Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do on New Year's weekend in Dallas

There is no shortage of things to do around Dallas on New Year's weekend this year. In addition to the numerous New Year's Eve parties planned, a few of which also make the list below, you can take in a unique theater production, laugh at a famous comedian, and celebrate New Year's Day in two different but equally fun ways.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, December 29

Dallas Children's Theater presents Lone Star Circus: La Féte
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dallas’ own Lone Star Circus with this all-new merry circus celebration featuring extraordinary circus acts from all over the planet. Performers include breathtaking acrobats, awesome aerialists, amazing equilibrists, unbelievable jugglers, endearing four-legged performers, and, of course, hilarious clowns. The circus is at Dallas Children's Theater through Sunday.

Marvelous Nerd Year's Eve
The inaugural Marvelous Nerd Year's Eve is a new kind of New Year's celebration: a four-day geek expo at Sheraton Dallas featuring over 30 celebrity guests, artists, and authors. Celebrities at the event, taking place through Sunday, include Stan Lee, Michael Rooker, Nichelle Nichols, Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran, Sean Gunn, Robert Picardo, Maurice LaMarche, Glenn Morshower, and more.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death on Delivery
A brand-new family-friendly Harry Hunsacker adventure, presented in Living Black & White, comes to Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson, courtesy of Pegasus Theatre. This time, the setting is a hospital where the intrepid trio of Harry, his assistant Nigel Grouse, and Lt. Foster of the “real” police must solve a mysterious string of murders. The production runs through January 22.

Friday, December 30

Lights All Night New Year's Eve Party
The two-day Lights All Night festival draws tens of thousands for the ultimate party experience. For its seventh annual celebration, taking place at Dallas Market Hall on Friday and Saturday, Lights All Night features headliners deadmau5, Above & Beyond, Zedd, A$AP Ferg, Nero, RL Grime, and Tchami, among many other acts.

Saturday, December 31

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Reliant Lights Your Holidays
After being postponed due to weather, Reliant Lights Your Holidays now takes place on New Year's Eve. The venues and trees of AT&T Performing Arts Center will be illuminated by hundreds of thousands of dazzling LED lights, and visitors can also enjoy a fireworks show, a holiday concert featuring A.B. Quintanilla y Elektro Kumbia, and a performance by the cast of The Book of Mormon, among other things.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents New Year's Eve Celebration
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra rings in the New Year with Strauss waltzes and Viennese-inspired revelry, led by conductor Andrew Grams. You can avoid other New Year's Eve mayhem by taking in the majesty of Meyerson Symphony Center, complete with a free champagne toast at intermission.

Brian Regan in concert
Setting a comedic standard of excellence that others continually try to follow, Brian Regan is a unique comedian who is relatable to generations of fans and revered by comedians as the best in the business. He's returning to the area for a special New Year's Eve show at the Music Hall at Fair Park to get you laughing your way into 2017.

Reunion Tower presents New Year's Eve Fireworks
You can't actually go to or around Reunion Tower to watch its fireworks, unless you're attending Cloud Nine's masquerade-themed party, but the best views are from a distance anyway. There are various watch parties to be found in the downtown area, or just find a nice parking spot within sight of the tower, and enjoy the show at midnight.

Sunday, January 1

Vogel Alcove presents Day 1 Dallas
Returning for its second year, Day 1 Dallas is a family fair designed for children and families to celebrate New Year’s Day together. The event, taking place at Fair Park, features interactive children’s activities like a Lego area, petting zoo, and snow hill; crafts and games; and a spectacular fireworks show.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Lightwire Theater’s A Very Electric Christmas
Lightwire Theater enthralls audiences with their unique combination of skill and grace as told through the technological innovations of moving light characters. Combining the arts of puppetry, theater, and dance with the music of holiday hits, this tale of family, friendship, and hope is an inspired and exhilarating holiday experience at Winspear Opera House.

Lone Star Circus' La Féte takes place at Dallas Children's Theater through January 1.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Lone Star Circus Holiday Spectacular

Photo courtesy of Lone Star Circus

Lone Star Circus' La Féte takes place at Dallas Children's Theater through January 1.

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Movie Review

Reminders of Him blends trauma and romance in slight but effective story

Photo by Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures

Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.

Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s, with the new film Reminders of Him marking the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far - most notably It Ends With Us - are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.

Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).

Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.

Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.

The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.

It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.

Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.

It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.

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Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

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