North Texas doesn’t do quiet weekends in late September, and this one might be the busiest of the fall. The State Fair opens Friday. There’s a German festival in McKinney, a Broadway legend at the Meyerson, a honky-tonk headliner at Billy Bob’s, a baseball team that dances between pitches and the Indigo Girls downtown on Sunday night. Here’s how to pace yourself, where to eat and a few tips that’ll save you money and aggravation.
Start with the big one. The State Fair of Texas opens Friday, Sept. 25, and runs through Oct. 18. This year’s theme is “Stars, Stripes, and Howdies,” a nod to the country’s 250th birthday, and opening day includes a ceremony at the Hall of State with a military flyover featuring a B-52, two F-35s and an A-10 right after the national anthem. Look up.
Now the smart money. Bring two jars of peanut butter on opening day and your admission at the gate drops to $10, with the jars going to the North Texas Food Bank. Weekend adult tickets are $25 otherwise, and adults pay the child’s price after 5 p.m. every day. Parking in the official lots dropped to $20 this year, but DART’s Green Line stops right at the gates and saves you the headache of Fair Park traffic.
The music is the fair’s best bargain, since it’s all free with admission. The Chevrolet Main Stage moved indoors this year to the Fair Park Coliseum, which means air conditioning for the first time. Clint Black opens it Friday at 7:45 p.m., and “Killing Time” still holds up. Saturday brings Steve Ray Ladson, Pynk Beard and The Boykinz at 3:30 p.m. and Jaydon at 8:45 p.m. Sunday belongs to norteño fans, with Geru y Su Legión 7 at 6:15 p.m. and La Alianza Norteña at 7:45 p.m.
Stick around after dark. The Starlight Parade rolls through the fairgrounds nightly at 7:15 p.m., and Illumination Sensation follows at the Esplanade reflecting pool with fountains, fireworks and acrobats.
As for eating, you know the classics. The newcomers worth hunting down include the Fried Butter Chicken at Naan Better on Grand Avenue, which is fried chicken potstickers tossed in butter chicken sauce over basmati rice. There’s also the Spicy Carbonara Ramen Korean Corn Dog near the Coliseum and the Candy Watermelon at Chamoy Treats, a giant slice wrapped in six feet of Fruit by the Foot and hit with chamoy and TajÃn. Pace yourself. There are 24 days.
Friday night, if the fair isn’t your speed, head to Oak Cliff. Austin’s Bob Schneider plays two shows at the Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., at 7 and 9:45 p.m. He’s the guy behind “40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet),” and there are few better rooms in town for a songwriter. The Kessler is cashless, so leave the twenties at home.
Up north, the 19th McKinney Oktoberfest takes over the historic downtown square Friday afternoon and runs until 11 p.m., then 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. The beer garden covers 14 blocks, and the program includes weenie dog races, stein holding and a beard and mustache competition. At 3 p.m. Saturday, ten people get eight minutes to eat as many brats as they can. Dinner is the festival itself. Park at City Hall, 222 N. Tennessee St., and ride the new trolley in.
Saturday morning, go see the pumpkins before the heat sets in. The Dallas Arboretum’s fall show this year is Harvest Hues, with pumpkin houses built around Basquiat, Rothko, Louise Bourgeois, Mondrian, M.C. Escher, and Pollock and Krasner. The gates at 8525 Garland Road open at 9 a.m., and that’s the time to be there.
From there, head downtown to the Dallas Farmers Market, where Saturday is a two-for-one. Denton’s champion food truck Insurgent is doing a pop-up at The Shed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or until it sells out, ahead of opening its first restaurant there in late October. Chefs Sam and Gabby Lopez are bringing the Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich that won the 2024 Food Truck Championship of Texas, with buttermilk dressing, red wine-braised cabbage and onions, garlic butter and jus. They’re making a limited number, so don’t dawdle.
While you’re there, the market’s second annual Oktoberfest fills Pearl Plaza on Saturday and Sunday with live music, costume contests, races and Oktoberfest competitions. Bring the dog. It’s welcome.
Speaking of dogs, Community Beer Co. throws its Oktoberfest on Saturday at 3110 Commonwealth Drive, just off Stemmons, and admission is free. We’ll say it plainly: we love Community Beer around here. It’s been pouring some of the best beer in Dallas for years, and a day in that taproom is always well spent. The taproom opens at 11 a.m. From noon to 5 p.m., Dallas Pets Alive runs DOGtoberfest there with adoptable dogs, pet vendors and a dog costume contest. The Dogensteins play from 2 to 5 p.m., and there’s a stein hoist and hammerschlagen, the German game where you drive nails into a stump. Fair warning: people go home with dogs from this one.
Saturday afternoon, Arlington is the move. The Savannah Bananas play the Texas Tailgaters at Globe Life Field all three days while the Rangers are in Minnesota, and Banana Ball has its own rules. There are no walks and no bunting, a fan who catches a foul ball records an out, and every game ends at two hours. Tickets went through a lottery, so if you got lucky, go early.
Either way, eat at Hurtado Barbecue, 205 E. Front St., the official barbecue of the Texas Rangers. Get the Texas Twinkie, a jumbo jalapeño stuffed with brisket and house pimiento cheese, wrapped in bacon and glazed with a sweet-hot sauce. Then get the prime brisket.
While you’re in Arlington, Opera Arlington is doing Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” Friday and Saturday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1200 W. Green Oaks Blvd., and this production moves the whole thing to the land of Oz. Picture witches, wizards and the Emerald City, with Mozart doing the singing.
Saturday night has more good choices than one weekend deserves. For the Broadway crowd, Idina Menzel joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for its annual gala concert at the Meyerson at 8:45 p.m. The full gala with dinner runs $1,500 a seat, but concert-only tickets start at $153. Here’s the wise part: every concert ticket gets you into the after-party in the West Lobby, with a DJ and cash bars going until midnight. Elphaba, Elsa and Maureen from “Rent,” all in one voice, with an orchestra behind her.
If you want a full musical, the Grand Prairie Arts Council’s “Jekyll & Hyde” plays its final performances through Sunday at the Uptown Theater, 120 E. Main St. in Grand Prairie. Anyone who has belted “This Is the Moment” in a car will want to go.
Country fans, drive west. Billy Currington plays Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza in the Fort Worth Stockyards, on Saturday night. Get to the Stockyards early and make a night of it.
If you’re already in Fort Worth, Saturday is the final day of Fort Worth Oktoberfest at Trinity Park. It has polka bands from Texas and Bavaria, schnitzel and strudel, a Dachshund Dash and brat-eating contests. The Oktoberfest 5K starts at 9 a.m. on the Trinity Trail, and registration comes with a stein and a three-day festival pass, which makes it the cheapest way in if you run. There’s no free parking, so plan on paying at least $20 or getting dropped off.
For a bigger room, Judah & the Lion are at The Studio at the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum, and Rod Wave plays the American Airlines Center Saturday and Sunday. Give yourself extra time on the roads around Victory Park both nights.
If what you really want is a bar band, a cold beer and nobody checking your ticket, Deep Ellum still delivers. Adair’s Saloon has been doing it since the early 1980s, with local bands on a small stage, walls covered in marker scrawl and one of the best bar burgers in the city. Order the burger and grab a Sharpie. Leaving your name on the wall is tradition. Three Links, 2704 Elm St., is the other reliable stop, with about 60 craft beers and a booking calendar that runs from punk to swing.
Sunday is a big day in Arlington. The Cowboys host the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium at 3:25 p.m., and the Savannah Bananas play across the street at Globe Life Field the same day. If you don’t have a ticket to either one, stay away from Interstate 30 and watch the game somewhere with good brisket and a TV.
Sunday, slow down. Get lunch at Pecan Lodge, 2702 Main St., and get there early, because when the meat runs out, the day is over. Order the brisket, a jalapeño sausage and the Hot Mess, a salt-crusted sweet potato piled with barbacoa and chipotle cream. Then go home and nap. You’ve earned it.
Sunday evening gives you a choice between two very different nights downtown. The Dallas Opera celebrates Latin heritage at the Winspear with “Fiesta de la Ópera”, opera arias side by side with Latin and salsa songs, with tenor Anthony León, the Dallas Opera Orchestra and a six-piece Latin band. Admission is free, which makes it the best deal of the weekend. It’s a fitting way to spend a Sunday during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Or go folk. The Indigo Girls play the Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm St., at 7 p.m. with Linda Perry as the special guest. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been singing together for four decades, and when “Closer to Fine” fills that old theater, it’ll be a room full of people singing every word.
That’s a lot of weekend. Pick two or three, wear comfortable shoes, drink more water than you think you need and save a little room for one more corny dog.
