Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

While most big events in and around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, there are a few that have popped up to offer the masses some entertainment while still adhering to the necessary social distancing measures.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While they're not all outside of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.

Thursday, October 1

Dallas VideoFest presents Docufest
Highlighting dozens of documentary features and shorts over four days, DocuFest will offering drive-in style and virtual viewing followed by real-time Q&A with featured filmmakers. The drive-in portion of DocuFest will take place at Tin Star Theater in Trinity Groves. Virtual films are scheduled during the daylight hours, while films at Tin Star Theater are scheduled after sunset. The festival goes on through Sunday.

DMA Arts & Letters Live: Ken Follett
DMA Arts & Letters Live will present a virtual pre-recorded talk and Q&A with international bestselling author Ken Follett. Thirty years ago, Follett published his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth. At this event, Follett will talk about the prequel, The Evening and the Morning, set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages. It will take readers on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate.

Dallas AURORA presents "Area 3"
Dallas AURORA will present an immersive exhibition titled "Area 3," which will transform over 100,000 square feet of the Dal Park Parking Garage in downtown Dallas. Separate from Dallas AURORA’s biennial program, "Area 3" will function on a shared profit model in an experiment to support local artists and vendors whose income has been affected in the wake of COVID-19. Featuring works by 16 regional artists, the exhibition will include large-scale light, video, and sound installations, as well as performances which will be viewable from the safety of attendees’ own cars. It will take place nightly through January 1.

Shakespeare Dallas presents Movies in the Park
Shakespeare Dallas will present an entire month of outdoor Movies in the Park at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre. On Thursdays, they’ll screen Shakespeare-inspired movies, Fridays will feature a classic selection, and on Saturdays they'll show family-friendly films. Selections this weekend include Shakespeare in Love, Singin' in the Rain, and Jurassic Park. Advance purchase is required for all ticketholders. The series will continue every weekend through October 24.

Friday, October 2

Haunted attractions
Now that the calendar has turned over to October, it's time to enjoy the variety of haunted attractions the area has to offer, a list that has changed due to COVID-19. The newest one, Drive-Boo Halloween in the Silver Garage at American Airlines Center, allows guests to get thrills and chills from the safety of their car. Similarly, Reindeer Manor Halloween Park in Red Oak will forego its usual haunted houses for a drive-thru experience throughout the property's 32 acres. Finally, Zombie Safari at Cousins Paintball in Forney gives visitors a chance to blow off steam by shooting paint pellets at the walking dead that have infested the area. Each event will happen on various dates through October 31.

Airplane!: 40th Anniversary - Drive-in at the Frontiers of Flight Museum
There have been a variety of pop-up drive-in movie options since the beginning of the pandemic, but this one should prove unique given the pairing of movie and location. The Texas Theatre will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Airplane! with a special drive-in screening projected across an airplane hanger at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. The classic comedy stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty, and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Saturday, October 3

Woofstock: MUTTS Canine Cantina’s Inaugural Music and Mutts Festival
MUTTS Canine Cantina will present its first fall doggie music festival, Woofstock. At this all-day event, attendees can roam the park to purchase merchandise from local vendors, imbibe on craft beers from Rahr & Sons Brewery, or get themselves (or their dog) fitted for a floral crown to truly embrace the Woofstock vibe. Throughout the day local DJs and bands will be playing music, including an opening DJ set from Field Day Records, local celebrity singers Danni and Kris, and a special guest headliner.

Carbaret presents The Night of the Living Dead 52nd Anniversary
In October of 1968, George A. Romero released one of the greatest drive-in and horror films of all time on a meager $114k budget. Fifty-two years later, this film's powerful subtext is more relevant than ever, and Carbaret will celebrate its birthday in dead style. Taking place at Brizo in Richardson, the event will a Monster Mix from DJ Devin Pike and a Living Dead Fashion Show & Contest, for which moviegoers are encouraged to wear their best zombie drag.

Mainstage Irving - Las Colinas presents Dear Elizabeth
MainStage Irving-Las Colinas has replaced the previously scheduled production of the large-cast play Inherit the Wind with Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth. Based on the compiled letters between poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, Ruhl maps the relationship of the two poets from first meeting to an abbreviated affair and the turmoil of their lives in between. Starring real-life married couple Kristin McCollum and Rob McCollum, the two-person, full-length play will be available for on-demand streaming through October 10.

Multiple haunted attractions will open around the area on October 2, including Reindeer Manor Halloween Park in Red Oak.

Photo courtesy of Reindeer Manor Halloween Park

Multiple haunted attractions will open around the area on October 2, including Reindeer Manor Halloween Park in Red Oak.

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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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