Labor Day weekend is often a chance for people to take one last trip for the summer, but there will be plenty to do in and around Fort Worth for those sticking around town. Events include a new art exhibit, three new theater productions, a festival celebrating music and barbecue, an anime film festival, and a celebration of the start of the college football season.
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.
Thursday, August 30
Fort Worth Contemporary Arts presents "Flâneuse" opening reception
"Flâneuse" is a group exhibition featuring eight international artists whose work draws attention to the role of gender in contemporary urban experience. Through a variety of media the artists explore a diverse array of concerns about street life. Taking the traditional idea of the “flâneur” as a point of departure, the exhibition highlights key themes from ongoing scholarly debate about the appropriateness or existence of the female equivalent, the "Flâneuse." The exhibit will on view at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts through September 29.
Broadway at the Bass: School of Rock
Based on the hit film, School of Rock is a hilarious musical that follows Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star posing as a substitute teacher who turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. The high-octane smash features 14 songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber, all the original songs from the movie, and musical theater’s first-ever kids rock band playing their instruments live on stage. The production will run through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Stage West Theatre presents An Octoroon
Based on a controversial classic, the Obie Award-winning An Octoroon is part period satire and part meta-theatrical middle finger. In the play, the Terrebonne plantation is in upheaval — the Master has died. His naïve young nephew tries to hold things together, but the evil neighbor is out to buy the land. Meanwhile, the slaves chat and gossip, and the beautiful, young ward of the estate has a secret that will change everything. The production will run through September 30 at Stage West Theatre.
Friday, August 31
Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival
The 10th Annual Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival is a three-day event that combines the Lone Star State’s love of music and food with performers and pitmasters from across the country. Highlights will include performances by Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and Tab Benoit, and the inaugural “BBQ Triple Play” competition. The event will go on through Sunday at the Bedford City Hall Complex.
Magnolia at the Modern Film presents Anime at the Modern
The Anime at the Modern series will feature seven screenings over three days of many recent Japanese animated films and one classic. Among the films being screened at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth through Sunday will include Lu Over the Wall, Howl's Moving Castle, Your Name, In This Corner of the World, and Mary and the Witch's Flower.
Saturday, September 1
AdvoCare Champions Festival
The inaugural AdvoCare Champions Festival, preceding the AdvoCare Classic on Sunday, will be an entire day devoted to “Celebrating our Champions.” Teams from each branch of the U.S. military, first responders, and teams representing LSU, Miami, and AdvoCare will compete in a grueling 5K obstacle course. That will be followed by a music festival featuring performances by Fastball, Nate Kenyon, Medicine Man Revival, Kirk Thurmond, and more. The event will be at Viridian in Arlington.
Noble Collections presents Covered...An Original Stage Play
Covered...An Original Stage Play tells of a young lady who struggles through life with her identity while her mother’s misery over her own past contributes to the daughter’s struggle. The play will take audiences through a journey of intense moments and move them with soul-searching songs that will touch the heart with laughter and tears. There will be two performances at Fort Worth Community Arts Center on Saturday.
Sunday, September 2
Panther Island Pavilion presents Sunday Funday
The final Sunday Funday of the summer will be one last day of relaxation and fun in the sun at Panther Island Pavilion. 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 The Dog House, and floating the Trinity River.
AdvoCare Classic: LSU vs. Miami
In one of the final games of the first big weekend of the college football season, the No. 25 LSU Tigers will face off against the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes at AT&T Stadium. It's an odd match-up for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but given the history of the two teams, one that's sure to be popular nonetheless. The teams have played each other 12 times over the years, most recently in the 2005 Chick-Fil-A Bowl.
Stage West presents An Octoroon through September 30.
