Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

There will be no escaping holiday events now through New Year's, as a new wave will hit every weekend. Among your choices this week are two shopping events — including an exciting one from CultureMap — a Broadway musical, a local world premiere theater production, several outdoor festivals, concerts, and more. The only non-holiday options will be a crucial college football game and an awards showcase for local bands.

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.

Thursday, November 29

Downtown Dallas Inc. presents Unbranded: Downtown’s Holiday Pop Up Shop
Unbranded is an innovative Downtown holiday pop-up retail experience that provides free retail and event space to a curated group of entrepreneurs, designers, photographers, artists, chefs, and more. The holiday pop-up shop, open every Friday-Sunday through December 22, features 8-10 different brands each week, a complimentary gift-wrapping lounge, coffee from Flying Horse Cafe, drinks, crafts and workshops, and more.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Elf
Elf the Musical is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. The production will run through Sunday at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Friday, November 30

Deck the Plaza: City Hall Lights
At this new event, visitors can join Mayor Mike Rawlings for the official illumination of City Hall Plaza, including a 40-foot-tree lighting. The family-friendly event will feature interfaith speakers; a special arrival from Santa Claus; musical entertainment by Dallas Winds and the Castro band; and holiday treats including hot chocolate, apple cider, and cookies.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage
You can take a break from watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on TV this year and catch it live on stage at the Majestic Theatre instead. This new touring production features everyone’s favorite Peanuts gang — Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally, and more — as they discover the true meaning of Christmas. The production, playing one time only on Friday, showcases the music of Vince Guaraldi, as well as a concert of holiday carols led by the Peanuts characters.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "A John Williams Christmas"
This concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will feature famous movie music from John Williams, like Harry Potter and Home Alone, plus Christmas favorites and many more surprises. The concert, playing four times through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, will also feature the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas. There will also be a shorter performance aimed at families on Saturday morning.

Saturday, December 1

Dallas Holiday Parade
It's not truly the holidays in Dallas until the Dallas Holiday Parade takes place. As always, the parade will march down Commerce Street in Downtown Dallas to kick-off the holiday season with marching bands, festive floats, and fun family activities to carry into the new year.

Big XII Conference Championship Game: Texas vs. Oklahoma
The Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners usually happens only once a season, but the usual dominance of the Sooners and the resurgence of the Longhorns has them on a collision course in the Big XII Conference Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. At stake is a possible berth into the College Football Playoff for the Sooners, while the Longhorns are likely headed to the Sugar Bowl.

Reliant Lights Your Holidays
Another Dallas holiday tradition is this event at AT&T Performing Arts Center, featuring hundreds of thousands of LED lights placed on the Center’s venues and trees, live performances by Sheila E. and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, fireworks, and more. This nighttime event is preceded by a Holiday Show & Tree Lighting at Klyde Warren Park, featuring a variety of holiday entertainment.

98 Degrees in concert
Boy bands always have to grow up, but they never truly go away, no matter how successful their individual members become. 98 Degrees had a great four-year run, releasing one album every year from 1997-2000 and scoring hits like "Because of You" and "Thank God I Found You." This concert at House of Blues Dallas will feature songs from their two Christmas albums, 1999's This Christmas and 2017's Let It Snow.

Dallas Observer Music Awards
The 30th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards will feature performances from over 50 local singers/bands, including Becky Middleton, Kirk Thurmond and the Millenials, Paul Slavens, and Vanessa Peters. The performances will take place at multiple venue in Deep Ellum, including Club Dada Indoor & Outdoor Stage, Curtain Club, Off the Record, Reno’s Chop Shop, Three Links, and Trees.

Uptown Players presents A Very Judy Christmas
In this world premiere that pays tribute to the 1960s television specials, Judy Garland, played by Janelle Lutz, invites us into her home for a seasonal special. Share the holiday with Judy and a few surprise guests, including Ethel Merman and Liza Minnelli. This show, running through December 16 at Kalita Humphreys Theater, features some of Garland’s signature songs, along with many yuletide classics.

Sunday, December 2

CultureMap Holiday Pop-Up Shop presented by Verizon
CultureMap Holiday Pop-up Shop presented by Verizon is a holiday boutique showcasing 25 of our favorite local retailers for men, women, kids, pets, jewelry, gifts, home, and gourmet food and beverages. Taking place at Sixty Five Hundred, it also will include cocktails, festive food, carolers, crafting, and more while you shop.

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with Darci Lynne & Friends
Darci Lynne is the youngest contestant to ever win America’s Got Talent. She is a young ventriloquist who is inspiring the next generation to keep the art form alive. She'll perform a holiday special at The Theatre at Grand Prairie with a variety of her puppet friends, including Petunia the rabbit, Oscar the mouse, naughty old lady Edna Doorknocker, and more.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Elf the Musical at the Music Hall at Fair Park through December 2.

Matt Kopec and the cast of Elf The Musical national tour

Photo by Joan Marcus

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Elf the Musical at the Music Hall at Fair Park through December 2.

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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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