There’s always something new to experience in Dallas’ rich and multifaceted art scene, especially in the spring and summer, when much-anticipated annual events fill the calendar. With inspiring museum shows and exhibits, live dance and music performances, and its downtown Arts District (named the No. 1 Arts District in USA Today’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards), the city is awash in culture.
Attend the Dallas Blooms Festival
The Dallas Blooms Festival at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is one of Dallas’ many great art activities in spring and summer.
Courtesy of Visit Dallas
Celebrate the art of nature by enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon in March at the annual Dallas Blooms show at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, the largest floral festival in the Southwest. This year, more than 500,000 bulbs will be in full bloom, including cheerful yellow daffodils, hyacinths, and cherry blossoms. Sculptor Seward Johnson will also install his life-size, humanlike bronzes throughout the garden.
See opera at Winspear Opera House
Time travel to Paris’ Latin Quarter in the 1830s with Dallas Opera’s performance of Puccini’s La Boheme in March. Keep a tissue handy as the heartbreaking tale of love, jealousy, and tragedy unfolds at the acoustically renowned, horseshoe-shaped Winspear Opera House, one of the nation’s top performing arts venues.
View local and international art during Dallas Arts Month
Explore local artists and artisans at the Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair.
Courtesy of Visit Dallas/Kristen Collie
Check out the special exhibitions and performances of Dallas Arts Month in April, a month-long celebration of the city’s rich art scene. Admire modern and contemporary artworks from the world’s top galleries at the annual Dallas Art Fair. The Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair keeps it local, featuring blocks of booths with works for sale by Texas and regional visual artists and musical performances.
Attend the Dallas International Film Festival
See dozens of exclusive screenings, documentaries, and world-premiere films at the annual Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), the largest film festival in North Texas, from late April to early May. Stick around afterward for Q&A sessions to meet the filmmakers and actors and learn more about the creative process behind the finished product. With the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently naming Dallas as one of the six Oscar-qualifying cities in the U.S., DIFF is an Oscar-qualifying festival for three categories: Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, and Best Narrative Short Film.
Celebrate Pride Month in the Dallas Arts District
The city’s LGBTQ community comes together during Pride Month at the Dallas Arts District Pride Block Party, a free downtown festival in June hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and Crow Museum of Asian Art. Enjoy special musical performances by the Emmy Award–winning Turtle Creek Chorale, drag queen contests, Pride-themed permanent art collection tours, late-night live music, and more.
Support Dallas Black Dance Theatre
The Dallas Black Dance Theatre
Courtesy of Visit Dallas
Slip into your bell bottoms and boogie down at disco night at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s annual fundraiser in June, “The Big Dance.” Held at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Soul Train–inspired evening includes dinner and a show, followed by dancing for all with 70s disco hits performed by the Special Edition Band.
