Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this Halloween weekend

Halloween weekend in and around Dallas brings the usual assortment of seasonal events, but it also has a bunch of symphony performances, a quintet of new theatrical productions, a historical airshow, reality TV in real life, great opera singers, world-class magicians, a music festival, and the closing of a significant art exhibition.

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

Thursday, October 28

Dallas Symphony Orchestra events
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be very busy this weekend, with events in multiple locations. The Concert Truck, a mobile concert stage that brings classical chamber music directly to communities will hit the road again, parking at five locations in four days as the start of a monthlong journey. They will also present Elgar Symphony No. 1, featuring pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason and conductor Sir Mark Elder, at Meyerson Symphony Center nightly through Saturday. Finally, they'll present a family-friendly Día de los Muertos Concert at Meyerson Symphony Center on Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents The Supreme Leader
Dallas Theater Center will present the world premiere of The Supreme Leader, written by Don X. Nguyen. While in boarding school in Switzerland, Kim Jong-Un learns he’s next in line following his older brother’s career-ending trip to Tokyo Disneyland. Set in the snow globe world of stinky cheese and mountain climbing, this coming-of-age comedy imagines Kim Jong-Un’s final throes of youth before his fateful return to North Korea. The production will run at Kalita Humphreys Theater through November 21.

Sangeet Millennium and Art Nomadic presents Clear Light of the Void
Sangeet Millennium, in collaboration with Art Nomadic and other artists, will present Clear Light of the Void a multidisciplinary, multi-media, multi-linguistic performance installation exploring the notion of a journey through a metaphysical world. Audiences will travel through theatrical portals focused on three distinct but related mystical traditions and enacted through live performances of music, movement, and spoken word recitation. The production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, will take place at Wyly Theatre through Saturday.

Friday, October 29

Commemorative Air Force presents Wings Over Dallas
The Commemorative Air Force’s Wings Over Dallas air show is a World War II-themed event featuring aerial activities and living history re-enactments with more than 30 vintage aircraft and other military vehicles. The air show celebrates the historic aircraft that helped win the war, honors the veterans who flew and maintained these iconic warbirds, and recognizes the vital contributions made by civilians on the home front. It will take place at Dallas Executive Airport through Sunday.

Halloween events
Halloween doesn't often take place on a weekend, so you can expect plenty of people out and about and in a spooky mood. The Dallas-Fort Worth does not have a lack of quality haunted houses and other Halloween-themed events, along with things like a ghost tour, themed-train rides, and more all weekend long.

MasterChef Live!
MasterChef Live! is a high-energy, interactive live stage production that brings the culinary hit TV shows MasterChef & MasterChef Junior directly to fans and foodies alike. The family-friendly show, taking place at Comerica Center in Frisco, will feature head-to-head cooking demonstrations and fun (sometimes messy) challenges with past MasterChef & MasterChef Junior contestants.

The Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition
Classically-trained U.S. singers will compete for industry recognition and the chance to perform on a world-class stage with Maestro Emmanuel Villaume and The Dallas Opera Orchestra, all before a live audience and a panel of judges representing some of the most prestigious opera companies in North America. The event will take place at Winspear Opera House.

Lyric Stage presents The Best of Broadway: A Pops Concert
This jam packed, 100-minute concert celebrates Lyric Stage’s 28 years of developing and preserving the musical by featuring 100 years of music from 28 of Broadway’s most beloved shows. The Best Of Broadway boasts performances by local favorites Keron Jackson, Amy Stevenson, Feleceia Benton Wilson, Mary Gilbreath-Grim, Markus Lloyd, Catherine Carpenter-Cox, Christopher J. Deaton, and rising artists Sadat Hossain and Jéssica Webba. There will be four performances through Sunday at Majestic Theatre.

Teatro Dallas presents The Merit System
Teatro Dallas will present The Merit System, which centers on Ray Rivers, a young Puerto Rican man on the way up. Struggling with the cost of assimilation, he walks a tightrope both at the factory, where he has been recently promoted to management, and with his fiancée. When a recently divorced Cuca joins the assembly line, an unexpected friendship develops and allows him to finally accept the part of himself that he’s long denied. The production will run through November 13 at Latino Cultural Center.

Penn & Teller
For over 45 years Penn & Teller have defied labels, and at times physics and good taste, by redefining the genre of magic and inventing their own very distinct niche in comedy. They currently host the hit series Penn & Teller: Fool Us! for The CW Network, on which up-and-comers and magic veterans try to fool Penn & Teller for a chance to star in the duo’s hit Las Vegas stage show. They'll perform at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Imprint Theatreworks presents We Are Pussy Riot! (Or, Everything is P.R.)
In February 2012, five young women activists, who called themselves Pussy Riot, walked into the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow to protest the illegal presidential election in Russia. We Are Pussy Riot! (Or, Everything is P.R.) weaves together trial transcripts, letters, interviews, media coverage, and statements from celebrities and public officials, to re-imagine the story of Pussy Riot. The production will run at Bath House Cultural Center through November 13.

Saturday, October 30

LaReunion Music Fest
The LaReunion Music Fest celebrates live music from acts in and around Dallas-Fort Worth. It will feature performances by The Suffers, Bob Schneider, Rebirth Brass Band, Sir Woman, and more. The festival, taking place at Dallas Heritage Village on both Saturday and Sunday, will also feature vendors, food, and drinks.

Sunday, October 31

Dallas Museum of Art presents "My|gration" closing day
Originally opening on February 1, 2020, the exhibition "My|gration" will finally come to a close on Sunday at the Dallas Museum of Art. It is an installation of works that traces the migration of people, objects, and ideas in art across times and cultures. Composed of works from the DMA’s collection, "My|gration" highlights the contributions of artists who immigrated to the United States, examines how the movement of people is expressed through art, and illuminates ways cross-cultural connections inform artistic production.

The Wings Over Dallas air show takes place at Dallas Executive Airport, October 29-31.

Photo courtesy of Commemorative Air Force

The Wings Over Dallas air show takes place at Dallas Executive Airport, October 29-31.

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Outside Ideas

New podcast series uncovers hidden gems found at Texas parks

Better Outside podcast host Morgan O’Hanlon

Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Podcast host Morgan O’Hanlon captures ambient sound from a river.

Outdoorsy Texans have a new way to keep track of conservation initiatives within Texas' parks. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) launched a new podcast on May 21 called Better Outside, available on all major podcast platforms.

A press release promises that listeners will "travel the woods and waters of Texas through an array of awe-inspiring stories about conservation, recreation and the outdoors."

The podcast does mean "travel" in a literal sense, taking listeners out in the field to experience the environments firsthand. They'll have a knowledgeable guide in host Morgan O’Hanlon, who is a senior writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine, as well as TPWD executive director David Yoskowitz.

“People are at the core of conservation work in Texas,” said Yoskowitz in the release. “I’m excited for you to hear their voices straight from the field, so they can share why the work they do matters and the impact it makes.”

$David Yoskowitz and Morgan O\u2019Hanlon recording Better Outside podcast$ David Yoskowitz and Morgan O’Hanlon record in the studio as well as in the field.Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Some examples of the work featured include creating a new trail across the state, touring an existing park, and restoring bighorn sheep (which were on the brink of being wiped out by 1900) in West Texas. Another episode in the Hill Country follows feral hog bounty hunters. Although well-informed listeners may already know about some of these subjects, the podcast specifically hopes to focus on hidden gems and expanding horizons.

“I love adventure sports and am excited to inspire people to try new, and sometimes scary, things,” said O’Hanlon. “In our episode on the Devils River, I took my non-outdoorsy mom on one of the state’s most feared paddling trips. You’ll hear straight from her about the challenges I put her through — and why she would do it again.”

Better Outside isn't TPWD’s first podcast. It was Under the Texas Sky, which launched in 2019 and followed similar themes, with a notable focus on culture. Some episodes followed the Indigenous history of Texas parks, cowboy poets, and chefs who are involved in sustainable farming and cooking. Under the Texas Sky stopped being made when its host, longtime Passport to Texas radio host Cecilia Nasti, retired.

The new podcast is sponsored by the Austin-based Whole Earth Provision Co., which originally opened in 1970 as a real-life manifestation of the Whole Earth Catalog, and is now a cross between a camping, home goods, and outdoorsy gift store. It operates six locations in total in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas.

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