While Dallas begins hosting the annual State Fair of Texas this weekend, there will also be lots of fun things to do in and around Fort Worth. They include a big Oktoberfest celebration, a couple of country concerts, screenings of a new film, a symphony concert, a short film festival, a local theater production, more Halloween events, two art exhibitions, a screening of a London theater production, and a dance production.
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, September 26
Fort Worth Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest returns to Fort Worth with this annual three-day celebration featuring traditional German food and drink, a midway with carnival rides and games, and an extensive music lineup. Performers include Alex Meixner Band, Das Ist Lustig, Alpenmusikanten, Walburg Boys, Lederhosen Junkies, Off the Grid Band, and more. The festival takes place through Saturday at Trinity Park.
Ernest in concert
Ernest (sometimes stylized as ERNEST) is a rising country music star who's released three albums in his short career, including the new Nashville, Tennessee. He can claim Nashville more than other country singers since he was born there in 1992. That proximity to country music greatness his entire life has allowed him to write songs for stars such as Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and Jelly Roll. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.
Friday, September 27
Magnolia at the Modern: The Critic
In The Critic, Academy Award nominee Sir Ian McKellen stars as a powerful London theater critic who lures a struggling actress into a blackmail scheme, with deadly consequences. The suspenseful thriller co-stars Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, and Lesley Manville. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "Mozart and Strauss"
FWSO Principal Guest Conductor Kevin John Edusei will open this concert with Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, which pivots from high melodrama to a more comic tone, and Sinfonietta, Op. 23, a rarely heard modernist treat by Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky. The concert, which also includes R. Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64, will have three performances through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Manhattan Short Film Festival
At the annual Manhattan Short Film Festival, 10 finalists will screen across the world during a one-week period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by ballots cast by the audiences in each participating venue. The festival films will screen three times through Saturday at Palace Arts Center in Grapevine.
Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents The Great Gatsby
Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, ardently pursues the elusive Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, a young newcomer to Long Island, is drawn into their world of obsession, greed, and danger. The breathtaking glamour of the Jazz Age comes to life on stage in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, as adapted by Simon Levy and approved by the Fitzgerald estate. The production runs through October 13 at Arts Fort Worth.
Jubilee Theatre presents Home
Samm Art Williams’ Home is a poignant exploration of family, identity, and the meaning of belonging. Set in the rural South during the civil rights era, the play follows the journey of Cephus Miles, a young African American man who leaves his hometown in search of adventure and opportunity, only to discover that home is where the heart truly lies. As Cephus navigates the ups and downs of life, he grapples with love, loss, and the enduring bonds of community. Jubilee Theatre will present the production through October 27.
More Halloween events
The gradual rollout of Halloween-related events in the Fort Worth area continues this weekend with three more haunted houses. Hangman's House of Horrors, open through November 2,includes three separate attractions: the classic Hangman’s House of Horrors; Outbreak!, where zombies abound from the dark corners and hidden chasms in the smaller yet equally intense attraction; and The Beauty of Horror, a horror-based twist on the interactive art exhibit. Moxley Manor in Bedford, open through October 31, also has three haunted attractions: the original Moxley Manor, the 3D haunted house, Big Top Terror, and Regan's Revenge. And Cutting Edge Haunted House, which opened for one day on Friday the 13th, starts its official run on Saturday. The dark attraction, open through November 2 and located in a 100-year-old abandoned meat packing plant, is filled with live actors, special effects, and monsters.
Saturday, September 28
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents "Cowboy"
It's moving weekend at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, with one exhibition opening and another closing. Opening is "Cowboy," which brings together approximately 70 cutting-edge contemporary artworks, including new commissions, from more than 25 artists including Asian American, Latino, and Indigenous perspectives, all re-examining the significance of cowboy imagery in American culture. The exhibition will remain on display through March 23, 2025.
National Theatre Live: Present Laughter
In Noël Coward’s provocative comedy, Present Laughter, the colorful life of star actor Garry Essendine (Andrew Scott) is in danger of spiraling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic, and soul-searching. This screening of a previously recorded live production in London will be at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Ballet Frontier presents Don Quixote
Ballet's quintessential romantic comedy, Don Quixote follows the hilarious story based on the novel of the same title by Miguel Cervantes. The ballet, which takes excerpts from the book and tells the story of Basilio and his beloved, Kitr, features a beautiful Spanish setting, music by Minkus, and brand new choreography. There will be performances on Saturday and Sunday at I.M. Terrell Academy.
Drake Milligan in concert
Country singer/Arlington native Drake Milligan has gotten two big breaks in his young career, first starring as Elvis Presley on the CMT series, Sun Records, and then a few years later when he came in third place on America's Got Talent. He released his debut album, Dallas/Fort Worth, in 2022, and recently released a new EP, Jukebox Songs. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.
Sunday, September 29
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents "Drawn to Nature" closing day
After four months, "Drawn to Nature" will come to a close at Amon Carter Museum of American Art on Sunday. The exhibition highlights the museum’s works on paper holdings from the 18th through the 21st centuries. Celebrating both historical and modernist artworks, the exhibition presents depictions of nature from the first investigations of the American landscape by European American artists to modernism’s use of up-close observation of nature as a way of rendering the real world through abstraction.
Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents The Great Gatsby at Arts Fort Worth, September 17-October 13.
More rainbow bagels from Dan's.
Facebook
