Fireworks Galore

The official list of top 4th of July events around Dallas-Fort Worth

No matter where you go in Dallas-Fort Worth over the Fourth of July weekend, you'll find fireworks galore.

Photo courtesy of Town of Addison

Celebrating the Fourth of July around Dallas-Fort Worth is easy, as the wealth of celebrations big and small leads to an embarrassment of riches when it comes to event choices. We've rounded up the biggest and best ones for your oohing — er, viewing — pleasure.

Saturday, July 2

Concerts in the Garden: Old-Fashioned Family Fireworks Picnic
The combination of fireworks and patriotic live music played by an orchestra is one that can't be beat, and that's what you get at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's annual Old-Fashioned Family Fireworks Picnic at Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Luckily, you get not one, not two, but three chances to experience the thrill, as the event takes place each night through July 4.

Sunday, July 3

Kaboom Town
Addison’s most explosive party of the year, Kaboom Town! features dazzling fireworks choreographed to music, plus food, Cavanaugh Flight Museum’s historic warbird flyovers, bands, and more. The celebration is city-wide, with a party in Addison Circle Park and watch parties at many of Addison’s 180-plus restaurants and 22 hotels. The 30-minute-long fireworks show is among the best in the nation, and is simulcast on 100.3 JACK-FM. Afterwards, while area traffic calms, attendees are invited to remain in Addison Circle Park for a concert by the Party Machine.

Lone Star Park presents Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration
The annual Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration at Lone Star Park features two nights of spectacular fireworks, on July 3 and 4. Kids can enjoy the Family Fun Park featuring pony rides, a petting zoo, obstacle course, zip line, bounce houses, face painters, tattoo artists, and much more. Music lovers can enjoy live music by Vegas Stars between the races. Following the last race each night is a spectacular, 20-minute firework display choreographed to music.

Monday, July 4

Fair Park Fourth
Celebrate America with a day of family fun in Fair Park at the City of Dallas' official Independence Day celebration. The event features free fireworks sponsored by Oncor, with the best seating in the Cotton Bowl, although the show is visible from around Fair Park. The Midway is going to be open, and Dallas Winds is performing a free concert.

Firewheel Town Center Star Spangled Spectacular
Firewheel Town Center, in conjunction with the City of Garland, celebrates our nation’s independence with a full afternoon of family fun during Star Spangled Spectacular. Families enjoy face-painting, bounce houses, games, and Food Truck Alley. Additionally, 92.1 Hank FM Party Patrol will be onsite with games, live music, and even more fun. The event culminates with a patriotic fireworks display at 9:15 pm.

Fort Worth's Fourth
Fort Worth’s Fourth is a free family event at Panther Island Pavilion that includes activities such as zip lines, bounce houses, water slides, and more. There's also live music, tubing, and the biggest fireworks show in North Texas. Aquafly flyboard shows feature riders performing tricks on what can only be described as water-fueled jetpacks. These high-flying daredevils are guaranteed to make the audience’s hearts stop with stunts only seen in the movies.

Denton Kiwanis Club Fireworks Show
Viewing fireworks from inside a stadium is always a bonus, because it comes with built-in seats. Dentonites don't have to travel to the Cotton Bowl for that privilege, as the Denton Kiwanis Club once again is putting on a great, free display at UNT's Apogee Stadium, preceded by a performance by Raised Right Men.

July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza at Lake Grapevine
With lake levels back to normal, you can go back to enjoying the fireworks show at Lake Grapevine at any of the lakeside parks. The event officially takes place at Oak Grove Park, and the 26-minute show is set to patriotic music that can be downloaded at www.GrapevineTexasUSA.com/Summer.

Plano's All-American Fourth Fireworks Show
At Plano's annual Fourth of July celebration at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve, you can grab a bite to eat at food trucks stationed at the nearby Collin College and enjoy music pumped out by a DJ before settling down to take in a fireworks display that rivals any of the others around the area. Make sure to bring a blanket or lawn chair to be comfortable on the grass, and then tune in to 97.5 KLAK for a simulcast of music to which the show is choreographed.

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Movie lineup

USA Film Festival returns to Dallas for 2026 with free films and big stars

Molly Belle Wright and Aaron Eckhart in Deep Water

Photo by Jen Raoult

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The Dallas-based USA Film Festival returns for its 56th edition April 22-26, presenting 22 narrative features, documentaries, and short films.

All screenings and events will be held at the Angelika Film Center Dallas, with most of the programming offered for free as part of the Festival's community outreach programming.

Among the notable programs will be a salute to celebrated fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, who will be in attendance for a screening of Warren Elgort's new documentary, Arthur Elgort: Models & Muses.

In the film, Warren Elgort as he turns the camera on his father, whose candid, movement-driven style transformed the pages of Vogue and redefined the look of modern fashion photography.

The Centerpiece Selection of the festival will be Renny Harlin’s new disaster thriller, Deep Water, which will be presented as part of a salute to the filmmaker’s career. Both Harlin and executive producer - and music legend - Gene Simmons will be in attendance.

The film, starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, is about a flight that goes down in the middle of the Pacific, where survivors soon discover they’re not alone and must survive the shark infested waters.

The Spotlight Screening will be Guy Jacobson’s madcap legal comedy, Out Of Order. Brandon Routh stars as a young New York lawyer who ends up working for two opposing law firms, inexplicably representing both sides of the same case.

Jacobson will be in attendance to present the film - which also stars Brooke Shields, Sam Huntington, Sandra Bernhard, Luis Guzman, and Krysta Rodriguez - and participate in a post-screening Q&A.

The Closing Night lineup will be led by Matthew Thayer’s No Limbs No Limits, with the film’s inspirational subject, Nick Vujicic, presenting the film.

Born without arms or legs, Vujicic defied every expectation the world placed on him - surviving childhood depression and a suicide attempt at age eight to eventually reaching millions of people with his message of faith and perseverance.

Other notable programs will include a salute to Oscar nominee Lesley Ann Warren, a special 75th Anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951); and Jay Duplass’ See You When I See You, starring Cooper Raiff, David Duchovny, Kaitlyn Dever, and Hope Davis.

“We are pleased to once again celebrate Dallas Arts Month with our annual Spring Festival,” USAFF Managing Director Ann Alexander said in a statement. “This year's program celebrates some very independent and inspirational artists, and includes programs ranging from important documentary topics and classic films, to pure entertainment fare."

Advance tickets are now available online at eventbrite.com/cc/56th-annual-usa-film-festival-4827625.

Any unsold/unreserved tickets will be made available at the Angelika Film Center upstairs Sales Desk beginning one hour prior to each showtime.

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