Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend around Dallas will be heavy on events from local groups, with one big notable exception. There will be a national tour of a Broadway musical, a film festival, cirque performers, two symphony concerts, a local theater production, a preview of the new Texas Rangers team, a new art exhibition, a Japanese drumming group, and an opera concert featuring all female conductors.

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, January 26

Denton Black Film Festival
The Denton Black Film Festival allows guests to immerse themselves in some of the best artistic showcases of Black cinema, music, spoken word, art, and more. The festival, running through Sunday, will take place at multiple venues around Denton, including Campus Theater, Alamo Drafthouse, Denton Civic Center, and more. They will also offer a virtual option from January 29 - February 5.

Broadway Dallas presents Pretty Woman: The Musical
Based on one of Hollywood’s most beloved romantic stories of all time, Pretty Woman: The Musical springs to life with a powerhouse creative team led by two-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. The production, featuring an original score by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by the movie’s director, Garry Marshall, and screenwriter, J. F. Lawton, the production runs through February 5 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Cirque Italia presents Water Circus
Cirque Italia presents Water Circus, featuring a stage that holds 35,000 gallons of water over which performers make dazzling moves, thrilling the audience with every feat. The event, taking place through Sunday, will be located in a tent in the parking lot of the Grand Prairie Premium Outlets.

Friday, January 27

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto"
Conductor Karina Canellakis returns to the Meyerson Symphony Center stage to present Dvořák’s orchestral poem, The Wood Dove, a dark work focused on a woman who poisoned her husband to marry another man. Also on the program will be rising violin star Randall Goosby, joining the Dallas Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D Major; and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra. There will be three performances through Sunday.

The Core Theatre presents Every Livin' Soul
In Every Livin' Soul, a widowed farm woman struggles to fund her gifted son’s college education while simultaneously keeping the family farm afloat, a daunting task in depression-era America. A mysterious stranger comes begging for a meal, bringing hope, encouragement, and more than his fair share of danger. The production runs through February 26 at The Core Theatre in Richardson.

Saturday, January 28

Texas Rangers Fan Fest
With the Cowboys - boo hoo - now out of the playoffs, the revamped Texas Rangers can take centerstage in Arlington again. The annual Fan Fest at Globe Life Field will feature autograph sessions with current Rangers players and alumni; interactive Q&A sessions with Rangers executives, players, and announcers; on-field activities like running the bases, wiffle ball home run derby, bullpen fast pitch, and inflatables; and more.

Nasher Sculpture Center presents Mark di Suvero: "Steel Like Paper" opening day
Nasher Sculpture Center will present Mark di Suvero’s “Steel Like Paper,” a milestone exhibition of the sculptor’s more than six-decade career. The exhibition will survey di Suvero’s work, showing rarely-seen drawings and paintings along with small and moderately scaled sculptures, as well as some of the artist’s first forays into working at a large scale. The exhibition will remain on display through August 27.

Coppell Arts Center presents San Jose Taiko
Inspired by traditional Japanese drumming, San Jose Taiko performers express the beauty and harmony of the human spirit though the voice of taiko. All compositions performed by SJT are written or arranged by members of the group. They will also put on an interactive educational program at 1 pm, presenting the company's basic philosophical principles and engaging the students to actively participate in its high-action demonstration. Both events will be at Coppell Arts Center.

The Dallas Opera presents Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert
Four of opera’s most brilliant young conductors - Celia Llácer Carbonell, Yuwon Kim, Blair Salter, and Anna Sułkowska-Migoń - are front and center for an evening of opera selections, sung by some of the country’s top singers and featuring The Dallas Opera Orchestra. Selections for the concert, taking place at Winspear Opera House, will include Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s Tosca, and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking.

Sunday, January 29

Lone Star Wind Orchestra presents Rhapsodies in Blue
Shades of blue representing Earth and one of Gershwin’s most iconic works are celebrated as the Lone Star Wind Orchestra presents "Rhapsodies in Blue." Under the direction of LSWO Music Director Eugene Migliaro Corporon, the three-part concert will feature a new multimedia experience of Julie Giroux’s Symphony No. 6 The Blue Marble, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue featuring pianist Aaron Kurz, and a performance of American composer Frank Ticheli’s work, Blue Shades. The concert will be at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Pretty Woman: The Musical runs at the Music Hall at Fair Park through February 5.

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Big Tex Wrap-Up

State Fair of Texas bounces back with 2.1 million attendees in 2026

Crowds around Big Tex at 2026 State Fair of Texas

Photo courtesy of State Fair of Texas

Almost 2.1 people attended the 2026 State Fair of Texas, up from 2025.

After experiencing its lowest total attendance numbers in seven years in 2025, the State Fair of Texas bounced back in 2026, welcoming nearly 2.1 million visitors, according to an official release.

That represents a slight bump up from the 2,020,064 that came through the gates in 2025. Both numbers are still down significantly from the highs of 2019 and 2022, when more than 2.5 million people attended the State Fair.

The uptick in attendance could be attributed to the concerted effort to make the Fair more affordable this year, including lowering ticket prices, making games and rides cheaper, expanding days for free student tickets, and offering a free day of parking.

As usual, the busiest day of the State Fair was Saturday, October 10, the date of the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game, with more than 203,000 fairgoers in attendance, including the 92,100 fans in the Cotton Bowl.

The average attendance for the other 23 days of the fair was around 82,500.

“We are grateful to every fairgoer who joined us this year, as well as the team members, vendors, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this season possible," said State Fair of Texas President Mitchell Glieber in a statement. "As a nonprofit organization, a successful Fair helps fuel our work throughout the year, and we are proud of the impact we continue to make through agriculture, education, and community.”

Other notable numbers from the 2026 State Fair of Texas include:

An all-new look for Big Tex, standing 55 feet tall, sporting a 95-gallon Resistol cowboy hat, a Cavender’s shirt measuring 245 by 192 inches, Levi’s 501 jeans measuring 380 inches wide by 290 inches long, size 96 Lucchese boots, and a Shiner belt buckle.
The unveiling of an official State of Texas Historical Marker from the Texas Historical Commission for Big Tex, honoring his enduring legacy as a beloved Texas icon and symbol of State Fair tradition.
An estimated 110,655 pounds of food were collected and donated to the North Texas Food Bank.
More than 28,600 members of the military and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
Approximately 500,000 prizes, valued at an estimated $1.8 million, were won at the State Fair Midway, enough stuffed animals and prizes to fill approximately 90 semi-trucks.
Approximately 450,000 Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs were enjoyed by fairgoers.
The State Fair of Texas is estimated to generate more than $600 million in economic activity each year, serving as one of the most impactful annual events in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

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