16. Q Cinema Festival
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (817) 723-4358
Description: Fort Worth’s gay and lesbian international film festival takes place at the Rose Marine Theater on North Main Street, near the Stockyards. Over four days in July, the festival presents international dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, and short films to “provide a voice for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons.”
17. Fourth Of July
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 670-8400
Address: 1300 Robert B. Cullum Blvd.
Description: Dallas’s Fair Park hosts a free family event at the recently renovated Cotton Bowl stadium. There’s a patriotic program, musical performances, games, and fabulous fireworks. Admission to Fair Park museums is free on July 4, too.
18. Taste Of Dallas
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 741-7180
Description: In mid-July, omnivores show up in the downtown district for a weekend of eating. The largest outdoor food festival in town brings 350,000 to graze on edibles from restaurant booths and to hear music on two stages. There are kids’ play areas and a carnival midway, as well as arts and crafts. Admission is free and tastings are inexpensive.
19. Krld Restaurant Week
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 330-1396
Description: Several dozen top-rate restaurants across the Dallas–Fort Worth area join together with the all-news radio station and with Central Market stores to offer three- and four-course dinners at prices you cannot find otherwise. During Restaurant Week, in mid-August, you can eat at participating restaurants for $35, not including beverages and tip. The fund-raiser benefits the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home. Some restaurants extend the generous offer for one and two weeks beyond the official Restaurant Week, too.
20. Gallery Night
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (817) 870-2717
Description: The Fort Worth Art Dealers Association presents an afternoon and evening of gallery browsing in mid-September. There’s lots of wine flowing, the better to prompt you to spend money on art. Thousands of people attend, so expect crowded spaces at the free event.
21. State Fair Of Texas
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 565-9931
Address: 3921 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Description: For decades, this has been one of the state’s favorite events, bringing in thousands of attendees from everywhere. It lasts for 24 days, beginning in mid- to late-September and covering Fair Park’s grounds like a blanket. Big-name music performers on the various stages have included Pat Green, Willie Nelson, the Jonas Brothers, and many more. There are shows for everything from cars to cows, cooking contests and demonstrations, a huge midway with carnival games and rides, and hundreds of good things to eat, including the enormously famous Fletcher’s corn dog (called “corny dogs” in Texas). The Texas vs. Oklahoma football showdown takes place during the State Fair at the Cotton Bowl. Tickets are moderate for the fair and expensive for the football game.
22. Komen Dallas Race For The Cure
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 361-6345
Description: The Susan G. Komen Foundation is based in Dallas and the race, now almost 30 years old, brings overwhelming participation. There’s a 1K and a 5K run/walk, all raising money to heighten awareness and educate the public about breast health and to celebrate breast cancer survivors. The race takes place in mid-October. There’s a modest registration fee.
23. Red Steagall’S Cowboy Gathering And Western Swing Festival
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (817) 444-5502
Description: An annual celebration in mid-October in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, this full-on cowboy experience includes a ranch rodeo, trail ride, wagon train, chuck-wagon cooking competition, cowboy music, cowboy poetry, horse cutting, and much more. Tickets are moderately priced.
24. Holiday At The Arboretum
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 515-6500
Address: 8525 Garland Rd.
Description: Beginning the day after Thanksgiving and lasting through December, the already-gorgeous gardens become a fantasyland for the holidays. The magnificent DeGolyer home and gardens simply sparkle and shine.
25. Trains At Northpark
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 361-6345
Address: 1030 NorthPark Center
Description: Since 1987, NorthPark turns into Santa’s spectacle with an assortment of 35 0-gauge toy trains running in holiday scenery in the shopping center. It’s not just for kids—adults are wild about this holiday special, too. Benefitting the Ronald McDonald House, the train event lasts until just after New Year’s Day.
26. Children’S Parade
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 742-8200, (214) 456-8360
Address: 1321 Commerce St.
Description: Neiman Marcus and the Adolphus Hotel have teamed up to offer a magical holiday parade on the first Saturday in December. Not unlike the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, this one thrills with marching bands, fabulous floats and balloons, acrobats, and Santa’s arrival. Crowds number about 350,000 and there is bleacher seating available. You can even inquire about having breakfast with Santa, too.
27. White Rock Marathon
City: Dallas, TX
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (214) 303-5572
Address: 2401 North Houston
Description: A qualifier race for the Boston Marathon, this race registers 20,000 participants and always fills up. There are various categories, including marathon, half-marathon, five-person relay, corporate relay, and 5K fun-run options. The route courses through east and downtown Dallas; there’s a big post-race party with food and local music at the American Airlines Center in Victory Park, and the whole event benefits the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Registration fees are moderate.