Let's After-Party

After the Dallas Holiday Parade, head to Verizon Village for more magic

Keep the party going at Verizon Village.

Photo courtesy of Verizon

Every December, downtown Dallas transforms into a swirl of color, music, and holiday energy as thousands gather for the beloved Dallas Holiday Parade.

This year, all roads lead to one especially sparkling destination: Verizon Village at Main Street Garden, the gold at the end of the parade.

As the parade's presenting partner for the third year, Verizon is once again bringing its signature spirit of community, creativity, and joy to the city’s biggest one-day outdoor event. And if the parade is the heartbeat of the holidays, Verizon Village is where that heartbeat turns into a dance party full of interactive fun, photo-ready moments, and surprises designed to bring families, friends, and entire neighborhoods together.

A holiday tradition that keeps growing

Since rolling down its first route in 1988 — originally celebrating anniversaries for The Adolphus and Children’s Medical Center Dallas — the Dallas Holiday Parade has blossomed into a North Texas institution.

Dallasites now mark their calendars for the first Saturday of December, staking out their favorite spots along Commerce and Houston Streets as floats glide by, giant balloons sway through the skyscraper canyons, and marching bands fill the morning with music.

This year, the parade returns Saturday, December 6, with step-off around 8:30 am and the main event beginning at 9 am.

Once the parade winds its way through downtown, the fun continues just a few blocks away at Main Street Garden, where the New Verizon Village runs from 11 am-3 pm.

This is your chance to explore interactive booths, enjoy live entertainment like the Human Snow Globe, and capture those all-important holiday photos by snapping pics at the AI photo booth or posing with Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the Village's entrance.

Snag seasonal goodies and enjoy snacks from Comeback Cookie, Crunchy Munchy, RU Chocolate, Bakes by Sophia, and a hot chocolate and coffee truck.

Verizon Village is a full-blown celebration on its own that's designed for everyone, from toddlers with sugar-cookie energy to teens hunting for Instagram backdrops to adults who know good holiday vibes when they see them.

Lace up at CultureMap City Rink

As if Verizon Village didn’t already deliver enough good cheer, 2025 brings a brand-new attraction that’s turning Main Street Garden into a winter playground: the inaugural CultureMap City Rink, a holiday ice rink launched in partnership with Verizon and Downtown Dallas, Inc.

That’s right, an outdoor rink (made of real ice!) right in the heart of downtown Dallas, and everyone's invited to lace up. Skate after the parade or just kick back at the Apres Chalet and sip cocoa while taking in the city skyline. It’s the perfect holiday memory-maker, and it's all steps from all the Verizon Village action.

Tips to make your parade day shine

Gather your crew and plan to make December 6 an all-out celebration with these invaluable tips:

The parade is free! Want a guaranteed view? Limit bleacher seats are available to purchase in advance.
Take DART. Street closures and parking congestion come with the holiday territory — public transit makes the morning run a lot smoother.
Bundle up. Or don’t. This is Texas, so it might be frosty or it might be 65 degrees. Who knows!
Bring blankets or collapsible chairs if you’re not in the bleachers.
Plan to stay. The best part of the day happens after the floats finish at Verizon Village and the CultureMap City Rink.

With the Dallas Holiday Parade setting the tone for the season, Verizon Village and CultureMap City Rink turn the day into a true downtown celebration.

dallas holiday parade verizon village culturemap city rink culturemap ice rink downtown dallas ice rink promoted

Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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