Visual art will take center stage in and around Fort Worth this weekend, with an iconic museum opening its doors again and two big exhibitions coming to a close. There will also be a wine festival, two new theater productions, the beginning of a new classical music season, visits from two big-name singers, and more.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time over this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.
Thursday, September 12
GrapeFest: A Texas Wine Experience
GrapeFest, the largest wine festival in the Southwest, offers four days of festival fun for all ages. Attendees can sample wines from the Piedmont Region of Italy and the Traverse Wine Coast of Michigan before returning home to Texas favorites. There will also be live music on two different stages, traditional festival food and gourmet gastronomy, artisan goods, and more. The festival will take place in Historic Downtown Grapevine through Sunday.
Stage West Theatre presents First Date
When tightly wound Aaron is set up with laid-back Casey on a blind date, a casual drink turns into an uproarious high-stakes dinner. As the date unfolds, this mismatched pair's inner critics take on a life of their own, as other patrons transform into supportive best friends, manipulative exes, and protective parents, who sing and dance them through ice-breakers, appetizers, and potential conversational land mines. The co-production with Theatre TCU will play at Stage West through October 13.
Friday, September 13
Magnolia at the Modern: Aquarela
From massive waves to melting ice, filmmaker Viktor Kossakovsky travels around the world to capture stunning images of the beauty and raw power of water in Aquarela. The documentary is light on dialogue but heavy on immersive scenery, as Kosskovsky uses both sound and high-tech visuals to drive home the unstoppable nature of water. The movie will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Texas Rangers presents Jack White Vinyl Night
When the Texas Rangers take on the Oakland A's at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Friday night, fans with a special ticket will take home a limited edition Rangers-themed Jack White vinyl. The commemorative 7-inch vinyl features Jack White’s "Battle Cry" on one side, and an exclusive Rangers-themed version of the song on the B-side. Tickets must be purchased through texasrangers.com/vinyl to receive the record.
Fort Worth Symphony presents Cliburn Gold Plays Rach 3
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert will feature 2017 Cliburn gold medalist Yekwon Sunwoo performing Rachmaninoff’s explosive Third Piano Concerto. Then, Miguel Harth-Bedoya starts his final season with FWSO by conducting a world premiere by TCU’s Till MacIvor Meyn and Brahms’ impassioned Symphony No. 4. The concert will be performed three times through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Tarrant Actors Regional Theatre presents 'Night, Mother
In this gripping and emotionally compelling drama, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983, playwright Marsha Norma explores a parent's worst nightmare. Thelma Cates' middle-aged daughter, Jessie, has had enough. An epileptic, unable to hold a job or drive a car, with a failed marriage and a drug-addicted son on the wrong side of the law, Jessie has decided to end her own life. The production will run at Fort Worth Community Arts Center through September 29.
Saturday, September 14
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents Party on the Porch
After closing for the summer for renovations, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art will celebrate its reopening with Party on the Porch, featuring live music, art, activities, and more. The day-long party will also mark the opening of four new exhibitions: "Set in Motion: Camille Utterback and Art That Moves," "Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950," "Seeing in Detail: Scott and Stuart Gentling's Birds of Texas," and Justin Favela: "Puente Nuevo."
Koe Wetzel Incredible Music Festival
The Texas-born Koe Wetzel is slowly but surely making a name for himself in the music world, marrying seemingly incompatible genres for a sound all his own. The Koe Wetzel Incredible Music Festival, taking place at Panther Island Pavilion, will feature performances by Wetzel, Parker McCollum, Cody Canada & The Departed, and Chris Colston.
Crystal Gayle in concert
If you don't think much about Crystal Gayle these days, that's because she hasn't released new material since 2003. But she's back with a new album, You Don't Know Me: Classic Country, that finds her covering songs by such iconic writers and singers as Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, and Patsy Cline. She'll play selections from her storied career at this concert at Arlington Music Hall.
Aaron Lewis in concert
It's been quite the career transition for Aaron Lewis. Formerly the lead singer of the rock band Staind, Lewis moved into country music in 2012 and has stayed there throughout the band's extended hiatus. Lewis will bring his tour to Billy Bob's Texas in support of his new album, The State I'm In. The tour will feature acoustic songs and stories from Lewis as he shares personal tales from the stage.
Sunday, September 15
Arlington Museum of Art presents Keith Haring: "Against All Odds" closing day
Sunday is the final day to see Keith Haring: "Against All Odds” at the Arlington Museum of Art. The exhibition features more than 50 original works that serve to deconstruct the traditional view of Haring as an artist. Beyond his well-known graphic iconography, the exhibition also explores his use of mark-making as a metaphor and his desire to address weighty subjects such as consumerism, poverty, religious dogma, violence, racism, and AIDS.
Kimbell Art Museum presents "Monet: The Late Years" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view "Monet: The Late Years" at Kimbell Art Museum. Co-presented by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, it's the first exhibition in more than 20 years dedicated to the final phase of Monet’s career. Through approximately 60 paintings, the exhibition traces the evolution of Monet’s practice from 1913, when he embarked on a reinvention of his painting style that led to increasingly bold and abstract works, up to his death in 1926. Read more about it here.
GrapeFest will take place in Historic Downtown Grapevine, September 12-15.
