Fall in Texas is the season that actually earns its own calendar. The heat finally breaks, the State Fair takes over Fair Park, and every stage in the state, from a Fort Worth opera house to a Renaissance fair two hours from anywhere, gets busy at once. Here’s everything worth building a weekend around between now and the end of the year, from Broadway tours and opera openings in Dallas-Fort Worth to the festivals worth a road trip anywhere in Texas.
Concerts
Phoebe Bridgers plays Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on October 17, her first solo tour in six years and one of the most anticipated stops of the fall season. Little Big Town brings their “For the Art of It” tour to Music Hall at Fair Park on October 31, a Halloween night built around their new record, “It’s A Dying Art.” Doja Cat plays American Airlines Center on November 4 as part of her Tour Ma Vie World Tour, in support of her new album, “Vie.”
And if the fair’s the priority, the Chevrolet Main Stage at the State Fair of Texas runs free with admission every day the fair is open, September 25 through October 18, with acts ranging from Clint Black to the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular to Dallas’s own Toadies.
Broadway, Plays, and Musicals
AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas opens its 2026-2027 Broadway at the Center season with the Dallas premiere of Mystic Pizza: A New Musical, based on the 1988 film, followed later in the season by Shucked, Beetlejuice, The Who’s Tommy, and The Wiz, all at Winspear Opera House. Broadway Dallas also brings The Notebook and Hadestown as co-productions this season.
Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall counters with its own record-setting Broadway at the Bass lineup, kicking off its 2026-2027 season with Jersey Boys, followed by The Sound of Music, Boop! The Musical, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Buena Vista Social Club, and Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, with Mamma Mia! and Waitress available as add-ons.
Opera
The Dallas Opera opens its 69th season on October 9 with Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, a colorful production reset in post-World War II Italy, running through October 17 at Winspear Opera House. It’s followed by the North American debut of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, running October 30 through November 7. Family audiences get their own afternoon performance of The Bremen Town Musicians on October 17, and The Little Prince on November 8.
Festivals and Events, Statewide
The Dallas Arboretum’s Autumn at the Arboretum runs September 19 through November 1, with more than 100,000 pumpkins, gourds, and squash filling the gardens this year under a theme called Harvest Hues, including Pumpkin Houses honoring Basquiat, Rothko, and Mondrian, among others.
For anyone willing to drive, the Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission runs weekends from October 10 through November 28, a full-scale Renaissance fair with jousting, live music, and a different themed weekend every week of its run.
Out in East Texas, the Texas Rose Festival in Tyler runs October 16 and 17, and the Round Top Antiques Fair, one of the largest antique shows in the country, runs October 25 through 31 in the small town of Round Top, worth the trip for anyone who takes vintage furniture and collectibles seriously.
German heritage runs deep across Texas fall festivals, and there’s more than one worth choosing between. Oktoberfest Fredericksburg, one of the oldest Oktoberfest celebrations outside Munich itself, runs October 2 through 4 on Marktplatz, and the town follows it up with the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival later in the month, a weekend built around more than 75 wine, culinary, brewery, and distillery tastings. Closer to home, Oktoberfest Addison has run for three decades at Addison Circle Park, and Oktoberfest Dallas draws its own crowd to Norbuck Park with polka bands and a full beer hall. Down on the coast, Galveston’s Island Oktoberfest brings the same tradition to the Gulf, and Wurstfest in New Braunfels remains the granddaddy of them all, running November 6 through 15.
Austin City Limits Music Festival runs two consecutive three-day weekends this year, October 2 through 4 and October 9 through 11, at Zilker Park, still one of the biggest tickets in the state. The Austin Film Festival runs in late October and early November, one of the country’s most respected screenwriting-focused film festivals. And book lovers have two real options: the Boerne Book Festival marks its tenth year this fall with regional authors and panel discussions, while the Texas Book Festival in Austin, one of the largest literary festivals in the country, runs November 14 and 15.
Late October also means Día de los Muertos across the state, with celebrations in Dallas, Denton, Garland, El Paso, and San Antonio’s own Muertos Fest all landing around October 24, alongside Austin’s long-running Viva la Vida Festival and Parade through downtown.
Chefs For Farmers turns 16 this year, and its headline Main Event runs November 4-8 at Old City Park, bringing together Dallas’s chefs, farmers, and artisans for tastings, live entertainment, and unlimited pours across the weekend. Ahead of that, the festival is launching its inaugural Community Impact Awards on September 30 at CBD Provisions, honoring Dallas hospitality figures whose work extends past the kitchen, with proceeds benefiting Cafe Momentum.
And of course, the State Fair of Texas itself runs September 25 through October 18 at Fair Park, the anchor event the rest of the season builds around, corny dogs, midway rides, and all.
Pick a weekend, pick a category, and there isn’t a bad stretch on this calendar between now and the holidays.
2026 Jams at State Fair of Texas
