A distant dream now, but that was the best contingent of all of the administration, vibrant and…read morepeaceful weekend that ended yesterday in historical Quakertown Park, close to the downtown Denton City Offices and Council Chambers and Courts. It's got to take supreme team work amongst the City Departments during this autumnal celebration of our musical performance environment in north Texas, where both of our great universities pitched in sending us some of the finest live performances, set up on seven different stages in different parts of the Civic Center Park. I was perhaps most impressed with the city's answer to clean up the party zones, which span the area of the grounds of the Emily Fowler Public Library to the walls that surround our iconic Public Swimming Pool, which has a beautiful connection between our individual swimming participants, who flock to the Bell Avenue, and Texas Woman's University-adjacent location. I am proud of my hometown and have generally been drawn into the hordes of people who come here from homes nearby and enjoy the atmosphere of Gemuetlichkeit (German for warmth of friendliness that comes from mutual community that accompanies the Oktoberfest season of harvest time. A mighty shout out to the fabulous Local Grammy Award winning nuclear polka group, Brave Combo, and specifically band leader and guitarist Carl Finch, who founded the band with North Texas State University Jazz Music legends, along with Bubba Hernandez and their trumpet player Danny. I am so blessed to have Denton, Texas as my hometown and this annual event is going to be continuing far, far into the future. A shout out to my companion for the closing act, the most excellent Little Jack Melody, who rocked the Festival Stage, next door to City Hall. Cheers, Mark C. Fearing, Ph.D. (ShredderV@aol.com).

If you don't know why people say Denton is different..... than you have not been here. Orrrrr you…read morejust don't see why it matters. Sometimes it is safe to not know anything about Denton, but if you are adventurous....... You need to go. Just go.

The best live music event in Denton, Texas is undoubtedly the best sampling of three day weekend…read moreevent in the Autumn month of October; the big event is the Sunday night finale of local Nuclear Polka band, Grammy Awards winners and home town heroes, Brave Combo; band leader Carl Finch and saxophonist Jeffrey Barnes, and their background vocals and instrumentals from University of North Texas will groove you to finality and peace. Cheers, Mark F.

Nice event, lots of different vendors, good food, and Great music. Seems to get bigger every year.read more

Place was old but well maintained, the Christmas decor was cute. Love the decor…read more Popcorn $3 which was way smaller than cinemark's... small soda $1 Since the theater is small, there's no bad seat really .. you could still see the performer from balcony.

Come back too think I like art deco things and that Palace Arts Center is no exception to that!…read more I have come to this beautiful Center, which's claims home to the Lancaster Theatre and the Palace Theatre for several events from seminars to concerts, to movies and plays. It used to even house the Grapevine Opry back in the day! It is a sight to behold especially at Christmas time when they decorate it for the holidays!

Went for my birthday! This was so much fun, busy but not insanely long so a good way to end the…read morenight. The actors were awesome, there were a lot of them in the parking lot, and the houses were pretty scary for 2 adults that aren't very jumpy. Relatively short wait, 3 haunted houses in 1 place. 2 are fused together and the other is standalone. Love the "lore" and stories that have been engineered for the haunts.

Pretty scary! Long wait though. My friends kept laughing at me getting scared but she wanted me to…read morego first

I've gone to TFW for a number of years and have made friends with people all over the country…read morebecause of it. To the point that the main reason I keep coming back is that it's become more a reunion of friends vs coming for autographs/shopping. Though of course they have amazing vendors every year that I tend to get gifts for friends and family's birthdays or way early Christmas shopping when there. A few tips for newer people coming, go ahead and spring for the weekend pass if you can. Friday is the best day for autographs. If there is a must get autograph, go get in those peoples lines first because some can take a long time. Saturday is usually the busiest day and Sunday usually the most chill. The snack bars and coffee shop are the most reasonable priced food options but I usually just bring my own water & have some of my own snacks in my bag ... then eat when I've left or on my way in as I live close enough to come & go. Bring cash, because most if not all of the guests that you would get autographs from only take cash. Vendors take card though so if your not big on getting autographs then cards can be used! Get the cash from your banks ATM before you arrive. That should be a habit of anyone going to a convention, don't depend on the ones there. ATM's on site have run out quickly in the past, like they have at other major conventions, and the company doesn't come out to refill it as quickly as could be needed. Then that way if there was an issue your bank is able to help you because it's your banks ATM malfunctioned vs a 3rd party ATM. (Which all the convention or hotel can do is give you the contact info for the ATM company because it's their machine that malfunction. Also Have fun, meet some of the fellow fans & people watch!

I am in my late 40s and have been a horror fan and somewhat connected to the industry for a long…read moretime. I have been going to horror conventions since the 90s. Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, Monsterpalooza,Midsummer. Etc. This year was my first time at Texas Frightmare. All in all it was a good time (except for day 2 but I'll go into that in a bit). I had purchased a 3 day pass with souvenir tshirt. Friday I got there really early, met up with my industry friend from Hollywood, got my wristband and killed some time until the event opened up. Throughout the 3 day event I managed to score a few autographs for both me and a friend of mine from SoCal that couldn't make it...as well as a bunch of blu rays, books and art. And I caught some really good panels and screenings as well as getting my picture taken with many people. The people that run the event are friendly and seem to know what they're doing. The vendors in the merch room are good. But there are a couple of big issues. One is the parking. On Friday I arrived shortly after 11 and managed to park in Terminal C which is the event. Saturday I arrived a bit late...around 12 noon and was detoured to terminal B and was told I had to take a shuttle to terminal C. The line for the small shuttle was massive and folks in the line had clocked it at being over an hour long. I decided to leave Sunday I got there much earlier and lucked out by snagging the last parking spot on the roof of terminal C. I felt bad for the row of cars behind me. The fix for this problem would be to move to a venue outside of DFW since parking lots are shared with airport traffic. You don't run into parking problems at other horror cons. Now I get why they have it there. Because it's convenient for out of towners. But Monsterpalooza is in Pasadena nowhere near an airport and yet still attracts people from all over the country and world. My next issue them mixing autograph booths with merch booths. It makes it hard to enjoy shopping at booths when you're bumping into people who are in a massive line waiting for signings so close to where merch is sold. Monsterpalooza has most autograph oops on the outside of the vendor room to leave room for the vendors. Also a bigger volume of vendors would be nice. I know many local horror shops that couldn't set up because there wasn't anything available. Monsterpalooza and Midsummer both have more vendors. Then my final critique is the screening room in the maverick hall. To put such a great documentary Beset by Demons in that room, on such a tiny screen with crappy sound was insulting. I have a bigger portable screen and higher quality projector I use in my backyard for my backyard parties. I felt bad for Mr. Henkel. But the crazier part is that I messaged Frightmare on FB offering constructive feedback and they flat out shot me down. In my industry I work closely with businesses to help them grow in a sustainable way and part of that is them being open to candid feedback from their customers and patrons. It took me by surprise they they would be against feedback. There is always going to be 'went wells' and 'better next times'. I remember giving Tony Timpone feedback on one of their last Fangoria Weekend of Horrors and he thanked me for it. We're still friends to this day because feedback is not out of meanness but out of wanting them to do better and better. I want Frightmare to continue to be successful. And if they listened to their patrons they would be.

Went to see *Madama Butterfly* on April 12 at the 2 PM showing. The performance was amazing--truly…read morecaptivating from start to finish. The subtitles above the stage made it much easier to follow along with what was being sung, which really enhanced the experience. The atmosphere was perfect for an afternoon performance, and it was nice that drinks were available. The staff was friendly and helpful throughout. We sat in the upper section, and it did get a little warm--but considering it was a full house, it was understandable. Overall, it was a beautiful performance and a great experience.

I visited the Bass Performance Hall in Ft. Worth recently to see a middle of the week, matinee…read moreperformance of Hamilton. It was amazing! Set design, costumes, choreography, singing, music, acting were all top notch. Some of the things you should know before you go. 1) Parking can be a challenge because they don't have their own garage. There are several garages nearby (about a block walking distance), but you will want to arrive really early to make sure you have time to find a space, make your way to the theater, and find your seat before the show starts. We were coming from Richardson, so we knew we would need over an hour to travel there, but because of the parking situation, we left even earlier at 11:30 am for a 1:30pm show time start. 2) The building is quite modern. They have several entrances, but you may be asked to wait on the street in the elements before they open the doors and start scanning tickets. Be prepared to stand in the elements. 3) The seats are quite narrow and the arm rest is shared with your seat mate. If you are an average sized American, you might find the average seats quite uncomfortable. The person next to me was blubbering through her seat into mine. She was also very enthusiastic tapping along with the beat. Both things were unpleasant for me. There are box seats that have independent chairs. If I return to this venue, I will pay for one of these to avoid feeling like a sardine. They have an amazing line up of shows. I wish they were closer because I would definitely be a season ticket holder so that I could enjoy every single one of their amazing shows.

Our first opportunity to enjoy the Denton Blues Festival since covid and couldn't be happier. The…read morevenue is smaller than the Jazz Festival, with one stage, but we don't have to make decisions and run back and forth. Currently enjoying Little Elmo and the Mambo Kings and they sound great. We'll be right here till they're done for the day. Plenty of food trucks and drink booths and okay to bring your own coolers, if you prefer. I'm loving life!

What a fun weekend, so many bands and it's free, great sound system. Lots of trees for shade,you…read morecan bring your chairs and a cooler. Lots of food trucks/tents which is nice. Bathrooms were in the shade and were clean. Crowd was smaller than jazz fest which is nice. Highly recomend

The good: Place is…read moregreat acoustically for most music Getting in and out is easy. Restrooms and facilities are immaculate Food concessions are priced well below other venues (think where some local football and baseball are played) People are above average on friendly and helpful scale. The Bad: Seating - it's like they said challenge accepted from some airline company who said we can cram more people in with less leg room. We sat in the middle of a row and every time someone fitter in needed to get out/in the entire row to the aisle had to step out to accommodate them.

If you are in Fort Worth you have to catch an event at dickies arena!…read more We went to a March madness game here - I don't think I've ever been to a cleaner arena. There was no scuffs on walls, the bathrooms were nice and clean, even people seemed to be respectful and not leave messes behind at their seats when they left. It isn't a huge arena so there really aren't bad seats. We enjoyed our time here and would return if ever in the Dallas or Fort Worth area again.