Concert News

10 most festive holiday concerts to see in Dallas in December 2025

AT&T

Luz Guerrero is a Dallas-based storyteller, freelance writer, and cultural connector exploring identity and music through personal and collective narratives. Here's her list of 10 standout holiday concerts in DFW.

Much like the weather whiplash we endure in North Texas, tastes in holiday music vary wildly. Maybe you’ve outgrown “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” but still appreciate a grown-up remix. Maybe it’s a sad-girl holiday and hearing one more classic carol might push you into texting your ex. Luckily, Dallas has December programming to meet all of your emotional and mental health needs—no matter where you land on the festive spectrum.

And even though we just flirted with 80-degree temps in late November, the city’s holiday concerts prove that December is when the warmth shows up the loudest.

In chronological order, here are the shows bringing the season to life across Dallas–Fort Worth.

Lady A — This Winter’s Night Tour
Lady A launches their first-ever Christmas tour this year, with Grand Prairie being one of only a dozen stops on the run. The trio arrives with On This Winter’s Night (Volume 2), the long-awaited follow-up to their 2012 holiday album. The set will be holiday classics alongside new originals that build on the sound and spirit of both albums. They’re also riding fresh momentum with a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year at the upcoming 59th Annual CMA Awards. It’s sure to be a holiday show that pairs seasonal charm with the modern-country finesse Lady A delivers.
December 10, Texas Trust CU Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie. Tickets: $49–$129 ($72–$166 with fees and taxes)

Michael Martin Murphey – Cowboy Christmas at Arlington Music Hall
Michael Martin Murphey returns to Arlington with Cowboy Christmas, continuing a holiday tradition more than three decades strong. The Oak Cliff–born Country Music Hall of Famer built the show from his 1992 Cowboy Christmas album, a hit that led to five more installments. This year’s production features his Rio Grande Band, the Rocky Mountain Vintage Dancers, and vivid Western imagery. Expect a mix of country ballads, cowboy takes on holiday classics, and the storytelling Murphey is known for. It’s an all-ages event for families, country fans, and anyone looking for traditional holiday cheer spread by a hometown legend.
December 11-12, Arlington Music Hall, 224 N Center St. Tickets: $39-$113

Merry Mayhem 2025
Following its inaugural year, Merry Mayhem brings back its metal holiday toy-drive showcase with a lineup including Waiting 4 April, With Hope Intact, Never Rest, Oresteia, and Chernobyl The Secret!. It’s also an opportunity to check out Puzzles Deep Ellum, the neighborhood’s new live music venue that opened over the summer. Proceeds benefit The Archway (formerly Safe Haven of Tarrant County), supporting women and children with toys and essential items during the holidays. It’s metal with a mission.
December 12, Puzzles Deep Ellum, 2824 Main St. Tickets: $10 presale, $15 at the door

Pentatonix Christmas Photo courtesy of RCA Records

Christmas at the Winspear: A Pop-Rock Holiday Spectacular
The Winspear hosts a holiday program that blends orchestral polish with pop-rock energy. Dallas String Quartet—celebrating their first Grammy nomination—leads the evening alongside Q The Band, with guest appearances from America’s Got Talent finalists Sons of Serendip and The Voice winner Anja Nissen. Ballet dancers and the Preston Center Dance Choir widen the scope for a nicely-tuned, family-friendly holiday sampler.
December 17, Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. Tickets: $38–$117 ($49–$147 with fees and taxes)

2nd Annual Illuminating Nights — Emo Holiday Edition
Illuminating Nights returns this year—and for this one, waterproof eyeliner is suggested. Expect emotional catharsis through acoustic emo covers of My Chemical Romance, The Used, Brand New, and more, performed by Ryker & Friends with cellist Bri Sargent. The candlelit performance benefits Amplified Minds, a nonprofit providing free mental health services for Texans ages 18+, with a particular focus on creatives. It’s an all-ages, standing-room-only night that leans fully into the feelings December tends to stir up.
December 19, The Studio at The Bomb Factory, 2727 Canton St. Tickets: $20

A Soulful Christmas with KEM (feat. Britney Holmes)
Multi-Grammy-nominated R&B singer/songwriter icon KEM delivers a velvety, soulful holiday set with Dallas’ own Britney Holmes opening. This marks her first performance with her husband, musician Lio Saen—a sweet detail she recently shared on her socials. KEM has long been celebrated for folding pieces of his personal journey of resilience into his performances, promising a night of reflection and gratitude. It’s well-timed too—just days before Christmas, when many listeners are looking for exactly that.
December 19, Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. Tickets: $49–$199 ($63–$250 with fees and taxes)

The Polyphonic Spree’s 22nd Annual Holiday Extravaganza
Each year, Dallas-born collective The Polyphonic Spree transforms the Majestic into a technicolor holiday universe. With 20+ members and an opening variety act, the evening spans classic and contemporary holiday music alongside fan-favorite originals. Guests are encouraged to dress festively and bring a canned good and a new, unwrapped toy for local families. Expect costumes, characters, a hint of indoor “snow,” and the feeling of walking into a confetti-filled snow globe—complete with cookies and milk at the end.
December 20, Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm St. Tickets: $45–$95

Pentatonix: Christmas in the City Tour
The three-time Grammy-winning a cappella group returns with Christmas in the City, supporting their new release Holidays Around the World, Vol. 2. Pentatonix is practically synonymous with the season, and this two-night Fort Worth run closes out the tour. Each ticket sold in Fort Worth and Houston donates $1 to Direct Relief to support Texans affected by recent flooding. Across two nights, their signature harmonies will meet the energy of a hometown crowd, an exchange that tends to elevate both.
December 21 & 22, Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St, Fort Worth. Tickets: $61–$131 ($80–$166 with fees and taxes)

Dallas Ambient Music Nights: DAMN 50
Dallas Ambient Music Nights (or simply DAMN because it’s fun to say) celebrates a major milestone this year with its 10-year anniversary and 50th showcase. Founded by Cody McPhail, the series has become a destination for listeners drawn to exploratory, immersive soundscapes. This year’s show features eight musical performances accompanied by eight video artists projecting live visuals across the historic Texas Theatre. The result is a meditative environment ideal for anyone seeking a thoughtful post-Christmas reset.
December 27, Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. Tickets: $25 presale, $30 at the door

Epic Unplugged Presents: An Epic Christmas
For those looking for some post-Christmas fun, Epic Unplugged brings reimagined rock hits and holiday classics backed by a string section. Expect unplugged versions of Queen, Pink Floyd, The Killers, Muse, and Nirvana beneath the open sky—plan accordingly. With more than 20 food and drink options in Legacy Hall, it’s easy to turn this into a full evening with family and friends. The show is all ages, with a 21+ after-party on the second floor. Ticket options range from general admission to reserved tables and VIP seating.
December 27, Lexus Box Garden at Legacy Hall, 7800 Windrose Ave, Plano. Tickets: $5–$250 ($9–$299 with fees and taxes)

concerts holidays music

Movie Review

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson face pre-marriage jitters in The Drama

Photo courtesy of A24

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in The Drama.

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will be seen together a lot at the movies in 2026, with mega-films like The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three coming out later in the year. But fans can get a much more intimate look at the two stars in a film that offers a unique take on relationship struggles, The Drama.

Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson) are a New York couple who are engaged to be married. After a quick-but-effective montage of their courtship, the story joins them as they are just days away from their wedding. As they get all the details like music, flowers, and food finalized, a visit to the caterer with married friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie) proves fateful.

A few too many drinks leads to each member of the group deciding to divulge the worst thing they’ve ever done. While each story is slightly shocking, Emma’s takes the cake, so much so that Charlie starts to question their relationship. As they get closer to the wedding date, Charlie finds it increasingly difficult to get beyond Emma’s revelation, with each real or imagined conversation threatening to derail their previously tight bond.

Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film is provocative, funny, and cringey as it tries to get to the center of human dynamics. Charlie, Rachel, and Mike have starkly different reactions to Emma’s story, and the way those play out over the course of the film provides, well, the drama. The harder Charlie tries to justify Emma’s past, the more his underlying feelings start to eat at him, causing friction not just between him and Emma, but in other parts of his life, as well.

Strangely, especially for a character played by Zendaya, Emma recedes more than expected. Her explanations for her previous actions are timid at best, and she mostly seems to be waiting for Charlie to forgive her instead of questioning why she needs forgiveness. Borgli favors the male side of the equation, and in so doing he doesn’t dig as deep into the root of the issue as he could have.

Still, the downward spiral at the center of the story has a propulsive nature to it, and each successive step proves to be both hard to watch and impossible to turn away from. It also helps that Borgli manages the tone well, keeping interactions between characters relatively light so that the film doesn’t turn into one like Marriage Story.

Pattinson, who gets to use his own British accent for once, put on an interesting performance that is much better than his last two roles in Mickey 17 and Die My Love. He has good chemistry with Zendaya, who manages to shine despite being laden with a role that doesn’t play entirely to her strengths. Haim and Athie do good work in small roles, while Hailey Grace and Hannah Gross make an impact in brief appearances.

The situation in which Emma and Charlie find themselves in The Drama is not one to be wished on anyone, but it’s presented well by Borgli, keeping tensions high for the bulk of the film. Despite the two main characters not given completely equal footing, the story finds a way to get to a satisfactory ending.

---

The Drama opens in theaters on April 3.

movies film