While Dallas always has plenty of things to do and see, some weekends have more to offer than others. And then there are weekends like this one, with so much going on that it's almost impossible to choose. You can't hit them all, but to make it a little easier to decide, we've grouped the events into categories such as theater and festivals.
These are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. If you want more options, we have an even longer list of the city's best events.
Sports
Dallas Cowboys Draft Weekend
Kicking off the packed weekend is a chance for Dallas Cowboys fans to cheer (commiserate?) along with other fans at the team's official draft party at The Star in Frisco, starting with the first round on Thursday. If the Cowboys' picks aren't to your liking, you can still enjoy appearance by players, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, giveaways, and more. Events take place through Saturday.
Festivals
USA Film Festival
The 2025 edition of the USA Film Festival will feature more than 25 separate programs, including narrative feature films, documentaries, and short films. Highlights of the event, running through Sunday at Angelika Film Center, will include a salute to filmmaker Jon Avnet alongside a screening of his latest film, The Last Rodeo, with stars Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson in attendance; a 25th anniversary screening of Christopher Nolan’s Memento, with actor Stephen Tobolowsky in attendance; a salute to Hollywood legend Nancy Kwan; and more.
Dallas International Film Festival
The 19th edition of the annual Dallas International Film Festival marks DIFF’s first as an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival. The 2025 festival, starting on Friday, will include more than 120 screenings, filmmaker Q&As, panels, nightly red carpets, and special events. Highlights include the world premiere of Happy as Larry, as well as The Confession, DIY: The Rise and Fall of Punk, Night in West Texas, A Portrait of a Postman, and Willie Nelson Presents: King of the Roadies. Screenings take place daily through May 1 at Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas in Dallas.
Thin Line Fest
Thin Line is a one-of-a-kind festival, featuring the longest running documentary film festival in Texas, a music section with a mix of styles from national and regional acts, and a photo section featuring hundreds of photographs displayed across downtown galleries and online. The festival will take place through Sunday at multiple venues around Denton, including Campus Theatre, Dan's Silverleaf, UNT's Arts Center, and more.
Taste Addison
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Taste Addison moves from its traditional late May/early June dates to the last weekend in April, when guests will be able to relax with cooler temps. The festival has a focus on the culinary arts, performing arts, and visual arts, with headlining performances by Silversun Pickups (Friday), Hoobastank (Saturday), and Wade Bowen (Sunday). The event takes place Friday through Sunday at Addison Circle Park.
Texas Monthly presents Texas Country Reporter Festival
At the 29th annual Texas Country Reporter Festival, visitors will experience the best of Texas Country Reporter live and in-person, plus the chance to meet the new host, J.B. Sauceda. The event will feature over 100 vendors and artisans, food trucks, live music, and more. It takes place on Saturday in Historic Downtown Grand Prairie.
Festival of Joy
The sixth annual Festival of Joy features a parade, dancing, music, and live performances throughout the day. Presented by East Dallas restaurant Kalachandji’s, the event includes a free vegetarian feast and a variety of ethnic vegetarian foods available for purchase. The event, taking place on Saturday at Klyde Warren Park, culminates with an evening concert featuring The Mayapuris.
Theater
Second Thought Theatre presents Healed
Opening Second Thought Theatre’s 21st season is Blake Hackler’s Healed, which follows Gail, who has been sick for 25 years. With nothing left to lose, she sells everything and heads to a radical health center in the Texas Hill Country, run by the enigmatic and controversial Dr. T. Will this be her cure, her salvation - or something else entirely? The production runs through May 10.
Kitchen Dog Theater presents The Grown-Ups
Following a group of camp counselors trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker, The Grown-Ups explores the traditions that change us, what it takes for us to change them, and how to change yourself when you’re hopelessly, tragically not prepared for this. The production runs through May 11 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater.
Theatre Three presents The Mystery of Irma Vep
Set in a spooky English manor, The Mystery of Irma Vep is a fast-paced and campy parody featuring two actors who portray an array of eccentric characters, including mysterious housekeeper, a suspicious lord, and various supernatural beings. As the story unfolds, audiences are treated to a whirlwind of gothic melodrama, vampire lore, and supernatural shenanigans. This production, taking place in the Theatre Too space at Theatre Three, runs through May 18.
Garland Civic Theatre presents Boeing Boeing
Boeing Boeing is a French farce play in which American bachelor Bernard has a flat in Paris and three fiancés who are blissfully ignorant of each other. His life gets bumpy, though, when his friend Robert comes to stay, and complications such as weather and a new, speedier Boeing jet disrupt his careful planning. The production, starting on Friday, runs through May 11 at Granville Arts Center in Garland.
Uptown Players presents Xanadu
Uptown Players will step into a world of glitter, glam, and roller disco as they present Xanadu: The Musical. The hilarious, roller-skating musical adventure is set in the magical 1980s and follows the journey of a Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California, on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time - the first roller disco. The production, starting on Friday, runs through May 4 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.
Music
Kraftwerk in concert
German electronic band Kraftwerk has been making music since 1970, but it was their 1974 album Autobahn that put them on the map internationally. Their visit to Dallas is part of their 50 Years of Autobahn tour, commemorating that breakthrough album, as well as their first U.S. tour, which took place in 1975. They'll play at Majestic Theatre on Thursday.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents The Princess Bride in Concert
The Princess Bride is the romantic tale of the beautiful maiden, Buttercup, and her one true love, a young farm hand named Westley. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will play composer Mark Knopfler’s score, which has been specially arranged for symphony orchestra, live to film. There will be three performances, Friday through Sunday, at Meyerson Symphony Center.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA in concert
Rapper Kendrick Lamar has been arguably the biggest music star of the past year, engaging in a diss track battle with Drake that resulted in the instant classic song, "Not Like Us." That song won Lamar five Grammy Awards and was the highlight of his halftime performance at the Super Bowl. He'll perform at AT&T Stadium on Saturday as part of his co-headlining tour with SZA. Lamar is touring in support of his 2024 album, GNX, and SZA is touring in support of her new album, Lana.
Dance
Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Rising Excellence
DBDT: Encore! returns home for Rising Excellence, a two-night special anniversary performance featuring premieres of Cameron Jade Harris’s Mama’s Chair and Kevin Iega Jeff’s Church of Nations, alongside different works from the company’s distinguished history. There will be performances on Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.
TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Command Performance
Artists from leading companies light up the stage with spectacular, surprising, and jaw-dropping performances at TITAS/Dance Unbound's annual gala, Command Performance. It features commissioned works created specifically for the gala performance, including ones by New York City Ballet, MOMIX, Complexions, LINES Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The event takes place on Saturday at Winspear Opera House.
Comedy
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey: Restless Leg Tour
Comedians Amy Poehler and Tina Fey come to town as part of their Restless Leg Tour, celebrating their 30 years of friendship with an evening of jokes, stories, and convertainment. Both Poehler and Fey got their big breaks on Saturday Night Live, and have gone on to acclaimed comedy careers. Poehler is best known for her starring role on Parks and Recreation, while Fey created and starred in 30 Rock. They'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.
Art exhibitions
Nasher Sculpture Center presents Haegue Yang: "Lost Lands and Sunken Fields" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view "Lost Lands and Sunken Fields" at Nasher Sculpture Center, a major exhibition by Haegue Yang (b. Seoul, 1971). Across the museum’s spaces, the exhibition features newly conceived airy and sprawling installations and a dense arrangement of her previous sculptures. For this exhibition, Yang explores a series of contrasts in response to the building’s architecture: light and dark, aerial and grounded, buoyant and heavy, sparse and dense.
Arlington Museum of Art presents "Wicked Threads: The Artistry of Costume in Oz" closing day
Sunday is also the final day to view "Wicked Threads: The Artistry of Costume in Oz" at the Arlington Museum of Art. The exhibition features a collection of costumes from the movie adaptation of Wicked, celebrating the artistry of the costume design and 20+ years of the beloved Broadway musical. Visitors can see original costumes, props, and images from the film, including Glinda’s "bubble" dress and Elphaba’s "Defying Gravity" costume.
Theatre Three presents The Mystery of Irma Vep, running through May 18.
