While many events in and around Fort Worth have either been postponed or canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, organizations have adapted to the new world to offer a variety of in-person and virtual events. With Thanksgiving around the corner, this weekend will be the unofficial kickoff of the holiday season, with a couple of significant holiday-themed events starting up.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While they're not all outside of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.
Thursday, November 12
Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival
The Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival will virtually present its films across two states – Minnesota and Texas – for the first time in the film festival’s history. The film lineup for the 21st annual film festival will feature Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal as the Opening Night selection; Frank Marshall’s highly anticipated documentary The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart as the Centerpiece film; and Alex Winter’s Zappa as the Closing Night selection. The festival takes place through Sunday.
Radiance! A Holiday Light Spectacular
This new holiday event, taking place at Parker County Sheriff's Posse in Weatherford, is more than a mile long and will take about 20 to 30 minutes to drive through the entire experience. A special Radiance! radio station frequency will be provided for guests to enjoy iconic holiday tunes as they experience the wonder, which includes 160 feet of animated RGB light tunnels. Food and beverages and special items, including hot chocolate, cookies, unique holiday treats, LED balloons, glow stick cotton candy, and more, will be available for purchase. The event will run through January 3, 2021.
PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast
With Nevada currently not allowing spectators at sporting events, the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast have moved from Las Vegas to Arlington for one year only. The biggest event in bull riding, which crowns the PBR's next champion rider and bull, takes place through Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Friday, November 13
Gaylord Texan presents Lone Star Christmas
Gaylord Texan will once again present the annual Lone Star Christmas, featuring I Love Christmas Movies, which will allow guests to experience beloved holiday movies, including The Polar Express, A Christmas Story, Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and The Year Without a Santa Claus, in a completely new way. It will also include an outdoor holiday lanterns attraction, a Build Your Own Snowman event, ice skating, snow tubing, gingerbread decorating, and more. The event will go on through January 3, 2021.
River & Blues Festival
Top country and blues artists will take the stage at the inaugural two-day River & Blues music festival. Taking place at Panther Island Pavilion on Friday and Saturday, the festival's performers will include Charley Crockett, Maddie & Tae, Kody West, Bart Crow, Grady Spencer & the Work, Samantha Fish, Casey James, Southern Avenue, Courtney Patton & Jason Eady, Elaina Kay, and Kirk House. Guests will be able to purchase food from Heim Barbecue, Cousins Maine Lobster, Magdalena's, Kono Pizza, Melt Ice Creams, Big Kat Burgers, and The Beignet Bus.
Magnolia at the Modern: The Climb
Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond — until Mike sleeps with Kyle's fiancée. The Climb is about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak, and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships. The film will screen five times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Copland's Appalachian Spring and Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite
This concert by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra features Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella, based on the one-act ballet of the same name, Aaron Copland's Suite from Appalachian Spring, which draws on the pioneering spirit of America, and Copland’s lyrical and jazz-influenced clarinet concerto, performed by FWSO Principal Clarinetist Stanislav Chernyshev. The concert will play four times through Sunday at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium.
Josh Ward in concert
Country singer Josh Ward has had a big presence in the Texas country music world over the past 12 years or so. Over that time, he's released five albums (including 2019's Live at Billy Bob's) and charted nine consecutive No. 1 songs in the state. He'll return to one his favorite venues, Billy Bob's Texas, for another turn at entertaining the masses.
Saturday, November 14
National Theatre Live: All My Sons
In this screening of a previously recorded live production, Academy Award winner Sally Field and Bill Pullman star in Arthur Miller’s blistering drama All My Sons. Despite hard choices and even harder knocks, Joe and Kate Keller are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons, and established a thriving business. But nothing lasts forever and their contented lives, already shadowed by the loss of their eldest boy to war, are about to shatter. The screening will be at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Sunday, November 15
The Cliburn presents Cliburn at Home
This Sunday's Cliburn at Home will feature the Cliburn Masterpiece series, which examines the who, what, when, where, and how of the greatest piano works. Host Buddy Bray will lead viewers through the story of Carl Vine's Sonata No. 1 — the composer, the background, the narrative, the characters, the technical difficulties, and more. Bray will also talk with the composer himself, as well as 2013 Cliburn jury discretionary award winner Steven Lin, whose standout Competition performance of the work caps off this episode.
Texas Country Music Awards
The Texas Country Music Association, Inc. will present the annual Texas Country Music Awards, featuring 26 awards based on fan-nominated and voted categories. The ceremony, taking place at Billy Bob's Texas, will include performances by nominees like Brandon Rhyder, Zane Williams & The Wild Blue, Curtis Grimes, Holly Tucker, Scotty Alexander, Will Carter, Saints Eleven, and more.
Radiance! A Holiday Light Spectacular will be at Parker County Sheriff's Posse in Weatherford through January 3, 2021.
