Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is when the holidays officially kick off in the Dallas area. Eight of the 12 events we're featuring are holiday themed, including ones with ice sculptures, theater, shopping, mazes, classical music, dancing, and lights galore. You can also catch Disney characters skating, some truly talented basketball players, a great Broadway musical, or some heavenly singing.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Wednesday, November 21

Gaylord Texan presents Lone Star Christmas: ICE! featuring Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
ICE! is the signature holiday attraction at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, and this year guests can experience their favorite scenes from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer brought to life in the walk-through winter wonderland. The attraction features two million pounds of ice sculptures, six ice slides, colorful ice sculptures, and more. As a bonus, use the promo code JOLLY at online checkout to receive 40 percent off tickets for November 26-29 and December 3-6. ICE! will be open through January 1.

Disney on Ice presents Frozen
It's been five years since the behemoth that is Frozen was unleashed on the world, and the popularity of Anna, Elsa, and Olaf shows no signs of slowing down. You can discover the full story at this ice skating production as Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven search for Elsa and bring back summer. Hosted by Mickey and Minnie, the musical production will also feature special appearances by favorite Disney stars. It will be at Allen Event Center through Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center will present its annual production of A Christmas Carol, in which three spirits come to visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future. Brimming with joyful songs, magical spirits, and holiday cheer, this year's production will feature Alex Organ as Scrooge. It will play at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

Thursday, November 22

Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation presents Prairie Lights
Prairie Lights, taking place through December 30 at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, is the always-popular two-mile drive featuring 4 million lights that drew 250,000 visitors in 2017. It will be better than ever in 2018 with new custom displays, along with carnival rides, a holiday show, a holiday magic walk-thru forest, pictures with Santa, gift shop, and more.

Friday, November 23

The Original Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters will bring their 2018 “Amazing Feats of Basketball World Tour” to both Frisco and Dallas this weekend. The Globetrotters will celebrate the special blend of basketball and entertainment that has made the team iconic, showcasing the high-flying, fun, and memory-making moments that they are known for. They'll play twice at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco on Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Texas Christkindl Market
This free, family-friendly market, inspired by a cherished German tradition, features holiday gifts, decorations, and other traditional festive goods, as well as live entertainment. Holiday shoppers can look for exclusive Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas decorations and designs from the renowned Rothenburg ob der Tauber Christmas Village in Germany. The event will be at Texas Live in Arlington through December 23.

Enchant: World's Largest Christmas Light Maze & Market
Enchant will once again illuminate North Texas skies with its World’s Largest Christmas Light Maze & Market. This year, the event will move inside Globe Life Park in Arlington, where guests can enjoy the light maze, an all-new skating trail, an artisans market, appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus, and much more. The event will be open daily through December 30.

Vitruvian Lights: A Magical Night of Lights
Vitruvian Park in Addison transforms into a magical holiday wonderland during Vitruvian Lights, running through January 1. With each tree in the park decked out in different solid colors, it's a unique experience that's unmatched in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Opening Night on Friday will feature a performance by the Jordan Kahn Orchestra, food trucks, free photos with Santa, Metrocrest Services Donation Drive, and more.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty
Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present two of Tchaikovsky's grandest ballet scores, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, to kick off the holiday season. In addition, pianist Andrew von Oeyen will perform Grieg’s much loved concerto. The concert, conducted by Andrew Grams, will have three performances through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Rock of Ages 10th Anniversary Tour
The jukebox musical Rock of Ages officially opened on Broadway in 2009, so this "10th Anniversary Tour" is getting to Dallas a little early, but fans will probably have no complaints. The production is built around classic rock songs from the 1980s, including songs from Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison, and Europe. It will play three times through Saturday at The Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker
Texas Ballet Theater's production of The Nutcracker is perhaps the definitive one in Dallas-Fort Worth. A magical Christmas Eve comes to life in the ballet that features Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battling an army of mice led by the evil Rat King, and traveling through a winter wonderland to the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Kingdom of Sweets. The production runs through December 2 at Winspear Opera House before making its way to Fort Worth.

Sunday, November 25

Pentatonix in concert
Arlington's own Pentatonix got their big break when they won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off in 2011. Since then, the a cappella group has gone on to release seven albums, including three Christmas albums. They'll perform at The Theatre in Grand Prairie in support of their new Christmas album, Christmas is Here!, featuring songs like "What Christmas Means to Me" and "When You Believe."

Alex Organ stars as Scrooge in Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol, playing at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol

Photo by Paxton Maroney

Alex Organ stars as Scrooge in Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol, playing at Wyly Theatre through December 30.

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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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