Weekend Event Planner

ACM Awards mania tops best weekend events in Dallas-Fort Worth

Similar to when the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the College Football Championship came to AT&T Stadium, the arrival of the Academy of Country Music Awards and the myriad country stars participating in it overshadows everything else going on in Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend.

But there are still other great events happening, especially if country music isn't your thing. Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, April 16

2015 Cool Thursdays Series: Asleep at the Wheel
Fresh off their latest — and last — appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, Texas country/Western swing legends Asleep at the Wheel make another appearance at the Dallas Arboretum as part of the garden's Cool Thursdays series. The forecast calls for rain, so the concert may be moved inside, but that just means a more intimate time with Ray Benson and the rest of the band.

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally — Summer of 69: No Apostrophe
Anyone missing their Parks & Recreation fix can find a little bit of that magic with this appearance by husband and wife team Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. Expect lots of comedy, some songs and, judging by the title, more than a little risqué material. They perform at Majestic Theatre.

Sleater-Kinney in concert with THEESatisfaction
Indie rockers Sleater-Kinney were a big deal in certain circles in the late '90s and early 2000s, so the resumption of the band after eight years apart was greeted with glee around the country. The band fronted by Carrie Brownstein, now known for Portlandia, plays at the Granada Theater in support of their new album, No Cities to Love, with THEESatisfaction as opening act.

Friday, April 17

ACM Lifting Lives Gala
Given the high cost for attending this event — $1,250 per seat — it is most certainly not for everybody. But because it's essentially the kick-off for the ACM Awards weekend and because of the talent involved, we'd be remiss if we didn't include it. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood alternate hosting the events at both the Fort Worth Zoo and Omni Dallas, while acts like Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum perform —‚ all in the name of raising money for a great cause.

Stone Temple Pilots in concert with Dreamers
A band losing their lead singer can often be the death knell, but the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots have refused to let the forced departure of Scott Weiland keep them down. They have yet to release a new full album since bringing Chester Bennington on a lead singer, but STP performs songs from throughout their career at this concert at House of Blues Dallas, with Dreamers as opening act..

Saturday, April 18

ACM Charity Motorcycle Ride and Concert
Another, perhaps more accessible, charity event in conjunction with the ACM Awards is this motorcycle ride and concert. It kicks off with a couple of performances at Strokers Dallas and Longhorn Harley-Davidson in Grand Prairie before riders trek up to Maverick Harley Davidson in Carrollton, where guests are treated to performances by Dierks Bentley, Will Hoge, Montgomery Gentry and more.

Design District Market
The monthly Design District Market has become a reliable source of designer goods, antiques and other goodies for visitors to peruse. This one, hosted by Stag Provisions, takes place at 960 Dragon St. and features such stores and brands as American Trench, Ernest Supplies, Joy Macarons, Mizzen + Main and Tradition Creek.

2015 ArtsPark
Though not as big as the arts extravaganzas the last two weekends, ArtsPark at NorthPark Center is a chance to get up close and personal with variety of arts organizations from around Dallas-Fort Worth. At this free daylong event, expect performances by dance, theater and music groups; exhibits from art galleries; and other demonstrations.

Sunday, April 19

2015 Academy of Country Music Awards
This is the big event of ACM Awards weekend, and if you can still find tickets, you can witness one of the biggest country music parties of all time. To celebrate the awards' 50th anniversary, everybody who's anybody in the industry is performing or appearing at the awards at AT&T Stadium, which are hosted once again by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan.

Final day of Dallas International Film Festival
If you somehow missed the previous 10 days of the Dallas International Film Festival, you have one final day to see what it has to offer. In a way, it might be one of the best days to go, as the festival presents encore screenings of the Audience Award winners for narrative feature and documentary feature, along with a screening of David Gordon Green's Manglehorn starring Al Pacino.

Manglehorn, starring Al Pacino, plays at Angelika Film Center as part of the final day of the Dallas International Film Festival.

Photo courtesy of Dallas International Film Festival

Manglehorn, starring Al Pacino, plays at Angelika Film Center as part of the final day of the Dallas International Film Festival.

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Juneteenth News

See century-old Juneteenth document at Dallas' Hall of State

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The origin of the Juneteenth celebrations — marking the end of slavery in the U.S. — goes back to an order issued as Union troops arrived in Texas at the end of the Civil War.

General Order No. 3 was issued on June 19, 1865, when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in the South Texas port city of Galveston, as troops posted handbills and newspapers published them.

The Dallas Historical Society has one of those original handbills on display at the Hall of State in Fair Park: part of "Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom," a four-month exhibit that debuted on Thursday, June 19, and will remain until October 19, closing day of the 2025 State Fair of Texas.

The immersive, rotating exhibition will incorporate historical documents and an explainer of how General Order No. 3 helped Texas evolve from a slavery state to emancipation for all.

Progression of freedom
On Jan. 1, 1863, nearly two years into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the freedom of “all persons held as slaves” in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. But it didn't mean immediate freedom.

“It would take the Union armies moving through the South and effectively freeing those people for that to come to pass,” said Edward T. Cotham Jr., a historian and author of the book “Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration.”

Cotham said that while enslaved people were emancipated “on a lot of different dates in a lot of different places across the country,” June 19 is the most appropriate date to celebrate the end of slavery because it represents the “last large intact body of enslaved people to be freed."

He said many enslaved people across the South knew of the Emancipation Proclamation, but that it didn't mean anything until troops arrived to enforce it.

About six months after General Order No. 3 was issued, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified.

General Order No. 3
The order begins by saying “all slaves are free” and have "absolute equality” of rights. Going forward, the relationship between “former masters and slaves” will be that of employer and hired laborer. It advises freedmen to “remain at their present homes and work for wages," adding that they must not collect at military posts and “will not be supported in idleness.”

The handbills were also handed out to church and local officials. Cotham said Union chaplains would travel from farm to farm to explain the order to workers, and many former enslavers read the order to the people they had enslaved, emphasizing the part about continuing to work.

The Dallas Historical Society's handbill came from the collection of newspaperman George Bannerman Dealey, who founded the society, said Karl Chiao, the society's executive director. Dealey began working at a Galveston newspaper in 1874 before being sent to Dallas by the publisher to start The Dallas Morning News.

Chiao said their handbill is the only one they know of that still exists. The National Archives holds the official handwritten record of General Order No. 3.

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