This weekend across Fort Worth features a nice mixture of big and small events. On the larger side are a golf showcase, a dance production, shopping for funky items, and a St. Patrick's Day celebration. More intimate will be a local theater production, a trio of concerts, an opera competition, shows by a traveling comedian, and a symphony concert.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Friday, March 17

11th Annual DFW Golf Show
The DFW Golf Show is a three-day event that will feature dozens of vendors, interactive games, golf fittings, and entertainment for the whole family. Visitors will be able to see World Long Drive Champion and former UNT golfer Kyle Berkshire, US Women’s Open champion and Dallas-Fort Worth local Brittany Lang, golf comedy group Country Club Adjacent, and more. The event takes place through Sunday at Esports Stadium Arlington.

Jubilee Theatre presents Bread N’ Gravy: The Songs and Life of Ethel Waters
Bread N’ Gravy: The Songs and Life of Ethel Waters is a staged reading performed in collaboration with Jubilee Theatre and The Modern Museum of Fort Worth. The play, written by Frank Cullen and Donald McNeilly, tells the story of American singer Ethel Waters and her many contributions to jazz and blues genres. Along the way, audiences will learn more about Waters’ life through song and performance theater. There will be four performances through Sunday at the Modern.

Ben Rector in concert
Singer-songwriter Ben Rector has been releasing music since 2007, and had a nice run in the mid-2010s with a trio of albums charting high on the Billboard 200 and Folk charts. The pandemic might have slowed his progress a bit, as 2022's The Joy of Music is his first album of new songs in four years. He'll play at Will Rogers Auditorium as part of his Old Friends Acoustic Tour, joined by Stephen Day and Jordy Searcy.

Texas Ballet Theater presents "Modern Masterpieces"
Texas Ballet Theater presents "Modern Masterpieces," featuring three different pieces. In Bartok, playful motifs and intriguing backdrops set the stage for a ravishing neoclassical ballet. In Image, the arc of Marilyn Monroe’s tragic life, from Hollywood ingénue to iconic starlet, is captured in this one-woman performance. Imbue is modern and minimalistic, a dramatic piece that celebrates human growth and transformation. There will be four performances through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.

Cody Canada & The Departed in concert
The music of Cody Canada & The Departed blurs the lines between hard-edged country, rock & roll, and all the gritty sounds in between. The band has released four albums in their career, most recently 2022's Soul Gravy 2022. They'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, March 18

The 15th Annual Funky Finds Spring Fling
The 15th Annual Funky Finds Spring Fling features the sweetest batch of handmade and vintage items, showcasing the funkiest finds in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The event also will include a charitable raffle and other fundraising, which will benefit child advocates CASA of Tarrant County and Saving Hope Animal Rescue. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Fort Worth Stockyards presents Cowtown Goes Green
Fort Worth's largest and most family-friendly St. Patrick’s Day celebration will feature an entire day of Irish-Western fun in the Fort Worth Stockyards. The event includes festive food & drink, live music, armadillo races, lawn games, pony rides, Old West gunfight shows, cloggers & dance troops, cattle drives, a special matinee Stockyards Championship Rodeo at 1:30 pm, and an Irish-Western parade at 4 pm.

Fort Worth Opera presents The McCammon Voice Competition
After a five-year hiatus, the Fort Worth Opera will present the return of The McCammon Voice Competition. Over 500 hopeful singers have applied to the competition, which seeks to foster the talent of young opera singers. Ten gifted finalists will perform for judges and the audience at W. E. Scott Theatre at Arts Fort Worth.

John Crist: The Emotional Support Tour
John Crist is a fast-rising stand-up comedian who's widely known for viral videos like Honest Football Coach, Every Parent at Disney, Brands that need to be Cancelled, and more, although Crist would still tell you that his live show is better than any of his videos. He'll perform twice on Saturday at Will Rogers Auditorium.

Mark Chesnutt in concert with Casey Chesnutt
It will be a family affair at Billy Bob's Texas on Saturday as longtime country star Mark Chesnutt headlines, with his son Casey serving as the opening act. Mark was among the wave of male country vocalists who rose to fame in the early 1990s, scoring eight No. 1 hits in as many years, including "Brother Jukebox," "I'll Think of Something," and "It's a Little Too Late." Casey is just getting started, having released two EPs, most recently 2021's Down Mexico Way.

Sunday, March 19

  

Photo courtesy of Mark Chestnutt

Mark Chesnutt will play at Billy Bob's Texas with his son Casey on March 18.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "From Despair to Hope: Messiaen and Mozart"
Messiaen wrote the first sketches Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the End of Time") as a prisoner in Germany during World War II for himself and fellow musician prisoners, who premiered the work at the camp. Pianist Robert Spano and musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will bring to life the anguished voices of the birds of Messiaen's best-known work as well as Brahms' transformative Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin and Horn. The concert will be at Kimbell Art Museum.