Weekend Event Planner

These are the 14 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

July turns into August this weekend, and with the new month comes a nice variety of things to do in and around Dallas. Choices include seven concerts featuring some big names, three local theater productions, a bluegrass festival, a notable comedian, and the final days of two art exhibitions.

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, July 31

Kyle Mooney in concert
Kyle Mooney is a former SNL cast member, founding member of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor, and the director of films like A24's Y2K. He'll show off another side of himself as Kyle M. in support of his debut album, The Real Me, featuring rock, country, dance, R&B, and more. He'll play at Club Dada.

Junior Players presents A Midsummer Night's Dream
In Shakespeare’s lyrical comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, young lovers flee the stifling confines of the social order of the city to the woods, only to discover that the forest contains more mystery and menace then they dared dream. Romantic entanglements and magical chaos ensue when fairies, lovers, and a group of amateur actors converge in the woods outside Athens and darkness and desire twine beneath the midsummer moon. The production runs through Sunday at Theatre Three.

Rover Dramawerks presents Murder at the Orient Burlesque
When Russian princess Katherina Anastasia Faberge Antoinette joins the cast of the burlesque show at Christie’s Orient Palace, the trouble begins, so it’s not a surprise when she turns up dead after only one performance. As Detective Red Flannegan quickly discovers, everyone has a motive, and the Czarina was not only shot, but also poisoned, stabbed, electrocuted, and strangled. The question then becomes not who did it, but who did what, and is there anyone who didn’t? The production runs through August 16 at Cox Playhouse in Plano.

Friday, August 1

Farmers Branch Bluegrass Festival
The Farmers Branch Bluegrass Festival will feature performances by headliner Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, as well as Rhonda Vincent & The Rage (Friday), Appalachian Road Show, Kody Norris Show, Cutter & Cash and the Kentucky Grass (Friday), Bobby Giles & Texas Gales, Riley Gilbreath & Lone Star Blue, The Herrins (Friday), Pythagoras, and Randy Collier & Grassland. The festival takes place through Sunday at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas.

Billy Currington and Kip Moore in concert
Country singers Billy Currington and Kip Moore have each had strong careers, with Currington notching five top 5 albums on the Billboard Country chart and Moore landing four of his own. Currington has had a string of No. 1 songs, including "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right," "People Are Crazy," "Hey Girl," and "Do I Make You Wanna." Moore's lone No. 1 song was "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck," but he also got a later start than Currington. The two will team up for a co-headlining concert at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

North Texas Performing Arts Repertory Theatre presents Footloose
When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, he is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. But he’s not prepared for the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, who is determined to exercise control over the town’s youth. When the reverend’s rebellious daughter sets her sights on Ren, her roughneck boyfriend tries to sabotage Ren’s reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. The production runs through August 10 at North Texas Performing Arts in Plano.

AT&T Performing Arts Center presents One Night of Queen
In 2022, Gary Mullen & The Works celebrated the 20th anniversary of their One Night Of Queen live concert performance. During the two-hour show, the band pays tribute to the stage theatrics, showmanship, and music of Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, Queen. They'll perform at Winspear Opera House.

Saturday, August 2

My Chemical Romance in concert
Rock band My Chemical Romance has mostly been out of the public eye since their last major tour in 2011. They released four albums in the 2000s, peaking with The Black Parade in 2006, which went to No. 2 on the Billboard 200. They're putting on a big show at Globe Life Field in Arlington to celebrate that album by playing it in its entirety, along with other hits. They will be joined by special guest Garbage.

Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns: The Ultimate Summer Party
Jazz/rock saxophonist Dave Koz has released 21 solo albums in his career, most recently A Romantic Night In (The Love Songs Album) in 2021. At this special event at the Music Hall at Fair Park, he will be joined by Marcus Anderson, Jeff Bradshaw, Leo P, Evan Taylor, and Marcel Anderson.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass in concert
Herb Alpert and a new version of his band, The Tijuana Brass, come to Dallas as part of their first tour in 35 years, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass & Other Delights. They'll celebrate the 60th anniversary of the seminal album, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, by playing songs from that album, as well as other big hits. The concert takes place at Winspear Opera House.

Michael Kosta: Lucky Loser Tour
Comedian Michael Kosta is currently a correspondent and occasional host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. As a stand-up comedian, he has had numerous late-night appearances on The Tonight Show, Conan, Seth Meyers, and @midnight. His first book, a memoir entitled Lucky Loser, was released in March 2025. He'll perform at Granada Theater for one night only.

"Weird Al" Yankovic in concert
"Weird Al" Yankovic comes to Grand Prairie as part of his Bigger and Weirder tour, returning to the big stage for the first time in six years. He will play his iconic hits, as well as some fan favorites that have never been performed live. Yankovic has released 14 albums in his career, most recently Mandatory Fun in 2014. He'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Sunday, August 3

Arlington Museum of Art presents M.C. Escher: "Infinite Variations" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view M.C. Escher: "Infinite Variations at the Arlington Museum of Art. With over 150 works spanning the career of the graphic designer, the exhibition explores the metamorphic work of one of the most famous printmakers in modern times. It includes some of the artist’s finest works, starting with his early bookplates, to landscapes, tessellations, and impossible worlds.

Dallas Museum of Art presents Tiffany Chung: "Rise Into the Atmosphere" closing day
Sunday will also be the final day to view Tiffany Chung: "Rise Into the Atmosphere" at the Dallas Museum of Art. The sixth iteration of the museum’s Concourse mural series features an installation by Houston-based artist Chung, who is internationally known for her diverse conceptual work and research-driven process dealing with sociopolitical issues. Her mural centers narratives of migration and movement, especially those found within Dallas, in recognition and celebration of these lived experiences.

Photo courtesy of Junior Players

Junior Players presents A Midsummer Night's Dream at Theatre Three through August 3.

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RIP, Chuck

Chuck Norris, star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' dies at 86

Courtesy photo

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Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.

“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”

After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris' character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”

“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion has taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012's “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He's due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.

Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun -- and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”

Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.

“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the fact book. “I am flattered and humbled.”

That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.

The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”

President Donald Trump's supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief's decision to seize Venezuela's sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”

Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president's 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.

Norris has five surviving children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.

Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.

“I don't age. I level up,” he wrote.

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