Open Air Concerts

The best Dallas-Fort Worth outdoor concerts for families in summer 2018

Even with the temperatures rising, plenty of venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will present outdoor concert series this spring and summer. These seasonal outings make for fun family picnics, great friend-gatherings, and romantic date nights under the stars.

Tribute bands are a big theme, but you can also get your fill of original artists, classical music, and more. Below are the best places to listen to music in the great outdoors this summer. And as a bonus, nearly all of them are completely free.

Box Garden at Legacy Hall Concert Series
Foodies have had months to enjoy all of the food options at Legacy Hall in Plano, and now The Box Garden, their outdoor beer garden and live entertainment venue, is up-and-running with a new performer almost every day. The series focuses on all-local musicians, running the gamut from up-and-comers to established veterans like The Polyphonic Spree and Kirk Thurmond.

Dallas Arboretum presents Cool Thursdays Concert Series
Boasting one of the best views in Dallas-Fort Worth alongside White Rock Lake, the Dallas Arboretum's Cool Thursday Series continues through June 28 before taking a break until after Labor Day. Among the tribute and party bands on the docket over the next month include U2 by UV, Memphis Soul, Rio (Duran Duran), The Prince Experience, and Sounds of Summer (The Beach Boys).

Dallas Zoo presents Safari Nights
Dallas Zoo's Safari Nights concert series features original artists and tribute bands who will fill the park with music every Saturday night. Free with zoo admission, it allows guests to enjoy all that the zoo has to offer before settling down for the concert. Taking place through July 14, it'll feature bands like Desperado (Eagles tribute band), Trout Fishing in America, and The O's.

Levitt Pavilion presents Music Under the Stars
Every weekend through July 22, the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Arlington welcomes in local, regional, and national artists to perform for the masses. Performers this summer will include Vocal Trash, Bowling for Soup, Green River Ordinance, Rick Trevino, Radney Foster, and Marcia Ball. As a bonus, they also show the occasional movie, like Frozen, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, and Mamma Mia.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Parks Concerts
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra decamps from the Meyerson Symphony Center and takes its act outside with the Parks Concerts series. Over the course of two weeks between May 28 and June 12, Assistant Conductor Ruth Reinhardt will lead the DSO in a program featuring light classics, patriotic tunes, and other popular fare. Concerts will take place at Flag Pole Hill, Timberglen Park, Crawford Memorial Park, Kidd Springs Park, and Paul Quinn College.

Sounds of Lewisville
Sounds of Lewisville is a free concert series that has been going strong for close to 30 years. Taking place at Wayne Ferguson Plaza in Lewisville, it will feature a tribute band-heavy lineup every Tuesday in June and July. Among the performers will be Just Like P!nk, Me & My Monkey (Beatles tribute), Las Vegas Nights with Elvis, Forever Mac (Fleetwood Mac tribute), and Dancing Dream (ABBA tribute).

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Concerts in the Garden
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's annual Concerts in the Garden series is always highly anticipated, presenting a variety of great music every weekend in June. Among the popular events at Fort Worth Botanic Garden this season will be The Music of Michael Jackson, Star Wars and Beyond: A Laser Light Spectacular, The Music of Journey, and Old 97's. As always, the series will end with the Old-Fashioned Family Fireworks Picnic, taking place the nights of July 2-4.

Vitruvian Nights Live
Vitruvian Nights Live will feature popular party and tribute artists every other Thursday night starting June 14 in the amphitheater at Vitruvian Park in Addison. Performers will include Emerald City, Warehouse (Dave Matthews Band tribute band), King George (George Strait tribute band), The Landsharks (Jimmy Buffett tribute band), and Blaze of Glory (Bon Jovi tribute band). In addition to the live music, guests may purchase bites from food trucks and shop from the mobile boutiques.

Panther Island Pavilion presents Rockin’ the River
Once the weather gets blazin' hot in July, head to Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth for the Rockin' the River series. Taking place July 7-August 11, it features live bands, a fireworks show, and the ability to take it all in from a tube on the Trinity River or from the shore. Headliners will include Micky and the Motorcars, Kody West, Cody Canada and the Departed, The Dirty River Boys, Dalton Domino, and Shinyribs.

The Cool Thursdays Concert Series takes place at Dallas Arboretum through June 28, starting up again on September 6.

Cool Thursdays Concert Series at Dallas Arboretum

Photo courtesy of Dallas Arboretum

The Cool Thursdays Concert Series takes place at Dallas Arboretum through June 28, starting up again on September 6.

music concerts

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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