Things To Do in Dallas - August 31-September 6

1. TBAAL Riverfront Jazz Festival

Sept. 4-6 | Fair Park, Automobile & Centennial Buildings | Tickets Vary

TBAAL's 9th annual Labor Day weekend fest — and the 50th season anniversary of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters — brings three days of jazz, blues, R&B, soul, and neo-soul across two indoor stages. Opening night kicks off Friday with a Dallas Councilman's sax set followed by headliner Gladys Knight, capped with a fireworks show and a second-line party. Saturday's Jazz Stage lineup includes Spyro Gyra and Samara Joy, with the Blues and Soul Stage bringing Keiko Matsui, Bilal, and Rose Royce; Sunday closes out with Brian McKnight, Jamal Roberts, and Kim Waters, plus a dedicated Promising Young Artists Stage spotlighting Dallas-Fort Worth student musicians all weekend. Vendors and food trucks round out the grounds, with late-night after-parties at the Aloft, Marriott, and Omni downtown hotels.

2. Dallas Latino Film Festival

Sept. 4–5 | Latino Cultural Center | Free–ticketed varies

The Latino Cultural Center launches its inaugural Dallas Latino Film Festival, two days of screenings, workshops, and industry conversations bringing filmmakers, industry organizations, creatives, and film lovers together for a weekend of storytelling, learning, and community. The festival celebrates the national America 250 initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, showcasing compelling short films that highlight Latino experiences, perspectives, and artistic innovation.

3. Fashioning Women's Influence in the Kennedy Era

Sept. 3 | The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza | $15, 6–7 p.m.

Dr. Annette Becker, Director and Curator of the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas, explores fashion's role in the 1960s and how public figures like Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson wore clothing that projected confidence and purpose. The talk also digs into how Dallas editors and retailers helped shape the city into an influential center for fashion journalism and design, expanding opportunities for women in the workplace, plus a look at what everyday Americans wore and why it mattered. Museum members receive discounted pricing; ticket does not include general museum admission.

4. Late Night at the Museum

Sept. 4 | Dallas Museum of Art | Free members, $25 GA, VIP $112–$125, 7–11 p.m.

The DMA's beloved after-hours series returns with an elevated twist, part of the Meet Me at the Museum lineup. Five Late Nights this season pack in live music and DJs, curated cocktails and bites, curator talks, and interactive art-making — and for the first time, tickets include access to the entire museum, all four floors and more than 5,000 years of art. New this season is the Late Night Lounge VIP experience, adding bites, wine, tours, and parking.

5. Dino Days

Sept. 5–6 | Perot Museum of Nature and Science | Included with admission

Labor Day weekend goes prehistoric with dino-themed activities across the museum, dino-inspired café specials (Pterodactyl Wings, T. rex Burger, Jurassic Juice), and the 3D film T. REX exploring a real-life discovery in the badlands of Hell Creek, showing at 11:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. Kids can dig into "Dig Those Dinos" fossil digs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and "Out of the Lab" from 11:30 to 2:30 lets visitors learn excavation and conservation firsthand from the museum's own paleontology team, Dr. Ron Tykoski and Dr. Dori Contreras. Activities are included with general admission; the T. REX film is an add-on.

6. August Movie Nights

Aug. 31 | Plaza of the Americas | Free, doors at 6:30 p.m.

Downtown Dallas, Inc.'s spy-film series wraps its five-Monday run with No Time to Die (2021, PG-13, 2h 43m). James Bond is enjoying a quiet retirement in Jamaica when old CIA friend Felix Leiter shows up needing help — a rescue mission that spirals into a hunt for a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the movie starting at 7:30.

7. Yoga at the Eye

Sept. 5 | The Joule, beneath The Eye sculpture | $25, 60 minutes

Set against the backdrop of Tony Tasset's 30-foot Eye sculpture — one of downtown Dallas's most iconic landmarks — this monthly outdoor class is a 60-minute, all-level Vinyasa flow led by instructor Alex Jalbert, hosted by The Spa at The Joule. It's a restorative, energizing way to start the day with one of the city's most photographed backdrops right behind your mat.

8. No Te Dejes

Aug. 29–Oct. 9 | Latino Cultural Center | Free, reception 6–8 p.m.

Artist David Hanes-González explores the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the Mexican boxing community through photography and sculptural installation in this solo show, merging the sacred language of religious altars with the raw textures of boxing gyms across Mexico to create a deliberately devotional atmosphere. Hanes-González, a Chicago-born visual artist, filmmaker, and photographer with a Mexican mother and American father, has spent the past four years living and working in Mexico City — a return to the culture that shaped his family and continues to inform his exploration of identity, faith, and resilience through documentary photography and film. Opens with a reception on August 29 from 6 to 8 p.m.

9. Screen Dallas - The Last Critic

Sept. 3 | Texas Theatre | Free, doors at 6 p.m.

Screen Dallas hosts a red-carpet screening of The Last Critic, winner of Oak Cliff Film Festival and SXSW's Best Documentary. The first documentary feature about Robert Christgau, the self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics," traces how he helped invent modern music criticism in 1967 covering the Monterey Pop Festival for Esquire, then redefined the form with his letter-graded Consumer Guide reviews at The Village Voice — 18,000 of them over more than 50 years, still ongoing today on Substack. A contributor to Rolling Stone, Creem, Spin, and The New York Times, Christgau championed CBGB punk alongside George Clinton's funk and Al Green's soul, and helped launch the careers of writers like Greg Tate, Colson Whitehead, and Ann Powers. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a 7 p.m. pre-show featuring freelance music writer and former Village Voice editor Joe Levy, followed by the screening and a Q&A with the producing team and special guests.

10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™ in Concert

Sept. 4–6 | Meyerson Symphony Center | From $58

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Lawrence Loh, performs the score live as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince plays in HD on the big screen above the stage. Relive year six's thrilling tale of Harry's obsession with a mysterious potions book, this time scored in person by a full live orchestra. Showtimes run Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Kom volgende week weer eens kijken voor nog meer leuke dingen om te doen in Dallas, want er valt altijd wel iets nieuws te ontdekken in Dallas.