Holiday shopping

3 treasured holiday markets gift Dallas-Fort Worth with joyous return of in-person shopping

The Chi Omega Christmas Market is expected to attract 11,000 shoppers in person this year.

Photo courtesy of Chi Omega Christmas Market

We're hardly dashing through the snow — heck, we're not even crunching over fall leaves yet — but it's October, so it's time to talk holiday shopping.

The "bah humbug" of COVID-19 forced holiday shopping online last year, including several cherished Christmas markets across Dallas-Fort Worth. While point-and-click shopping is convenient and safe, there's nothing quite like a holiday market, where you can thumb through trinkets and treasures galore to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Bonus that you're supporting local small businesses and raising money for local charities.

Here are three beloved holiday markets that are back for in-person events this year.

Christmas in Cowtown, October 13-17
Junior League of Fort Worth took the shopping online last year, but the highly anticipated holiday event is back, in person, for its 15th edition at the Amon G. Carter Exhibit Halls at Will Rogers Memorial Center. More than 200 merchants from across the country will be selling home décor, jewelry, clothing, children's products, gourmet food, and more.

The whole event kicks off with the exclusive Boots & Bowties Preview Party on Wednesday, October 13 (tickets: $100). The City of Culture & The Cowboy Brunch is another private shopping affair, October 14 (tickets: $65). General admission shopping ($15) takes place daily October 14-17, but hours vary. For schedule, tickets, and more information, visit the website.

Christmas in Cowtown is one of JLFW's biggest annual fundraisers, annually supporting the organization's impact areas: Arts & Culture, Education, Health & Nutrition, and Life Readiness. To date, the market has raised nearly $5 million for the Fort Worth community.

Chi Omega Christmas Market, November 17-20
The 44-year Dallas holiday tradition returns from an all-virtual event in 2020 to a hybrid format this year. The in-person market will take place Wednesday, November 17 (Chi Omega Christmas Market Premier Shopping Night) through Saturday, November 20 in a new location: the Automobile Building at Fair Park. A virtual shopping experience will offer extended shopping days, additional merchants, and special offers through the website.

The 2021 market will feature 200 merchants selling holiday décor, women’s clothing/accessories, home accents, children’s clothing/toys, food items, and more. All proceeds from ticket sales go to local beneficiaries; in its 43-year history, Chi Omega Christmas Market has supported 120 different local North Texas agencies and donated more than $9 million.

General admission is $15, with early entry on Thursday available for $25; Premier Shopping Night tickets are $100. Tickets, schedule, and more information are now available on the website.

The Texas Christkindl Market, November 18-January 2
Arlington's annual outdoor shopping event moved online last year, but it's back in person for a long holiday season run. According to the city of Arlington website, the German-style Christmas market — one of the largest open-air holiday markets in the Southwest — will take place November 18-January 2 at Choctaw Stadium (formerly Globe Life Park).

The market coincides with the new event The Elf on the Shelf’s Magical Holiday Journey, an immersive experience taking place throughout the concourse of the stadium. Tickets for Elf on the Shelf start at $19.95 for children and $24.95 for adults, but according to the website, admission to the Texas Christkindl Market is free.

Shoppers can expect to find treats, gifts, and handcrafted collectibles, including exclusive Käthe Wohlfahrt merchandise and designs from the iconic Rothenburg ob der Tauber Christmas Village in Germany.

shopping holidays

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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