The events around Fort Worth this weekend span the subjects and seasons. You can attend three new theater productions, do some early holiday shopping, listen to classical musicians performing non-classical music, run through bubbles, see an exhibit celebrating exploration, or the toast to the start of a week full of cocktails.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time Thursday through Sunday. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.
Thursday, October 12
Junior League of Fort Worth presents Christmas in Cowtown Holiday Gift Market
It may be over two months until Christmas, but it's never too early to start shopping for gifts. At the charitable Christmas in Cowtown Holiday Gift Market, taking place through Sunday at Will Rogers Memorial Center, visitors can shop from a wide range of merchants while making a positive impact on the community. On Saturday and Sunday, families can purchase tickets for Cookies & Cocoa with Santa.
Stage West Theatre presents Life Sucks
Life is, like, really hard. It’s tough being the gorgeous woman desired by all but understood by none. Or the homely girl with a heart of gold. Or the middle-aged man insightful enough to see the cavernous depth of his own failings. Life Sucks is a quirky and deeply human new installment in the Chekhov cycle from the playwright of Stupid F*cking Bird. The production will run at Stage West through November 12.
Cliburn Sessions: Sean Chen
Sean Chen, The Cliburn’s 2013 third-prize winner, returns for an intimate, engaging appearance at Scat Jazz Lounge, where he’ll perform his own transcriptions of famous pieces, as well as improvisations based on audience suggestions, and video game and Disney music. The 29-year-old pianist was named a 2015 fellow by the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing Arts.
Friday, October 13
Magnolia at the Modern presents The Nile Hilton Incident
The latest in the Magnolia at the Modern series is The Nile Hilton Incident, a gripping film noir about a police officer in Cairo investigating the murder of a famous club singer at the Nile Hilton Hotel. What initially seems to be a crime of passion turns into something that concerns the power elite of Egypt. The film, in Arabic with English subtitles, will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Near Southside, Inc. presents Friday on the Green
Friday on the Green is a free monthly concert series presented by Near Southside, Inc. that features live music, tasty food and drinks from Near Southside eateries, and the fun and relaxed atmosphere of a big neighborhood picnic. Groups of families and friends are invited to show up with blankets, chairs, and pets to enjoy the night at Magnolia Green Park. This will be the final Friday on the Green of 2017; the series will start again in April 2018.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents I Love a Piano
Pianist Tony DeSare will join the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for a celebration of iconic piano music that spans more than a century and culminates in Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue." You’ll also hear perennial favorites by Elton John, Ray Charles, John Lennon, and Billy Joel in this must-see tribute to the ivory keys. The concert will take place three times through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Amphibian Stage Productions presents A Lost Leonardo
A Lost Leonardo is a fictionalized account of the time in Leonardo da Vinci’s life when he was struggling with the question of his identity, and with the responsibility that creators bear to and for their creations. After suffering a major artistic disappointment in Milan, da Vinci renounces art and accepts an appointment to work as a military engineer for the ruthless leader of the Papal armies (and illegitimate son of the Pope) Cesare Borgia. After a brief time with Borgia, he realizes the job is not what he expected, and he returns to art to create his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. The production will run through November 5.
Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents She Stoops to Conquer
Stolen Shakespeare Guild's annual Classic Fest will kick off with She Stoops to Conquer, Oliver Goldsmith’s classic comedy of manners that tells the tale of clever schemers and comic ruses that unfold one night at a country house. An ambitious stepmother, impassioned sweethearts, a pragmatic father, and a pair of star-crossed suitors are sent spinning through a hilarious comedy of errors. The play will run through October 27 at Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
Saturday, October 14
Bubble Run Fort Worth
The Bubble Run is like running through Willy Wonka's factory. Clad in white T-shirts, adults, kids, and strollers can run, walk, dance, and play across three miles of absolute fun. Participants will run through the four Foam Bogs, where there is enough colored foam to cover them from head to toe. Once participants cross the finish line, they can enjoy music from DJs, free swag, and extra foam. The event takes place at Texas Motor Speedway.
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History presents "Race to the End of the Earth"
"Race to the End of the Earth" recounts one of the most stirring tales in the annals of Antarctic exploration, the contest to reach the South Pole. This exhibition, on display at the Fort Worth Museum of Science History through January 1, focuses on the challenges that the two leaders, Roald Amundsen on the Norwegian side and Robert Falcon Scott on the British, faced as they undertook their separate 1,800-mile journeys from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf to the South Pole and back.
2017 Fort Worth Cocktail Week: Sips
The 2017 edition of Fort Worth Cocktail Week will kick off with Sips, a night of elegant aperitifs, cognacs, liqueurs, and digestifs in an indulgent celebration of exquisite before-and-after-dinner libations. On hand will be owner and head chef of Fixture, Ben Merritt, two-time winner of Fort Worth, Texas magazine’s Top Chef Competition winner, who specializes in New American cuisine with a twist. The event will take place at Proper. Cocktail Week continues with daily events, October 16-20.
Bubble Run will take place at Texas Motor Speedway on October 14.
