Editor's note: What was Fort Worth reading in 2024? We are so glad you asked. Readers craved news about Fort Worth's richest billionaire and her family; a beloved summer concert series that pulled the plug; an Arlington restaurant made famous by Guy Fieri, and more.

Here's a look back at the 10 most-read CultureMap stories from the past year. By the way, you can also look back at the top dining, entertainment, and city life stories; and best and worst movies of the year.

1. Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton crowned world's richest woman. Walmart heiress Alice Walton has taken back the title of world's wealthiest woman. According to a SeptemberForbes report, Walton has toppled L’Oreal heiressFrancoise Bettencourt Meyersof France to become the richest woman on the planet for the first time since 2022.

2. Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton has world's richest family in 2024. Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton and her kin are back on top as the world's richest family, according to Bloomberg's 2024 list of the wealthiest families on the planet, released in December. To reclaim their crown, the Waltons toppled actual royalty: the Al Nahyans, Abu Dhabi's ruling family, who came in first last year and fell to second in 2024. Qatar's ruling dynasty, the Al Thanis, came in third.

3. Fort Worth concert and tubing series on Trinity River pulls the plug. An annual concert series in Fort Worth called it quits over the summer: Rockin' The River, which combined concerts and tubing on the Trinity River, pulled the plug for 2024, after 12 years. The event was a summer tradition brought to Panther Island Pavilion just north of downtown by the Tarrant Regional Water District, wherein participants could hang out in tubes on the water, or on dry land at the pavilion, while being serenaded by acts performing on a waterfront stage.

4. Arlington restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives to close. A restaurant in Arlington that got the Guy Fieri bump announced it was closing: A Taste of Europe, the long-running, European-inspired restaurant in Arlington that was featured on an episode of the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, said they would close in August. After receiving an outpouring of support from local diners, however, co-owner and chef Daniel Tsalko said they would work to keep the restaurant alive; it would still close August 18 so repairs could be made to the building, but then would reopen in November.

Three savory pancakes from A Taste of Europe. Photo courtesy of A Taste of Europe

5. Affluent Fort Worth neighbor ranks among wealthiest suburbs in U.S. Wealthy Americans, increasingly, are bypassing behemoth cities like Los Angeles or New York City and settling down in smaller suburbs like Fort Worth neighbor Southlake. So said a July household income study by GoBankingRates, which listed Southlake among the wealthiest American suburbs in 2024.

6. Yellowstone’s hottest cowboy to greet fans at Fort Worth Walmart. Yellowstone fans who booked it to a northeast Fort Worth Walmart at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, September 17 were rewarded with the chance to meet one of the show’s hottest stars. Cole Hauser, aka cowboy Rip Wheeler, appeared at the Walmart Supercenter at 3851 Airport Frwy., Fort Worth, at sunrise to greet guests and sign bags of his Free Rein coffee.

Cole Hauser brought his cowboy coffee to Fort Worth. Photo courtesy of Free Rein

  

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Fort Worth's Alice Walton reclaimed her crown as the richest woman in the world in 2024.

7. 16 best new restaurants in Fort Worth compete for 2024 Tastemaker Award. The 2024 CultureMap Fort Worth Tastemaker Awards category for Best New Restaurant doubled in size from 2023, this year drawing 16 nominees. Best New Restaurant annually is the only category where readers decide who wins, in a fun bracket-style format. Plank Seafood Provisions took home the 2024 trophy.

8. Buzzy new burger joint is tucked inside Fort Worth convenience store. A Fort Worth chef has resurrected a convenience-store dine-in restaurant in the Fairmount area where he’s specializing in one of the city’s favorite cuisines: burgers. Ray’s Burgers, found inside the Corner Store at 1945 8th Ave., opened in early July and is serving old-fashioned hamburgers and cheeseburgers, made on an old-school flat top grill.

9. Supermarket chain H-E-B has good news about store at Alliance Fort Worth. Supermarket giant H-E-B continued its expansion in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2024. The Texas grocery announced it would officially open the doors of H-E-B Alliance, at 3451 Heritage Trace Pkwy., in Fort Worth on April 10. The store had been in the works since 2022. It opened with great fanfare, followed by a store opening in Mansfield, and one on the way in Bedford.

10. Amusement park with 'dry' slides coasts into DFW with Denton opening. A slippery slidey new entertainment venue came to town: Called Slick City Action Park, it's an indoor slide and activity venue that opened August 30 in Denton, in a former trampoline park at 2434 S I-35 E. #140. Sad about the trampoline park but wheeee to slides.

Wheee slides at Slick City Action Park, new to DFW. Courtesy photo