Pavilion on July 28.
Skate under the twinkling lights at Coca-Cola's Classic Christmas in Arlington.Photo courtesy of Coca-Cola's Classic Christmas
Skate under the lights at Peace Plaza Ice Rink in Grapevine.
Photo courtesy of Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau
Galleria Dallas is famous for its ice rink Christmas tree.
Photo courtesy of Galleria Dallas