Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend in and around Dallas will feature a number of big events, including a film festival and music festival. Other choices include a musical version of a favorite animated movie, a great comedian, blues at the symphony, a dance production, a performance by a well-known nonagenerian, two concerts, and a movie star showing off one of his best films.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 22

Oak Cliff Film Festival
The Oak Cliff Film Festival is a four-day event featuring a variety of feature films, short films, concerts, workshops, and more. Highlights include opening night film Going Varsity in Mariachi, spotlight feature Problemista, the documentary Mom and Dad's Nipple Factory, closing night film Earth Mama, and more. Events will take place at Texas Theatre, Bishop Arts Theater Center, The Wild Detectives, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, The Kessler, and more through Sunday.

Friday, June 23

Red Tail Live and Tobin Entertainment presents Madagascar The Musical
Audiences can move it, move it and join Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria as they escape New York's Central Park Zoo and head for the stage in this live musical spectacular. Based on the Dreamworks movie, the production will feature new songs written for the stage, dancing menageries, and even some puppets. The production will have two performances through Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

Dallas Comedy Club presents Josh Gondelman
Josh Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City, where he currently lives and recently worked as the head writer and an executive producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime. Gondelman also contributed to the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and spent five years at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He released his debut standup special, People Pleaser, in 2022. He'll perform four times through Saturday at Dallas Comedy Club.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Nothin’ But the Blues"
"Nothin’ But the Blues" will explore the early music that started the Blues and is at the heart and soul of nearly every form of popular music of the past 100 years. The concert, featuring the vocals of Shayna Steele, will pay tribute to Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, Louis Armstrong, and more with songs like "St. Louis Blues," "House of the Rising Sun," "Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out," and "Baby Won’t You Please Come Home." There will be three performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet presents Amor Fati: A Modern Take on the Ancient Tales of Greek Mythology
Amor Fati will take audiences on a journey through the captivating stories of Greek mythology, seamlessly blending dance, music, and spoken word. Choreographer Carrie Ruth Trumbo's artistic vision and storytelling delves deep into the human experience, allowing spectators to explore the depths of emotion through the power of ancient myths and movement. The first dance event ever to grace the stage of Kalita Humphreys Theater, there will two performances, one Friday and one Saturday.

Chita Rivera in concert
Chita Rivera, the 90-year-old Tony Award winner, will recreate signature moments from her legendary Broadway career, including West Side Story, Sweet Charity, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Visit, and more. A theatrical icon and one of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents, Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history, having earned 10 nominations, two wins, and the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. The concert will be at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson.

Saturday, June 24

So What?! Music Festival
The 2023 So What?! Music Festival is a two-day event that will feature performances by over 90 bands. Headlining the hard rock event at Fair Park on Saturday will be Pierce the Veil and The Used, while Neck Deep (making their only festival appearance in 2023), Sleeping with Sirens, and Thursday (celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2003 album, War All the Time) will headline on Sunday.

Dirty Heads in concert
Reggae rock band Dirty Heads has carved out their niche in the music industry over the past 15 years. Since their 2008 debut album, Any Port in a Storm, they have consistently placed in the top 10 on both the Billboard Alternative and Rock charts, highlighted by 2014's Sound of Change, which cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of their 2022 album, Midnight Control.

Pixies in concert
Pixies are a band whose reputation is outsized compared to their actual success. They had a few modest hits in the late '80s and early '90s, and since 2013 they've been forging ahead without the services of original bassist/vocalist Kim Deal. They'll play at South Side Ballroom in support of their 2022 album, Doggerel, joined by special guests Franz Ferdinand and Bully.

An Evening with John Cusack
John Cusack is one of those actors fortunate enough to have starred in a number of iconic movies throughout his long career. To celebrate that fact, he's hosting screenings of some of his most popular movies in multiple events around Texas. For this event at the Music Hall at Fair Park, he'll screen the 1989 film Say Anything, followed by a live conversation about his career and the making of the film, as well as a Q&A.

Photo courtesy of Chita Rivera

Chita Rivera will perform at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson on June 23.

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Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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