Planning Time

Dallas, ready your calendars for these 7 outdoorsy autumn events

The weather may be cooling down, but the lineup of things to do in Dallas this fall is only heating up. It's the ideal time to head outside and have some fun, whether you're looking to get some exercise (hey, Dallas Bike Ride), take in a bit of culture, or just enjoy the beauty of nature.

Read on for itinerary inspiration:

State Fair of Texas, through October 21
It's the event that Texans look forward to all year: four weekends of fried food, fun games, and killer concerts. Say howdy to Big Tex before you traverse Fair Park to ride the Texas Star Ferris Wheel, try your luck at the Midway, watch the pig races, and get a Fletcher's Corny Dog (or maybe two) and Funnel Cake Ale.

CityLine Fall Music Series, through October 28
Guests can listen from one of the surrounding restaurant patios or grab dinner to-go for a picnic on the lawn. The upcoming calendar spans everything from pop and folk to R&B and country and even includes a performer who specializes in Beatles cover songs.

Autumn at the Arboretum, through November 21
The thousands of pumpkins, gourds, and squashes that sprouted in the Texas Panhandle this summer have made their way to Dallas for this colorful fall festival. The event includes the nationally acclaimed Pumpkin Village, which features pumpkin houses and creative displays incorporating more than 90,000 pumpkins, gourds, squash, cornstalks, and a hay bale maze. This year's theme is "The Adventures in Neverland," with scenes from Peter Pan's escapades with Wendy, the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell, and Captain Hook.

Shakespeare Dallas, October 4-14
The Bard's classic drama Othello, about a noble general whose life and marriage are sabotaged by theater's most infamous villain, is performed nightly at 8 pm in Addison Circle Park. Shakespeare Dallas' rendition offers lust, romance, and violent jealousy set amid war and palace intrigue in the early 20th-century Mediterranean region.

Walk to End Alzheimer's, October 13
Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, Walk to End Alzheimer's is the world's largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's care, support, and research. This 5K and one-mile walk starts at City Hall Plaza. Keep an eye out for the Promise Garden flowers that most participants will be wearing: blue stands for someone with Alzheimer's or dementia, yellow represents caretakers, purple means that person has lost a loved one to the disease, and orange is for supporters of the cause.

Susan G. Komen Dallas Race for the Cure, October 27
Dallas was the site of the very first race, which now returns for its 36th year. What began with only a few hundred people has exploded into a tradition enjoyed by thousands, where teams and individuals fundraise prior to the race to help with research, care, and inspiration.

Dallas Bike Ride, November 3
Celebrate bicycling in Big D during the only day you can adventure around the city without cars. Bicyclists of all ages (3 and up) and riding abilities are invited to participate. The ride, starting at Dallas City Hall, goes for 20 miles on car-free, safe streets, offering beautiful skyline views and fun surprises along the way. Ready to register? Head here to secure your spot.

Autumn at the Arboretum uses more than 90,000 pumpkins, squashes, and gourds to create a magical village.

Photo by Dallas Arboretum

Autumn at the Arboretum uses more than 90,000 pumpkins, squashes, and gourds to create a magical village.

families charity promoted festivals fitness concerts event-planner races health fundraisers state-fair music theater

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."