Hottest headlines of 2025

From Guy Fieri to Princess Di: Dallas’ 10 biggest A&E stories of 2025

"Princess Diana: Accredited Access," featuring photos of Anwar Hussein, ran January 17-April 6, 2025, at Arlington Museum of Art.

Photo by Anwar Hussein via Arlington Museum of Art

Editor's note: Our most-read arts and entertainment stories of 2025 show Dallas' love of pop culture and high culture. Highlights include restaurant visits from Food Network star Guy Fieri and movie star Tom Cruise; a Dungeons & Dragons attraction making its U.S. debut; a blockbuster exhibit of Princess Diana photos taken by royal photographers, and the return of the beloved Hammering Men sculptures to NorthPark Center.

Read on for our top 10 arts and entertainment stories of 2025:

1. Dallas' Starship Bagel breaks silence on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. A Dallas bagel shop in late May revealed that it would be featured on Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Starship Bagel, the artisan bagel shop with three locations in the Dallas area, would appear in the series starring charismatic host Guy Fieri in an episode called “All Kinds of Cookin'," which would debut on June 6 at 8 pm.

Guy Fieri Oren Salomon Guy Fieri and Oren Salomon Courtesy photo

2. Dungeons & Dragons immersive attraction makes U.S. debut in Plano. The classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons came to life in a new way when Dungeons & Dragons: The Immersive Quest made its U.S. debut in Plano on October 15. Plano was its second city, giving Texans — and Americans — their first opportunity to literally walk through adventures they’ve imagined at the game table. (It is still open.)

3. Tom Cruise fulfills vow to eat BBQ in Dallas on Mission Impossible tour. Movie star Tom Cruise promised he was going to eat BBQ in Dallas and he stood by that vow: While on a tour through Texas to promote his new film Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Cruise hit Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum on May 22, where he was treated to a spread that included a specially-made sausage.

Tom Cruise in Dallas Tribal Cafe

4. Official list of 4th of July events and fireworks around Dallas in 2025. The Dallas area sure knows how to celebrate the 4th of July, with some kind of celebration taking place nearby no matter which city you call home. We gathered as close to a comprehensive list as there can be of the big 4th of July-themed events happening in the Dallas area in 2025.

5. Ultimate guide to spring break 2025 family fun in Dallas-Fort Worth. Spring break fun got super-sized to two full weeks in Dallas-Fort Worth this year. That's because the area's largest districts took back-to-back weeks off. This big guide to fun events and activities helped families plan the perfect staycation.

6. Register now for tickets for 2026 FIFA World Cup games in Arlington. The application period for the first ticket draw for the FIFA World Cup 26 was set to open on September 10, but football/soccer fans could register ery to get their hands on tickets to matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and elsewhere.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and other venues in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Photo courtesy of CONCACAF

7. New Princess Diana exhibition brings famous royal photos to Arlington. A new exhibition at Arlington Museum of Art showcased one of the most-loved and most-photographed women in the world: Princess Diana. "Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition," featuring 140 photos by the late official royal photographer Anwar Hussein, ran from January to April, 2025. The exhibition told the story of the world’s most loved Princess "through an intimate new lens."

8. 2 Dallas museums partner on landmark Roy Lichtenstein acquisition. The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) and the Nasher Sculpture Center will present works from the joint acquisition of more than 50 artworks generously gifted by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, showing prints, drawings, and sculptures by the groundbreaking American artist at the two neighboring institutions in the Dallas Arts District. The installations will be on view from January 31 to August 16, 2026 at the Nasher and from January 1 to July 5, 2026 at the DMA.

9. Hammering Men return to NorthPark Center Dallas after 4-year nap. A signature sculpture at Dallas' NorthPark Center returned to its stomping grounds: Five Hammering Men, 1982, a series by American artist Jonathan Borofsky, returned to the mall following a four-year absence, which they describe as "a period of rest" to conribute to its longevity and lifespan.

Hammering Men, 1982 at NorthPark Center Hammering Men, 1982 NorthPark Center

10. Global art exhibit Balloon Museum bounces immersively into Dallas. A new museum tour featuring huge airy installations — also known as balloons — has come to Dallas: Called Let’s Fly – Art Has No Limits, it's a multisensory exhibition from an entity called the Balloon Museum, and it touched down at Dallas' South Side Studios at 2901 Botham Jean Blvd. on Saturday, November 22, where it will reside until April 16, 2026.

museums guy fieri guy fieri dallas tom cruise celebrities spring break 4th of july world cup hot headlines

Season Announcement

Echo Theatre introduces Dallas audiences to a season of strangers in 2026

Photo by Julieta Cervantes

'The Roommate' was recently on Broadway.

It's a "Season of Strangers" for Echo Theatre this year, as the Southwest's premier company for promoting dramatic works by women+ focuses on how someone different than you can change your life.

The 28th season begins with the new musical Silhouettes by Jordan Ealey and Ari Afsar. This score-in-hand workshop was developed in the aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade, and examines a pivotal moment in American history through the intersecting lives of two women navigating the decision to have an abortion. Echo's managing and artistic director Kateri Cale directs, with Vonda K. Bowling as musical director.

In a joint statement, Ealey and Afsar say that Silhouettes was born from their need to process the emotional and political aftermath of Roe’s fall. “We continue to see that history is cyclical and equity is fleeting,” they say. “But when policy fails, art has the opportunity to step in. Silhouettes is a musical about choice, sisterhood, and intergenerational courage.”

They add that presenting the work in Dallas reflects their commitment to community-building in states like Texas, where bans and restrictions have made women and gender minorities particularly vulnerable. “We want this musical to be a safe and brave haven amid attempts to create a culture of fear and a reminder that people are not alone.”

It runs January 16-17, 2026, and admission is free, though a $20 donation is suggested.

The world premiere of You Must Wear A Hat by C. Meaker is next, and plugged-in Dallas theater fans might recognize the play from its reading at Kitchen Dog Theater in 2019.

Tuesday and Weeks make hats on the Great Barrier Reef, waiting for the world to end. It's described as "A play for two. And a rabbit."

C. “Meaks” Meaker (they/them) is a playwright, essayist, and teacher whose work often explores queerness, monstrosity, and the end of the world. Their plays have been performed and developed across the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Annex Theatre (Seattle), Hub Theater (D.C.), Fat Theater Project (Chicago), and About Face (Chicago). They’re a two-year finalist for the Dramatist Guild National Fellows program and a recent finalist for the Jerome Hill Theater Arts Fellow.

You Must Wear a Hat runs February 27-March 14, 2026.

The season closes with The Roommate by Jen Silverman. The play was on Broadway in 2024 starring marquee names Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone.

In it, a divorced Midwesterner takes a roommate from The Bronx. A relationship evolves and secrets unfold into a darkly comedic exploration of life choices. It runs June 19-July 4, 2026.

All shows this season will be performed at the Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Dr., in White Rock Lake Park.

Tickets range from Pay-What-You-Can to $40, with discounts available for students and seniors.

Additional events this season include Cake by the Lake on April 21, Echo's free birthday party fundraiser that also launches its reading series, Echo Reads.

Echo Reads runs April through September, presenting six plays in six month. All plays will be performed on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, and then read the next day at different venues around the city.

Echo Offstage Podcasts is going monthly. The free podcast series interviews women+ who are making art and making a difference.

And Echo is already teasing its 29th season, which will begin in the fall of 2026 and run the more traditional September through August instead of the calendar year.

The season 29 opener is a co-production, the company mysteriously hints, involving three Dallas theaters, two shows, and an internationally known writer. We'll all just have to wait and see what this intriguing production might be.

echo theatre podcasts world premieres echo reads the roommate play theater