Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Big names litter the landscape in and around Dallas this weekend, appearing at a film event, two stand-up comedy performances, a trio of concerts, and a pro-am tennis competition. You can also attend a hot air balloon festival, a classical music concert, a theater festival, and the newest immersive art exhibition.

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

Thursday, September 22

HEB | Central Market Plano Balloon Festival
The Plano Balloon Festival is a multi-day event at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve that features balloons glows, skydivers, hot air balloons, concerts, fireworks, a huge kid’s fun zone, merchandise vendors, corporate exhibitors, and variety of foods. There will also be a half marathon, relay, 5K run/walk, and 1-mile Fun Run. On opening night will be a performance by the Plano Symphony Orchestra, featuring movie favorites. The festival takes place through Sunday.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Symphonic Dances"
The latest concert from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra looks at America from three distinct viewpoints. The fantasy world of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft inspired Connesson’s "Celephais" from Cities of Lovecraft. James Agee’s poem depicting a summer evening in a sleepy southern town is represented musically in Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Rachmaninoff blends his love of his new American home with nostalgia for his native Russia in his Symphonic Dances. The concert, featuring conductor Stéphane Denève and soprano Jeanine De Bique, will play three times through Saturday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Dallas VideoFest presents The Ernie Kovacs Award Honoring Al Franken
Dallas VideoFest will award comedian and former U.S. Senator, Al Franken, best known for his work on the NBC staple Saturday Night Live, with the coveted Ernie Kovacs Award. Immediately following the event at Texas Theatre will be a screening of the 2006 documentary, Al Franken: God Spoke. VIP admission will include an exclusive reception before the event with Franken.

Cara Mia Theatre presents Latinidades Theatre Fest
Cara Mia Theatre's annual multi-weekend Latinidades Theatre Fest starts with two events. On Thursday will be the Opening Night Celebration, featuring an outdoor ceremony with a mask performance, live music, danza, and food. The initial production is Pachuquísmo, a multi-disciplinary show on Friday and Saturday that explores history, culture, and rhythm through the lens of the Mexican American pachucas that American society tried to eradicate. Both events are at Latino Cultural Center.

Friday, September 23

Immersive King Tut: Magic Journey to the Light
The newest immersive exhibit at Lighthouse Dallas, Immersive King Tut: Magic Journey to the Light features the most famous of Egyptian rulers, the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, bringing to life the story of King Tut’s passage into the afterlife as he escorts the sun through the underworld each night to rise again victoriously each morning. Launched to commemorate the 100th anniversary of archeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of the legendary “boy king” in November 1922, the exhibit will be on display through at least November 13.

Nick Swardson: "Make Joke From Face" Tour
Comedian Nick Swardson is known for his roles in multiple Adam Sandler movies, his character Terry on Reno 911!, Grandma’s Boy, Bucky Larson, and his own shows, Comedy Central’s Pretend Time and Typical Rick. Touring what’s to be his sixth stand up special, Swardson will take audiences on a journey of smells and laughter. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Roxy Music in concert
Roxy Music is touring for the first time in more than a decade to mark the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking debut album, with band members Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, and Paul Thompson together on stage for the first time since 2011. Regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time, whose work has inspired generations of musicians, they'll play at American Airlines Center, with support from Dallas singer St. Vincent.

Saturday, September 24

ZZ Top in concert
When original bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill died in 2021, it was fair to wonder if that was the end for legendary Texas rock band ZZ Top. But the surviving band members — Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard — have made it clear they have no intention of retiring, continuing to tour, with Elwood Francis, Hill's guitar tech, taking his place. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion.

Camilo in concert
Colombian singer Camilo has an enviable musical track record, along with one of the sweetest 'staches going today. His debut album, accurately called Por Primera Vez, was released just after the start of the pandemic in 2020, but still went to No. 1 on the Billboard US Latin Pop charts. He's released two more albums in as many years since, including the new De Adentro Pa Afuera, both of which have charted highly. He'll perform at American Airlines Center.

Sunday, September 25

Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic
Returning after a three-year break, the fifth annual Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic takes place at SMU Tennis Center, hosted by the beloved NBA champ and Dallas Mavericks legend. Joining Dirk for the one-day charity pro-am competition will be Luka Dončić, JJ Barea, former tennis pros Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, and Mark Knowles, and more.

Kevin James in concert
We all know Kevin James from his sitcom The King of Queens and movies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Hitch, and Grown Ups, but long before he was a star, he was a stand-up comedian traveling the country. In the last few years, he's gotten back to his stand-up roots, something he'll prove in this special show at Majestic Theatre.

Photo courtesy of the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation

Dirk Nowitzki will host the 5th annual Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic at SMU Tennis Center on September 25.

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Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."