Weekend Event Planner

These are the 15 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend in and around Dallas will be a strong one, both in terms of the number of events and big names coming through town. They include the final bow for a classic music duo, five theater events (including one in a unique venue), a music festival, a fan event with multiple movie and TV stars, concerts featuring local and national bands, two well-known comedians, a dance production, and another way to celebrate Pride month.

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

Thursday, June 6

The Righteous Brothers in concert
Bill Medley has been keeping the music of The Righteous Brothers alive since the death of original duo partner Bobby Hatfield in 2003, but the 83-year-old has finally decided to hang it up for good. With the help of singer Bucky Heard, Medley will entertain fans with The Righteous Brothers' hits like "You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’," "Soul & Inspiration," "Unchained Melody," "Rock and Roll Heaven," Medley’s Grammy-winning Dirty Dancing theme "The Time of My Life," and more. They'll perform at Arlington Music Hall.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Love & Vinyl
Love & Vinyl is a new play about browsing for records and romance in the digital age. Best friends Bogie and Zane visit their local record store and leave with so much more than a stack of vinyl in this salty/sweet, smart romcom. This production continues Kitchen Dog Theater's season of putting on productions in atypical spaces, as it will take place in an actual record store. The production runs through June 23 at Good Records in Dallas.

Official Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals Watch Party
The Dallas Mavericks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since they won the championship in 2011, and to keep fans excited, the team will host official watch parties at American Airlines Center for all away games against the Boston Celtics, starting with Game 1 on Thursday and Game 2 on Sunday. If you prefer to watch with smaller crowds, there are a number of restaurants and bars hosting watch parties as well. All ticket proceeds from the official watch parties benefit the Mavs Foundation.

Friday, June 7

KHYI 95.3 The Range Radio presents Texas Music Revolution
The 28th annual Texas Music Revolution is a two-day event that will feature over 75 bands on 15 stages throughout downtown McKinney. Friday performers include Lukas Nelson, Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Angel White, Prophets & Outlaws, Katrina Cane, Ryder Grimes, and more. Saturday performers include Lyle Lovett, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Gabe Lee, Jamie Richards, Two Tons of Steel, and more.

Fan Expo Dallas
Fan Expo Dallas is the largest sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Texas, featuring family-friendly attractions, events, and celebrities. The star-heavy celebrity guest list will include William Shatner, Danny Elfman, David Tennant, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Sam Raimi, Gaten Matarazzo, Jodie Whittaker, Helen Hunt, Adam Savage, Temuera Morrison, Alan Tudyk, Jonathan Frakes, Ming-Na Wen, Hayden Panatierre, Giancarlo Esposito, McKenna Grace, Rose McGowan, Shannen Doherty, Richard Dreyfuss, Jason Priestley, and more. The event takes place at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center through Sunday.

Klyde Warren Park presents Emerald City Band 40th Anniversary Concert
Emerald City Band is a 13-piece, three-horn section supergroup that plays a combination of high-energy dance songs from the past and hits of the present. They have been a presence all around the Dallas-Fort Worth area, showing up at a variety of high-profile events to entertain the masses. They will celebrate their 40th anniversary with a special concert at Klyde Warren Park.

Vampire Weekend in concert
Vampire Weekend has been playing their brand of pop/rock music for almost 20 years, forming in 2006. Their self-titled debut album was a minor success, but it led to three straight No. 1 albums, culminating with Father of the Bride in 2019. After a bit of a break from making new music, they're back with their first new album in five years, Only God Was Above Us. They'll play at The Pavilion At Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Theatre Arlington presents Chicken & Biscuits
Can rivaling sisters Baneatta and Beverly bury their father without killing each other? When a shocking family secret reveals itself at the altar, the two sisters are faced with a truth that could either heal or break them. The production runs through June 23 at Theatre Arlington.

Pegasus Theatre presents Big Mouth Thunder Thighs: A Solo Vaudeville
Big Mouth Thunder Thighs by Bess Welden is a solo vaudeville about body and food that intertwines memoir storytelling with a highly theatrical, unpredictable, and outrageously entertaining variety show featuring a trash-talking puppet, stand-up comedy, singing, dancing, spoken word poetry, plus five "Death-Defying Acts." It's an endearingly funny one-woman extravaganza about how we deal with our inner critics and what it takes for us to accept ourselves. The production runs through June 22 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Hyena's presents Punkie Johnson
Punkie Johnson is a comedian and writer who has been a cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2020. She also appeared on season 2 of Max’s series, Love Life, as well as Space Force on Netflix, A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO, and Bill Burr Presents: The Ringers on Comedy Central. She has served as a writer/consultant on Peacock’s upcoming series reboot Queer as Folk and recently appeared in the film Bottoms. She'll perform four times through Saturday at Hyena's Comedy Nightclub.

Theatre Coppell presents Big Fish
Big Fish centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest … and then some. Edward’s incredible, larger-than-life stories thrill everyone around him – most of all, his devoted wife Sandra. But their son Will, about to have a child of his own, is determined to find the truth behind his father’s epic tales. The musical plays through June 23 at Coppell Arts Center.

Bruce Wood Dance presents Radiance
Bruce Wood Dance will present Radiance to close out their 2023–2024 season. The production will include an encore performance of Nine Sinatra Songs by Twyla Tharp, a world premiere by Joy Bollinger, and Bruce Wood’s smoldering audience favorite, Boléro. There will be three performances through Sunday at Moody Performance Hall.

Saturday, June 8

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Pride in Bloom
The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden will highlight LGBTQ+ Pride Month with the return of the third annual Pride in Bloom celebration. The event will highlight local LGBTQ+ artisans, entertainers, chefs, and small businesses. Visitors can shop items at the curated vendor market, featuring pastries and desserts, food and drinks, jewelry, handcrafted home décor and apparel, and art. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents PUP Fest
PUP Fest is a collaborative program with Junior Players, Kitchen Dog Theater, and Dallas ISD - Playwriting Arts Collective for high school playwrights, where they will bring six scripts written by teens to life. The one-day event takes place at Dallas College Richland Campus.

Nate Jackson: Super Funny World Tour
A familiar face on the Hollywood Club circuit, Nate Jackson has appeared on HBO's All Def Comedy, Kevin Hart’s Comedy Central Hart of the City, Bounce TV's Off The Chain, BET's Comic View, and Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks on TruTV. A writer and producer, Jackson is also a former MTV Wild'N Out cast member. He'll perform for a large crowd at Majestic Theatre on Saturday, but if you prefer a more intimate environment, he'll also perform at Hyena's on Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Fan Expo Dallas

Fan Expo Dallas will be in Dallas June 7-9.

music concerts theater festivals celebrities comedy dance lgbtq event-planner

Charged up

Magical Plano Elf Town to compete on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight

Elf Town, Loders, Deerfield Plano, Great Christmas Light Fight

Photo courtesy of David and Melissa Loder

David and Melissa Loder's Elf Town is in on Pembroke Court in the Deerfield subdivision of Plano.

A family from one of Dallas-Fort Worth's most famous Christmas-light neighborhoods is stepping into the national spotlight: Melissa and David Loder, who present a spectacular "Elf Town" display in Plano's Deerfield subdivision, will compete on ABC's holiday competition show The Great Christmas Light Fight on Thursday, December 18.

The Loders will be one of three U.S. families battling for a trophy, $50,000, and major holiday-light bragging rights; co-host Taniya Nayak is the judge.

Photo courtesy of David and Melissa Loder

David and Melissa Loder's Elf Town is in on Penbrook Court in the Deerfield subdivision of Plano.

The episode will air at 9 pm (CDT) on ABC stations, but unfortunately for local viewers, WFAA will pre-empt it for the Dallas Mavericks basketball game. Light Fight will stream on WFAA+ channel 8.2 at 9 pm and later on WFAA / Channel 8 at 3:11 am. It will be available to stream on Hulu beginning Friday, December 19.

"[Filming the show] was surreal at times, but we also knew we had created something special with Elf Town," says Melissa Loder.

Elf Town, Loders, Deerfield Plano, Great Christmas Light Fight The Elf Town Depot, with mayor Elfus standing guard.Photo courtesy of David and Melissa Loder

Exploring Elf Town
The Loders, who moved to Deerfield in 2008, have been creating and evolving Elf Town since 2011. They use it as a platform to raise money for the Susan G Komen Foundation, an organization especially dear to Melissa, a breast cancer survivor.

They call Elf Town "a place where holiday elves live, work, and play."

"Like any town, we have a Main Street with a school, shopping, a bakery and a tavern all leading to a mega tree in the town center," Melissa says. "New this year is the Elf Town Museum that has photos of the evolution of Elf Town."

"We also have industry - the toys travel via train, and there is a train depot for the elves to get their tickets and wait for the train," she adds. "We also have an entertainment area with a Ferris wheel and a disco for the elves."

Standing guard over it all is The Mayor of Elf Town, a 20-foot elf named Elfus. And for the show, they created an all-new special feature: Santa's Spa in the backyard - "an area where no elves are allowed," she says.

David and Melissa, who call themselves the "head elves" of Elf Town, work all year on their DIY display. "Woodworking, welding, painting, design and installation," they say, "are all done on site by our little band of elves," which include their daughter and son-in-law Alex and Joel Loper and their grandsons, Kade (8) and Tristan (5); nieces and nephews Sophie Polma (25), Maxine Polma (23), Beckett Polma (21), and identical twins Marlowe Polma and Julian Polma (19).

"We also have amazing friends who materialize when we are putting up and taking down the display," they say. "Additionally, friends Roger and Rita Reynolds made guest appearances [on the show] as a famous couple from the North Pole."

Getting on the show
The Loders light their display up nightly for the public each holiday season. They were "discovered" by The Great Christmas Light Fight when a casting producer tracked them from a stranger’s TikTok video in spring 2022.

Dallas-Fort Worth is a popular location for the show. The Loders now join the ranks of other Light Fight-famous homes, including the Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco (2021); the Ward family of Sky Elements Drone Shows in Keller (2023); the Hugheses' "Stay in the Light" in Rockwall (2024); the Joules-Cornettis' "Gift of Light" in McKinney (2024); and the Mach Christmas Display in Ennis (2024).

"Of course we had seen the show from its first season, but since our focus is less about just lights and more about creating a magical world, we didn’t think we were a fit," Melissa says.

Elf Town, Loders, Deerfield Plano, Great Christmas Light Fight The Loders have been presenting Elf Town since 2011.Photo courtesy of David and Melissa Loder

They shot an audition video in 2023 and soon found out they made the cut. The show filmed at their house over three days in November 2024.

"The process was three very long days of filming with a very sharp learning curve," Melissa says. "Our on-site producer was an amazing asset in the process. Her tips and tricks helped us all embrace the process, relax in front of the cameras, and hopefully come off well in the show; it was a whirlwind but so much fun.

"I think the best part of filming was getting to learn so much about another industry that was so foreign to us. I am a clinical psychologist in private practice, and David is in sales with Porsche Plano, so we aren’t 'performers.'"

Fighting on
The Loders can't reveal whether they won the Great Christmas Light Fight, of course. (They'll be watching Thursday at a big party at Legacy Social Room.) But they can say with certainty that their display will continue to aid in the fight against breast cancer.

"We participate in the 3 Day 60 Mile walk each year and the money donated goes to our 3 Day fundraising accounts," Melissa says. "Collectively, our little family of elves have raised over $180,000 to help fund vital cancer research and contribute to patient care and advocacy."

Elf Town will light up daily from 5:30 pm to midnight through New Year's Eve 2025, with special nights offering hot cocoa, candy canes, or photos with Santa. While it's free to view and experience, visitors are invited to donate via fundraising links on their Facebook page and through Melissa's Susan G. Komen 3 Day fundraising page.

"I think the most important part of our display is that David and I do this together as a hobby and a gift to the community," she says. "We love that we were able to do The Great Christmas Light Fight, but our true motivation for the time, energy, and money that we pour into the display comes from the stories we hear year after year of families who count on us to be part of their tradition."

She says those include visitors finding the display as solace in hard times, along with marriage proposals, baby's first visit with Santa, and more.

"We have even been brought to our knees by a woman who brought her infant daughter and took photos all around the display because she had a terminal cancer diagnosis and wanted her daughter to have 'magical' pictures with her so 'when she was an angel,' her daughter 'will know I believed in magic,'" Melissa says. "All of these stories and so many more are part of the legacy of Elf Town. These are our 'why' to the question we are often asked 'Why would you do this?'"

---

The Great Christmas Light Fight will air at 9 pm December 18 on ABC and will stream December 19 on Hulu. Find Elf Town at 4641 Penbrook Ct., in the Deerfield subdivision of Plano. It's open nightly, 5:30 pm-midnight, through December 31. Follow the Elf Town Facebook page for updates. Visitors are encouraged to park on a less busy street, or at the elementary school off Quincy, and walk through the neighborhood.

great christmas light fight christmas lights christmas lights dallas christmas lights neighborhoods reality tv celebrities tv