Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend around Dallas brings many opportunities to get out and enjoy the wide variety of events the area has to offer. Among the choices will be festivals celebrating food, wine, beer, and sustainability; a trio of concerts; arts performances in the Dallas Arts District; and a fun event for fans of NERF.

Below are the best to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, June 10

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Food and Wine Festival: A Gatsby Garden Soirée
The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden’s fourth annual Food & Wine Festival features a festive theme and top chefs, with plenty of space to stroll, sip, and sample small plates. Themed "A Gatsby Garden Soirée," the event includes music, fine wines, craft beer, and food stations. After Thursday night’s affair, guests are invited back to the Arboretum on Saturday and Sunday for a Garden Market experience featuring dozens of local vendors showcasing their products for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the garden.

Texas Ale Project presents TAP Fest
Texas Ale Project will celebrate its sixth anniversary with a four-day beer and music festival. The event will include big announcements, round table discussions, beer tastings, games and contests, and the opportunity to taste, feel, and experience everything Texas Ale Project. The festival will happen daily through Sunday.

Vaden Todd Lewis of Toadies in concert
Toadies lead singer Vaden Todd Lewis will play a special acoustic solo concert at Legacy Hall in Plano, his first live performance since 2019. Toadies have more than 30 years and seven studio albums behind them, including the platinum-selling Rubberneck. The group is a Dallas-Fort Worth original, complete with five signature beers with Martin House Brewing and a “Toadies Day” declared by their hometown of Fort Worth.

Friday, June 11

NERF Challenge
The NERF Challenge, taking place on weekends through August 8 in Centennial Hall at Fair Park, lets attendees participate in a variety of competitive sports experiences using the latest in NERF technology. Activities will include Wrecking Bowling, where guests become a human wrecking ball trying to knock over 10 huge bowling pins; Colossal Foosball, a super-sized version of Foosball where players can step onto the field and compete; Try-athlon Ninja Style Circuit Course, a soft play obstacle course designed to test athletic prowess; and more.

Jack Ingram in concert
Over the past 25 years, country singer Jack Ingram has become such a big part of the Texas music landscape that he's even teamed up with two other Texas celebrities — former UT football coach Mack Brown and actor Matthew McConaughey — for an annual fundraiser event in Austin. He's also released 10 albums in his career, including 2019's Ridin' High ... Again. He'll play at The Kessler.

Saturday, June 12

The Boho Market presents The Slow Down Symposium
The Slow Down Symposium is an event focused on practical ways everyone can make a difference through sustainable measures. This day-long festival, taking place in the Women's Museum at Fair Park, will feature a variety of local makers and artisans with workshops, talks from sustainability experts, and a sustainable makers market. Other attractions include yoga and mindfulness practice, farming demonstrations, a clothing swap, and more.

Fort Worth Opera presents Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World
Fort Worth Opera makes the journey across the Metroplex to present two performances of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, a mini, 20-minute version of the family-friendly opera performed in celebration of the DMA’s current "Frida Kahlo: Five Works" exhibition, which ends on June 20. The opera follows the real-life story of Marianna Morillo Safa and her friendship with the famed painter. The performances will take place outdoors on the Dallas Museum of Art’s Eagle Family Plaza.

Orchestra of New Spain presents "Music of Neglected Black Composers"
The Orchestra of New Spain will present "Music of Neglected Black Composers," its final concert of the season. The orchestra will celebrate the Texas roots of Juneteenth with a range of classical music by Black composers. The program will include String Quartet No 1 from Joseph Bologna, Chevalier de St. Georges, "Four Noveletten" by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, "Strum" by Jessie Montgomery, and "Danzas de Panama" by Grant Still. The performance will take place at Zion Lutheran Church.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Alonzo King/LINES Ballet
Gorgeous, stunning dancers with impeccable technique and powerfully visual works are what make Alonzo King/LINES Ballet so special. Like none other, Alonzo King creates an unforgettable dialogue between movement and music. The dance troupe returns to Dallas for the first time in three years for a one-night-only performance at Winspear Opera House.

Fort Worth Opera will present two 20-minute performances of Frida Kahlo and Bravest Girl in World at the Dallas Museum of Art on June 12.

Fort Worth Opera, Frida Kahlo and Bravest Girl in World

Photo by Timothy Walker Jr.

Fort Worth Opera will present two 20-minute performances of Frida Kahlo and Bravest Girl in World at the Dallas Museum of Art on June 12.

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Movie Review

Great acting and directing drive The Christophers to artistic heights

Photo by Claudette Barius

Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.

Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.

Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.

Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.

Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.

Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.

While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.

Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.

Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.

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The Christophers is now playing in theaters.

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