Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day weekend will offer a wide variety of things to do in and around Dallas. There will be six concerts - a pop star, two symphony options, a retrospective from a Broadway legend, a rock festival, and a prolific singer/songwriter. Other choices include a gaming festival, a new lantern exhibition with a DC Comics theme, a horror movie convention, a performance combining music, dance, and visual art, a dance production, comedy, and iconic cheerleaders on tour.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. If you want more options, check out the calendar for an even longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, May 22

Katy Perry in concert
This visit by pop star Katy Perry to American Airlines Center was supposed to take place on Wednesday night, but the Dallas Stars reaching the Western Conference Finals forced Perry to push her concert back a night. Perry comes to town as part of her first headlining tour since 2018, and shortly after her much publicized/maligned visit to space aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. She's touring in support of her 2024 album, 143.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Beethoven’s 'Eroica'"
In this concert, conducted by Ilan Volkov, world-renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos will interpret Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Other selections include Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” and Serenity Meditation (after Ives) from Dallas-based composer Kyle Gann. There will be three performances through Saturday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, May 23

DreamHack Dallas
DreamHack is one of Dallas’ largest annual gaming lifestyle festival. For three days, fans can explore dozens of local indie game developers and artists, watch world-class esports tournaments, meet with hundreds of creators, don their favorite cosplay, and more. The event takes place through Sunday at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Gaylord Texan Hotel presents Universe of Light featuring DC
Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences will present Universe of Light, an all-new, walkthrough attraction featuring multiple worlds and 40 iconic DC Super Heroes and Super-Villains in more than 1,000 glowing lanterns constructed by master artisans from Zigong, China. From Batman’s Gotham City and Wonder Woman’s home of Themyscira to Superman’s Metropolis, each display captures the action and artistry of DC’s storytelling. The exhibition will remain on display through September 1.

Texas Frightmare Weekend
The annual Texas Frightmare Weekend celebrates all aspects of genre films. It features celebrity appearances, autograph signings, screenings, exclusive parties and horror memorabilia vendors from all over the country. Among the celebrities on hand will be Bruce Campbell, Melissa Barrera, Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, Bill Duke, Griffin Dunne, Linda Blair, Devon Sawa, Cole Sprouse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Kevin Dillon, Mark Duplass, Tom Savini, and more. The event takes place through Sunday at Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas.

Verdigris Ensemble presents Shams
Shams, an immersive production by Verdigris Ensemble, features music by Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia, dance by Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, and visual art by Sara Baumann. It brings Rumi’s poetry to life in its original Farsi, forming the largest collection of its kind ever set to music. There will be three performances through Sunday at Moody Performance Hall.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Doug Varone and Dancers
Doug Varone is a master dance maker and creates dance like a master painter. The music comes to life as he paints the stage with movement. To My Arms / Restore is a two-part work embodying Varone’s fascination with the interplay between the deeply emotional and the immensely physical. Set to a suite of exquisite arias by G.F. Handel, To My Arms builds a landscape of love and loss, evoking a strange otherworld of intimacy. The one-night-only event takes place at Winspear Opera House.

Hyena's presents Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait's career dates back to the 1980s, when he had one of the most recognizable voices in comedy. He's ditched that unusual way of speaking, but his stand-up still features hilarious riffs on politics, divorce, going broke, and his career as a writer and director of film. He'll perform twice on Friday at Hyena's Dallas.

Saturday, May 24

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders On Tour
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders On Tour will feature collection of dances performed live on stage. In a first-of-its-kind experience starring a professional football cheerleading squad, fans will also enjoy a live Q&A session where the cheerleaders pull back the curtain and open up about their personal journeys, inspirations, and triumphs. They will also host live, on-stage solo auditions, with fans in the audience holding the power to send one lucky candidate straight to the final round of auditions. The event takes place at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents Patti Lupone: A Life in Notes
Three-time Tony Award-winner Patti LuPone describes her new concert as a “personal musical memoir,” and what a memoir she has. Lupone takes to the stage with her longtime musical director Joseph Thalken to celebrate, through song, her legendary career. The event takes place at Winspear Opera House.

Sunday May 25

97.1 The Eagle’s BFD
Rock fans will get a festival-type experience at Dos Equis Pavilion on Saturday with 97.1 The Eagle’s BFD, featuring headliners Chevelle and Marilyn Manson. Other performers will include POD, the newly reunited Evans Blue, and Sleep Theory.

Ryan Adams in concert
Rock/country singer Ryan Adams is 25 years into his career, and he's proven to be one of the most prolific artists working today, having released 28 albums, including two more already in 2025: Another Wednesday and Changes. At this special concert, he'll celebrate the 25th anniversary of his debut album, Heartbreaker, and play lots of other music from his extensive catalogue. He'll play at Longhorn Ballroom.

Monday, May 26

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Parks Concert: Flag Pole Hill
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will kick off their summer Parks Concert series with this concert at Flag Pole Hill. Assistant Conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg will lead the orchestra in a program featuring patriotic favorites alongside festive classics like Bernstein’s Overture to Candide and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. The concert will end with a fireworks display beginning at 9:15 pm. In the case of rain, the concert will be moved to Meyerson Symphony Center.

Photo courtesy of Chevelle

Chevelle will headline 97.1 The Eagle’s BFD at Dos Equis Pavilion on May 25.

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Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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