This is a little hand-picked guide to things around Dallas and DFW that seem especially wonderful, weird, local, one-off, or otherwise worth knowing about before the weekend disappears.
Please click through before heading out, because event details can change.
| Event |
What the heck is it? |
When & Where |
| FAN EXPO Dallas |
A three-day pop-culture convention packed with celebrity guests, comics, cosplay, anime, gaming, panels, vendors, and fan programming. |
Fri 4-9pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 10am-5pm, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas. Day tickets $38-$68; weekend pass $115. |
| Boldly Going to Garland: 60 Years of Star Trek |
An all-day anniversary celebration with films, talks, activities, and a very Garland-sized salute to six decades of Star Trek. |
Sat 9:30am-about 11:15pm, Plaza Theatre, Garland. Price not posted. |
| Downtown Dallas Arts & Music Festival and CROSSOVER |
A locally produced weekend of visual art, live music, vendors, and a Friday-night CROSSOVER kickoff inside the Adolphus Tower. |
Fri 6-9pm at SPACE at Adolphus Tower; Sat noon-10pm and Sun noon-6pm at Main Street Garden, Dallas. Free. |
| Dallas Moon Festival |
A one-day cultural festival celebrating the Mid-Autumn tradition with food, performances, vendors, and moon-themed festivities. |
Sat 2-8pm, Flag Pole Hill, Dallas. Free. |
| 2026 VIRUS Weightlifting Series 2 |
A national USA Weightlifting championship stop bringing multiple age and weight divisions to Fort Worth for four days of competition. |
Thu-Sun, Fort Worth Convention Center. Spectator ticket price is available through the organizer. |
| Denton Arts and Jazz Festival |
A sprawling annual hometown festival with jazz, art vendors, food, multiple stages, and the particular creative energy Denton does best. |
Fri 3-11pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 11am-9pm, North Texas Fairgrounds, Denton. Free. |
| CIE/USA-DFW Annual Convention |
An engineering and technology convention with public career and think-tank sessions followed by a formal awards banquet. |
Sat, DFW Airport Marriott, Irving. Afternoon sessions free; banquet $180. |
| Fiestas Patrias Parade and Spirit of Mexico Rodeo |
A Stockyards-wide Mexican Independence celebration pairing a parade and cultural festival with two separately ticketed charro-style rodeos. |
Sun 10am-4pm, parade at 11:40am, Fort Worth Stockyards. Celebration free; rodeos at 1:30pm and 7:30pm are ticketed. |
| Dog Days of Denton |
Denton's annual dog festival takes over the park with demonstrations, contests, vendors, adoptions, and a canine pool party. |
Sat 9am-2pm, Quakertown Park and Denton Civic Center Pool, Denton. Free. |
| Red Cars Only Car Show and Blood Drive |
An extraordinarily literal car show: every vehicle is red, and the gathering doubles as a Carter BloodCare drive. |
Sat 11am-3pm, DFW Car & Toy Museum, Fort Worth. Car registration free; museum admission not specified. |
| Viva Dallas Mexican Independence Festival, Procession and Grito |
A downtown civic celebration with a ceremonial procession, performances, food, and the traditional Grito de Independencia. |
Sat 5-9pm, procession at 6pm and Grito at 7pm, Dallas City Hall Plaza. Free. |
| Fiestas Patrias at La Gran Plaza |
A major community celebration of Mexican Independence with music, dance, food, and festivities centered on La Gran Plaza. |
Sun 1-6:30pm, La Gran Plaza, Fort Worth. Price not posted. |
| Celebrate Southlake: 70th Birthday Block Party |
A citywide milestone party marking Southlake's 70th birthday with live entertainment, food, local history, and block-party programming. |
Sat 4-9pm, Southlake Town Square. Price not posted. |
| Texas Latino Pride Festival |
A free annual outdoor celebration of Texas Latino LGBTQ+ culture with performances, community groups, food, and vendors. |
Sat 3-10pm, Reverchon Park, Dallas. Free with registration. |
| AFRIMMA Music Fest |
A full-day African music and culture festival with a multi-artist lineup rather than an ordinary single touring concert. |
Sat 12:30-9pm, Annette Strauss Square, Dallas. General admission starts at $25. |
| Trinity River Book Festival |
A Fort Worth literary festival bringing authors, readers, conversations, and community programming together beside the Trinity River. |
Sat 8am-2pm, Trinity Park Pavilion 1, Fort Worth. Price not posted. |
| United for Impact Block Party |
A community block party at the Trinity River Audubon Center connecting neighborhood groups, nature, food, and civic resources. |
Sat 9am-1pm, Trinity River Audubon Center, Dallas. Free. |
| Pooch Pool Party |
Carrollton turns its aquatic center over to dogs for an end-of-season swim, with human companions supervising from dry land. |
Sat 10am-2pm, Rosemeade Rainforest, Carrollton. $10 per dog; humans free. Registration and vaccination rules apply. |
| Irving Margarita Festival |
A one-day 21+ festival devoted to margarita tastings, food, music, and the competitive pursuit of the crowd favorite. |
Sat noon-6pm, Toyota Music Factory, Irving. 21+; ticket price shown at checkout. |
| FOE Annual BBQ Cookoff |
An annual East Dallas barbecue competition and neighborhood gathering built around judged pits and serious smoke. |
Sat-Sun, 8500 Arturo Drive, Dallas. Hours and public admission price are not reliably posted. |
| 22nd Annual ItalianCarFest |
A lawn full of Italian machinery, from vintage Alfa Romeos and Fiats to modern Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and motorcycles. |
Sat 10am-2:30pm, Nash Farm, Grapevine. Free. |
| Prosper 25th Anniversary 9/11 Ceremony |
A public civic remembrance marking 25 years since September 11 with Prosper first responders and community members. |
Fri 9am, Prosper Fire Rescue Central Station. Free. |
| Eagle Mountain Lake Trash Bash |
A giant volunteer cleanup of Eagle Mountain Lake followed by a public thank-you party for everyone who helped haul out the debris. |
Sat 8am-noon, Twin Points Park, Fort Worth. Cleanup 8-10am; afterparty 10am-noon. Free registration. |
| Hecho en Fort Worth Gala and Awards Celebration |
The Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber's 53rd annual gala celebrates local businesses and civic leaders with awards, dinner, and dancing. |
Sat 5:30-11:30pm, Fort Worth Convention Center. Ticket price not displayed. |
| Keep Mesquite Beautiful Butterfly Ball |
A formal environmental fundraiser supporting Keep Mesquite Beautiful, complete with dinner, awards, and butterfly-themed finery. |
Sat, VIP reception 6pm and dinner 7pm, Mesquite Rodeo. $75 general; $100 VIP. |
| Dallas Ultimate Women's Expo |
A visiting consumer expo of speakers, shopping, beauty, wellness, fashion, food, demonstrations, and hundreds of exhibitors. |
Sat 10am-5pm and Sun 11am-5pm, Irving Convention Center. Free general-admission tickets. |
| Dallas Card Show |
A four-day collector convention for sports cards, trading cards, memorabilia, dealers, grading, autograph guests, and trade nights. |
Thu-Sun, Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel & Convention Center. $15 day pass; $35 VIP; $90 all access. |
| Dallas Texas Coin Show |
A focused numismatic gathering where coin dealers and collectors buy, sell, trade, grade, and discuss tiny pieces of history. |
Sat, public hours 9am-4pm, First Baptist Richardson Building E. Free; 7:30am early admission $20. |
| Vinyl Record Show of Dallas Fall Bonus Show |
A single-day vinyl dig with dealers bringing records, CDs, music memorabilia, and crate after crate of possible discoveries. |
Sat 8am-6pm, NTX Arena, Lewisville. $10 general; $15 early admission. |
| SuperCon 2026 Scale-Model Show and Contest |
An IPMS scale-model convention with intricate aircraft, armor, ships, cars, figures, sci-fi builds, vendors, and judged competition. |
Sat 9am-5pm, Bob Duncan Community Center, Arlington. $10 admission; contest registration extra. |
| TCA Lone Star Division Toy Train Meet |
A regional gathering for toy-train collectors, operators, layouts, parts, trading, and all the glorious specificity of model railroading. |
Sat 10:30am-4pm, Collin College Conference Center, McKinney. $9 adult; $12 family. |
| Casters Club Commander Charity Event |
A large Magic: The Gathering Commander event turning multiplayer games, prizes, and community fundraising into one tabletop afternoon. |
Sat 11:30am-6pm, Common Ground Games, Dallas. $50. |
| Powerball Texas Amateur Pickleball Championships |
A PPA-affiliated amateur championship with singles and doubles brackets across three days of serious regional pickleball. |
Fri singles from noon; Sat-Sun from 8:30am, The Picklr, Hurst. Participant registration active; spectator access is unclear. |
| CCC September Classical FIDE Tournament |
A five-round FIDE-rated classical chess tournament, where games can last hours and every move is recorded. |
Fri-Sun, Coppell Chess Club. Participant registration; spectator access is unclear. |
| Lewisville Open: Tom "Old Man" McCutcheon Memorial |
A memorial disc-golf tournament sanctioned by the PDGA and named for a local figure whose course now hosts the event. |
Sat, Old Man McCutcheon Disc Golf Park, Lewisville. Tee details and spectator guidance are not posted. |
| 25th Annual Guns & Hoses Boxing Tournament |
Police officers and firefighters meet in the boxing ring for a milestone charity tournament benefiting families of fallen first responders. |
Sat, doors 5:30pm and bouts 6:30pm, Credit Union of Texas Event Center, Allen. Ticket price shown at checkout. |
| Verve Celebrity Softball Classic |
A charity home-run derby and softball game with athletes and entertainers taking over the Frisco RoughRiders' ballpark. |
Sat, gates 4pm, derby 5:30pm, game 6:30pm, Riders Field, Frisco. Ticket price shown at checkout. |
| Main Street District Architecture Walking Tour |
A guided close look at the ornament, odd histories, and changing uses of downtown Dallas buildings most people simply pass by. |
Sat 10am-noon, starts at Main Street Garden, Dallas. $15 adult; $12 member; $8 student or senior. Reservation required. |
| Planes and Trains Guided Tour |
A guided Grapevine excursion pairing railroad history with aviation for a transportation-obsessive Saturday morning. |
Sat, check-in 9:30am at Grapevine Main Station. $22. |
| Printing the Past |
A hands-on local-history program exploring old printing methods and how printed material preserved Grapevine's past. |
Sat 1-2pm, Settlement to City Museum, Grapevine. $10. |
| JFK in Mexico: Catholicism, Memory and Mourning Across Borders |
A public-history talk examining how Mexican Catholics remembered and mourned President Kennedy across national and religious borders. |
Thu 6:30-8:30pm, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas. $15. |
| Ariel Lawhon in Conversation with Lisa Wingate |
Two bestselling historical novelists meet for an Arts & Letters Live conversation about research, reinvention, and telling overlooked stories. |
Thu 7:30pm, Moody Performance Hall, Dallas. Ticket price not displayed. |
| Liane Moriarty: Big Little Truths |
The author of Big Little Lies appears for a live Arts & Letters conversation about her novels, adaptations, and deceptively tidy communities. |
Sun 7:30-9pm, Dallas Museum of Art. $40-$45. |
| UNT Doctoral Recital: Colin Crawford, Alto Saxophone |
A free doctoral recital centered on the alto saxophone, tucked into UNT's exceptionally deep public performance calendar. |
Sat 2-3pm, Paul Voertman Concert Hall, Denton. Price not listed. |
| SMU Meadows Wind Ensemble: "Heavy Metal!" |
A university wind-ensemble program built around brass, percussion, metallic sonorities, and a title that promises more than a routine recital. |
Sun 2:30-4:30pm, Caruth Auditorium, Dallas. Price not posted. |
| Opera Arlington Fairytale Masquerade |
An immersive masked fundraiser mixing fairytale costumes, opera performance, food, and theatrical spectacle in downtown Arlington. |
Fri 7-9pm, Wellspring on Main, Arlington. $79; $250 VIP Angel ticket. |
| Mesquite Symphony: What Remains, Rises |
A locally rooted symphonic program reflecting on resilience and renewal, presented as a special season concert rather than a touring stop. |
Fri 7pm, Mesquite Arts Center. Ticket price shown at checkout. |
