Sleigh the heat

Cool off from Dallas' hot summer with these festive Christmas in July events

Santa's returning from summer vacation to take part in many Dallas events.

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It's beginning to look a lot like - well, nothing resembling Christmas around Dallas-Fort Worth. But local bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues are hauling out the holly anyway because here, in the sweltering days of July, we need a little Christmas right this very minute.

With the holidays barely five months away, these "Christmas in July" events will bring merry little cocktails, festive feasting, seasonal movies, and photo ops with Santa. (Hint, hint: Family Christmas card prep.) If you dream hard enough, those screeching cicadas outside might even start to sound like jingle bells.

Here are some holly jolly events for your enjoyment in July:

Bars and restaurants

Holly Jolly Bar at Hotel Vin, Grapevine, July 1-31
Hotel Vin's Harvest Hall food hall brings back last year's smash-hit Holly Jolly Pop-up Bar for one month only. Throughout July, the Third Rail entertainment venue will be filled with kitschy holiday decorations, festive craft cocktails, and live music. Special seasonal sips include the Peppermint Bark Martini and Santa on the Beach. Kids can get in on the holiday fun with Christmas Craft Parties (July 10-12) and a Santa Meet-and-Greet event, 1-3 pm July 14.

Cedar Springs Christmas in July Wine Walk, July 6
The Cedar Springs Merchant Association hosts "Wine Walk: Christmas in July." It will start at the lighted tent in front of the Round-Up Saloon, where participants can purchase a $10 CSMA wine glass. Stroll around and enjoy free wine from all participating merchants, then head back to the Round-Up at 9 pm for a chance to win raffle gift baskets filled with a treasure trove of gifts from Cedar Springs retailers. Proceeds benefit neighborhood beautification projects.

Christmas in July at False Idol Brewing, July 7-8
The North Richland Hills craft brewery offers special, barrel-aged, "Christmas Eve" and "Christmas Day" flights, plus a big cellar sale to fill Santa's bag. Friday, July 7 is the "Hear the Bell" Christmas Eve flight: Karloff Imperial Stout, Onibaba Imperial Stout, Wolf's Bane Imperial Stout, and King Snacks Imperial Stout. Saturday, July 8 is the Christmas Day "Grinch's Heart Grew 3 Sizes" flight: Murda She Wrote Imperial Stout, Warriors Imperial Stout, Magni's Rejoice English Barleywine, and Oogie Boogie Barrel Aged Peanut Butter Cookie Imperial Stout. For more information and a list of beers included in the cellar sale, go here.

Christmas in July Drink Walk at Grandscape in The Colony, July 20
Grandscape's Topo Chico Hard Seltzer Stage & Lawn transforms into a holiday drinking destination for this first-ever event. Have yourself a merry little tropical Christmas-themed cocktail or two from favorite Grandscape restaurants. The event will include more than 10 drink samples and a free gift with purchase from the Homestead (see website for rules and restrictions). The event takes place 6-9 pm and tickets are $25.

Aussie-style Christmas in July at Isla & Co., July 22
The Australian-owned restaurant-bar in Dallas' Bishop Arts District (408 W Eighth St.) is taking guests down under for Christmas, Aussie style. They'll serve a traditional Australian Christmas feast - featuring cherry-glazed smoked ham and pavlovas for dessert - plus ice-cold beers and Aussie wines. Summer Santa will appear, and there'll be outdoor games, a table gift of Aussie treats, and a raffle benefiting The Variety Children’s Foundation. Be sure to dress your holiday best. It all takes place 3-7 pm, with an afterparty with a DJ to follow. Tickets (starting at $99 for adults, $39 for kids) are available here.

Christmas in July at Parlor's Ice Creams, July 24-25
Parlor's Handcrafted Ice Creams in the Hillside Village shopping center in Lakewood is throwing a two-day holiday party. The shop will deck its halls in Christmas decor, and its festive Rocky Rudolph ice cream flavor will be available for those two days only. Rocky Rudolph is made with chocolate mint ice cream, pieces of homemade chocolate cookie sandwiches, and homemade marshmallows.

Events and entertainment

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History presents "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!," through August 20
The Fort Worth museum steps into the world of winter with "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" The summer exhibition, which opened June 17, goes behind the scenes of the iconic 1965 animated holiday movie A Charlie Brown Christmas. Organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum, it includes original comic strips, videos, and even a station for writing letters to Santa. The exhibition is included with museum admission. Read more about it in this story.

Saturdays on the Square: Christmas in July in Historic Downtown Carrollton, July 8
Historic Downtown Carrollton throws a family-friendly Yuletide celebration as part of its monthly Saturdays on the Square series. It'll include a human snow globe, festive crafts, and a special appearance from summertime Santa. The free, unticketed event takes place in downtown Carrollton (1106 S. Broadway St.) and runs 6-8 pm.

Christmas in July at Epic Waters, July 10-16
UPDATE: Rescheduled to July 21-23
The Grand Prairie indoor waterpark throws a weeklong celebration that stars Santa. The big man himself will come to town for plenty of splashy photo ops. Each day will also bring frozen hot chocolate, opportunities to write letters to Santa, plus an epic snowball fight at the Epic Waves WavePool. Events are included with daily admission.

Holiday in the Heat at the Dallas Arboretum, July 12
Santa will be at Dallas Arboretum's main gate at Rosine Hall for a special members-only holiday celebration. Summer Santa will be available for photos from 6-7:30 pm, followed by a concert on the Martin Rutchik Concert Stage featuring Emerald City's Party Machine, from 7-9 pm. All participants will receive a complimentary freezer treat to beat the heat. Tickets are $5 for member adults and $5 for kids (free for children under 2).

Christmas in July Ladies' Night at Galleria Dallas, July 18
Galleria Dallas hosts a girls' night out with ice skating and more to beat the heat. The first half of the evening will involve ice skating, followed by happy hour at Mi Cocina. Tickets, $20, include private access to the Galleria Ice Skating Rink; Frozen Mambo Taxi drinks from Mi Cocina; a festive Christmas photo op from "Snowday" holiday pop-up installation; and the first 50 tickets include a North Dallas Suburbs Fitness Passport. The event is 6-9 pm.

AT&T Performing Arts Center Presents Christmas in July at Sammons Park, July 22
"Does Santa wear shorts in the summer? We’ll find out," teases the website for this event. Taking place in Sammons Park in the Dallas Arts District (2403 Flora St.), the free, family-friendly festivities will include screenings of The Muppet Christmas Carol and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; holiday-themed drinks from G.Texas; and photo ops with Santa. It all gets started at 7 pm.

Christmas in July at the Dallas Arboretum, July 23
Open to members and non-members alike, this afternoon holiday celebration will include photos with Santa from 10 am-2 pm at the Wishing Well (donations collected will go to the Dallas Arboretum Volunteer Advisory Board); Story Time with Mrs. Claus at 11am in Pecan Grove; and cool treats from Big D Kona Ice, available from 11am-3pm. The event is included with garden admission or membership.

Christmas in July Cookie Decorating Class at Waterside, July 23
A beginner-friendly cookie decorating class hosted by Aly's Sweet Spot will have a holiday theme. The instructors provide everything participants need, including sugar cookies, icing, sprinkles, and a tray to take the finished cookies home. The class is recommended for teens and adults, but add-on kits can be purchased to take home for kids. The class takes place 12:30-2:30 pm at the Community Room at the Waterside shopping complex in southwest Fort Worth; tickets are $60.

Christmas in July Happy Hour & Silent Auction benefiting Children's Charities of Fort Worth, July 25
Nonprofit Children's Charities of Fort Worth hosts its annual Christmas in July fundraiser at Joe T. Garcia's La Puertita. The event will include a cash bar, silent auction, raffle, Kendra Scott jewelry pop-up, meet-and-greet with the organization's leadership, and an appearance from Santa. Participants will learn about the 13 children's charities supported and how to get tickets to the 2023 Fort Worth Margarita Ball. Festivus holiday attire is encouraged for the free event, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Know of a Christmas in July event? Email stephanie@culturemap.com.

Holly Jolly Bar Merry Christmas Charlie Brown beer families movies wine holidays

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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