Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

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.

Photo courtesy of Radiance

Radiance! A Holiday Light Spectacular will be at Parker County Sheriff's Posse in Weatherford through January 3, 2021.

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Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

GM Financial Parade of Lights Fort Worth

Photo courtesy of Parade of Lights

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The weekend before Thanksgiving is when the holiday season really kicks into high gear, and this year features a Broadway musical, multiple local festivals, and a big parade. Other non-holiday choices include screenings of an acclaimed new film, three country concerts, a great comedian, an opera, the opening of a new art exhibition, and a small-scale symphony concert.

Photo courtesy of Parade of Lights

The annual GM Financial Parade of Lights takes place in Downtown Fort Worth on November 24.

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, November 21

Performing Arts Fort Worth presents Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical features the hit songs "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch" and "Welcome Christmas” from the original animated series. Max the Dog narrates the action as the mean and scheming Grinch, whose heart is "two sizes too small," decides to steal Christmas away from the Holiday-loving Whos. The production runs through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.

Friday, November 22

Holiday events
In addition to the special one-off holiday performances, the Fort Worth area will have several holiday festival-style events start their run this weekend. They include Texas Christkindl Market at Texas Live in Arlington (running through December 23), Coca-Cola’s Classic Christmas at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington (through December 29), and Lightscape at Fort Worth Botanic Garden (through January 5).

Magnolia at the Modern: Blitz
Sir Steve McQueen’s Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to his mother and grandfather (Paul Weller) in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril. Meanwhile, a distraught Rita searches for her missing son. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Little Big Town in concert with Sugarland
Country group Little Big Town and country duo Sugarland have a long history together, first collaborating on the song "Life in a Northern Town" in 2008. Sixteen years later, they teamed up again for the new song "Take Me Home," after which this tour is named. Little Big Town has released 10 albums in their career, most recently Mr. Sunin 2022, while Sugarland has released six albums in their career, most recently Bigger in 2018. They'll play at Dickies Arena.

Big Laugh Comedy Club presents Dulce Sloan
Comedian Dulcé Sloan was most recently a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and has been hailed by Variety, Rolling Stone, and Timeout LA as a Top Comedian to Watch. She has also been honored as the NBC Stand UpShowcase Winner, a Montreal Just For Laughs New Face, and as a Comedian to Watch on The Steve Harvey Show. She'll perform four times through Saturday at Big Laugh Comedy Club.

Fort Worth Opera presents Little Women
Mark Adamo’s operatic adaptation of Little Women brings Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age novel to life in a fresh and powerful way. The American opera is celebrated for its emotional depth and resonant themes of family, sisterhood, growing up, and coming home. Adamo captures the internal conflict of iconic central character, Jo March, who fears that growing up inevitably means growing apart from her family and her sisters, Meg, Beth, and Amy. There will be performances on Friday and Sunday at Arts Fort Worth.

Randall King in concert
A throwback to classic country, Randall King formed an Americana group in college called the Randall King Band, which released an album called Old Dirt Road before splitting. He then debuted as a solo artist in 2016 with the EP Another Bullet before releasing his first self-titled album in 2018 and his second album, Shot Glass in 2022. He'll play once again at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, November 23

Dylan Wheeler in concert
A native of the East Texas town of Edgewood, Dylan Wheeler has made a name for himself on the Texas country music scene. The success of his debut EP, Tell Me I'm Wrong, in 2018 convinced him to quit his job in the oil & gas industry and pursue music full-time. He released his debut album, Times Are Changing, in 2022, and now he returns again to play at Billy Bob's Texas.

Sunday, November 24

Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents Rufino Tamayo: "Innovation and Experimentation"
Exploring more than 60 years of Rufino Tamayo’s prints, "Innovation and Experimentation" showcases the artist’s extensive engagement with prints and his ambitions to add volume and texture to a traditionally two-dimensional medium. In these works, Tamayo's depictions and abstractions of the human figure are highlighted as fertile ground for formal experimentation. A selection of Mesoamerican sculpture complements the prints on view, examining an important source of inspiration for the artist. The exhibition will remain on display through April 20, 2025.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Chamber Series: "Mozart, Schulhoff, and Korngold"
The composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold is remembered best for his film scores to silver-screen classics like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood, but his concert works are also a testament to his prodigious talent. In this first FWSO Chamber Program featuring members of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Korngold’s music appears alongside Mozart’s Serenade in C minor and a Divertissement by Schulhoff, whose music was buried by the Nazis but has been reemerging in recent years. The performance takes place at Kimbell Art Museum.

GM Financial Parade of Lights
The annual GM Financial Parade of Lights will brighten up the streets of Downtown Fort Worth for its 42nd year, marking the City of Fort Worth’s official kickoff to the holiday season. The parade features the Texas Rangers baseball team as Grand Marshal, along with floats, vintage cars, horse-drawn carriages, marching bands, carolers, and Santa Claus along the 1.59-mile route.

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