Experience Dallas
The Curated Weekend of September 24–27, 2026
Dallas, Texas has officially reached that particular September weekend when fall begins culturally before it necessarily arrives meteorologically.
Big Tex is back. Idina Menzel has one night with the DSO. There is a surprisingly good design-world sample sale hiding on Slocum Street. And if you are willing to head west, Fort Worth has assembled the kind of museum afternoon that actually earns the drive.
No theme needed this week. Just four things that made the cut.
EDITOR’S PICK | BROADWAY MEETS THE MEYERSON
Idina Menzel with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
There are performers whose résumés need explaining.
Idina Menzel is not one of them.
On Saturday night, the Tony-winning voice behind Rent, Wicked, and Frozen joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for its annual Gala Concert at the Meyerson, conducted by Enrico Lopez-Yañez.
Yes, this is the gala. But you don’t need a gala table to hear the concert.
That’s the useful part.
The full Gala experience is sold out, but concert-only tickets are still available—and those tickets include the after-party in the Meyerson’s West Lobby following the performance.
There’s another reason this one deserves the Editor’s Pick designation: the Gala is an annual fundraiser supporting the DSO’s work throughout the year, including its education and outreach initiatives across North Texas.
If Elphaba has lived somewhere in the back of your head since 2003—or you simply want to hear a genuinely formidable Broadway voice backed by a full orchestra—this is one of those nights when the pairing is the reason to go.
THE DETAILS
Saturday, September 26 | 8:45 PM
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center | 2301 Flora Street
Concert-only tickets from $111
After-party included with concert ticket
TEXAS TRADITION | BIG TEX IS BACK
Opening Weekend at the State Fair of Texas
We aren’t going to explain the State Fair of Texas to Dallas.
But opening weekend deserves the nod.
The State Fair opens Friday at historic Fair Park and runs for 24 days through October 18. The gates open at 10 AM, and this year’s edition arrives during the Fair’s 140th anniversary year.
Our advice isn’t necessarily to race there opening morning. It’s simply to recognize the shift in the Dallas calendar. From this weekend forward, Fletcher’s, the Midway, livestock barns, butter sculptures, new-food debates, and Big Tex are once again part of the conversation.
And because someone inevitably asks what’s new: the 2026 Fair has an entirely new round of food to debate, along with more than 100 daily activities included with admission.
Some Dallas traditions don’t need reinventing.
They just need to reopen the gates.
THE DETAILS
Friday, September 25–Sunday, October 18
Fair Park | 3809 Grand Avenue
Friday + Saturday, 10 AM–10 PM | Sunday, 10 AM–9 PM
Daily admission $10–$25, plus ticket fee
DESIGN | MIMOSAS & HARDWARE
The Sherle Wagner Sample Sale
This is the small discovery we nearly missed.
On Saturday morning, Sherle Wagner’s Design District showroom and RoCo&Xander are opening the doors for a four-hour sample sale with luxury pieces marked 50–70% off, immediate purchase, and mimosas while you shop.
Sherle Wagner is the kind of name that makes sense to people who can have a surprisingly lengthy conversation about faucets, hardware, and beautifully made things for the home. Which is precisely why this belongs here rather than a generic retail sale.
It’s short. It’s specific. And if you’re renovating, building, or simply susceptible to exceptionally good design details, it might be worth arriving before everyone else does.
THE DETAILS
Saturday, September 26 | 10 AM–2 PM
Sherle Wagner Showroom | 1025 Slocum Street
Dallas Design District
WORTH THE DETOUR | GO WEST FOR THE AFTERNOON
One Last Look at Rashid Johnson—and a Little Kahn Along the Way
If you’ve been meaning to see Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, this is no longer a someday recommendation.
Sunday is the final day.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is making a weekend of the exhibition’s closing, with free admission Friday through Sunday, plus performances, tours, films, and more. The nearly 90-work exhibition spans Johnson’s photography, video, black-soap paintings, monumental sculpture, assemblage, and installations exploring identity, history, parenthood, masculinity, philosophy, and the human psyche.
The reason we’d choose this weekend in particular is Antoine’s Organ. Johnson’s monumental installation incorporates a piano that becomes something different when musicians actually play it. The final performances take place Friday evening and again Sunday, when the work will be activated from noon to 5 PM.
And if Saturday is your day, make the drive do double duty.
Across the Cultural District, the Kimbell Art Museum is offering a free 2 PM architectural walking tour comparing its two extraordinary museum buildings—Louis Kahn’s 1972 masterpiece and Renzo Piano’s later pavilion. No registration is required, although space is limited.
THE DETAILS
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers closing weekend
Friday–Sunday, September 25–27 | The Modern
Free exhibition admission all weekend
Antoine’s Organ: Friday, 5:30–7:30 PM | Sunday, noon–5 PM
Closing weekend at The Modern →
AND, IF YOU GO SATURDAY
Kimbell Architecture: Two Buildings, One Museum
Saturday, September 26 | 2–3:15 PM
Free | No registration required; space is limited
Dallas doesn’t require a theme this weekend.
Go to the Fair because you’ve gone for years. Hear a Broadway voice with an orchestra behind her—and support one of the city’s cultural institutions while you’re there. Look at the faucet because someone bothered to make it beautiful. Or spend an afternoon in Fort Worth looking closely at two very different kinds of architecture and an exhibition before it disappears.
Different reasons to leave the house. All worth sharing.
Written and curated by Shay Lary
Global Real Estate Advisor, Christie’s International Real Estate | Lone Star