Warm weather is on the way, y’all. Time to start embracing the blossoming flowers, sunlit brunches, and open-air experiences as things begin heating up.
Read on to discover 60 awesome things to do in Dallas this April!
1-5. Marvel at the magic of a Candlelight Concert
With spring weather comes new events and experiences that we’ve not been able to enjoy for several months. One of these is open-air concerts which offer an enchanting combination of flickering candles and melodic sounds.
Fever Originals’ wildly popular Candlelight series concerts are taking place in extraordinary indoor and outdoor venues all over the city this April so rain or shine there is always an option whatever the weather.
Here are some of our favorite Candlelight concerts taking place this month:
- Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay at Frontiers of Flight Museum on April 6
- Candlelight: The Best of Hans Zimmer at Frontiers of Flight Museum on April 7
- Candlelight: Favorite Anime Themes at Edison’s on April 12
- Candlelight: The Best of Joe Hisaishi at Venue Forty50 on April 26
- Candlelight: A Tribute to Beyoncé at Edison’s on April 27
Can’t decide? Gift a loved one a Candlelight Concert with a Candlelight gift car.
Choose from concerts featuring jazz, rock, pop, classical music, and even movie soundtracks in spectacular venues around Dallas or any other city in the U.S. throughout the year.
See the full list of candlelight concerts taking place in Dallas here.
6-7. Attend a concert beneath the stars
Concerts Under the Stars is another terrific outdoor musical experience taking place this month. Both Sinatra Under the Stars at Sky Blu Rooftop Bar on April 12 and Amy Winehouse: Jazz Under the Stars at Sky Blu Rooftop Bar on April 26 provide two enchanting events inspired by musical giants this month.
8. Explore over 40 miles of Bluebonnets at Ennis’ Bluebonnet Festival
The oldest such trails known in the state, tens of thousands of visitors make the short drive over to Ennis, the “Official Bluebonnet City Of Texas”, every year to view this wonderful wildflower show.
Sponsored by the Ennis Garden Club, over 40 miles of mapped driving Bluebonnet Trails will be on show from April 1-30 while a special Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival will take place from Friday, April 14th to Sunday, April 16th featuring live music, arts & crafts, food, and more.
9. Check out the tulips at the Texas Tulips fields
If you’ve always imagined yourself running through a sea of tulips rather than a sea of bluebonnets worry not as the other side of Dallas you can do just that.
Located just north of Dallas in Pilot Point, Texas Tulips offers visitors an expanse of gorgeous tulip fields and the chance to pick their very own brightly colored spring blooms.
Imported directly from the Netherlands, Texas Tulips have one of the most impressive arrays of tulips in the whole state with over 100 varieties and a kaleidoscope of color.
More information can be found here.
10. Head over to Dallas Arboretum for the annual Dallas Blooms festival
Back in central Dallas, you can embrace the colors of spring in all their beauty at Dallas Arboretum’s stunning annual Dallas Blooms festival now open through April 16.
“The spring festival showcases an explosion of color from 100 varieties of spring bulbs, 500,000 spring-blooming blossoms, thousands of azaleas, and hundreds of Japanese cherry trees” as well as “a variety of themed programming, demonstrations, and more” reads the Dallas Arboretum website.
More information can be found here.
11. Kick back in an AMC movie theatre
All those running through flowers might make you just want to kick back for a couple of hours and why not do that in a state-of-the-art AMC movie theatre?
With awards season having just highlighted so many fantastic movies of all kinds from all around the world, picking something to see shouldn’t be a hard task.
Whether it’s a rainy afternoon or a special date night, all the best critically-acclaimed creations, comedies, action flicks, and everything in between can be enjoyed at a discount in Dallas, and nationally, with an AMC black ticket.
Grab discounted tickets to a movie showing here.
12. Book a Dining in the Dark experience
If you’ve feasted your eyes away on flowers and movies why not give them a rest and let your other senses kick into gear with a Dining in the Dark experience?
Eminent psychologists have been advocating dining in the dark as the ultimate taste experience for many years. Studies show that 80 percent of people eat with their eyes; with that sense eliminated, the theory is that the other senses—namely taste and smell—take over to elevate your meal to a whole new level.
After donning your blindfold in the darkened, candlelit room, you’ll soon realize that focusing on taste and smell alone can be a truly enlightening experience—provided you’re not afraid of the dark!
Tickets and more information can be found here.
13. Check out the world’s biggest esports arena
Swap that blindfold for a VR set and reignite your reactions with a trip down to the biggest virtual reality esports arena on the planet.
Located 30 minutes north of Dallas, the new Esports Virtual Arenas (EVA) outpost in Flower Mound is their first in the United States and offers a groundbreaking new form of esports that transports gamers into massive arenas to face off against other players in epic battles.
More information can be found here.
14. Let loose at the newly opened Bolder Adventure Park
Time to come back to the real world, and wake that body up with a real taste of the action at the new Bolder Adventure Park.
A short drive down to Grand Prairie, thrill-seekers of all kinds can find an array of activities across a 66,000-square-foot air-supported dome.
Rain or shine, two via ferrata courses, rock climbing, zip lines, tubing slides, synthetic ice skating, bumper cars, paintballing, a six-story free fall experience and much more promise an exhilarating day out for friends or family with different levels of adventure for all.
More information can be found here.
15. Relax with yoga, namast’ay for the goats
The answer to all that exercise? Goats and yoga of course. Participate in the cuddliest iteration of yoga to date, at this herd of adorable goat yoga events in Dallas this season.
Like meditation, yoga is a practice of centeredness and concentration. It’s a discipline of balance in the face of stress and adversity — that which may be difficult to do when resisting the urge to snuggle one of the baby goats bouncing around.
16. Head out to Frisco to one of the biggest libraries in the state
An enormous new state-of-the-art library has just opened in Frisco after two years of construction. Located inside a warehouse built in 1998 for rocket construction, the $62 million project offers a 157,000 square feet space that is now one of the biggest in the state.
With 40-foot floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the new library is swamped with natural light and boasts a terrace, a second-floor mezzanine, a community event room, quiet reading rooms, and plenty of other gathering spaces for different ages and purposes.
One of the library’s most exciting new features is its striking centerpiece “Rexy”, a full-size model of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that greets kids in the children’s area.
17. Cozy up in the nooks of this bookish coffee shop
For all the people out there who have ever been shushed at a library – this place is for you. At the Funny Library Coffee Shop, guests are encouraged to crack up as much as they are to crack open one of its many books.
For all the people out there who have ever been shushed at a library – this place is for you. At the Funny Library Coffee Shop, guests are encouraged to crack up as much as they are to crack open one of its many books.
Shelved inside the ground floor at the Virgin Hotels Dallas lies the Funny Library. Part coffee shop, part library, part Kubrick set a la A Clockwork Orange, Funny Library offers Dallasites a hyper-stylized escape from the hustle and bustle.
18. Visit the Rainbow Vomit Art Exhibition
Dive into a colorful, immersive art experience at one of Dallas’s top-rated museums! Built by over 15 artists, Rainbow Vomit is an interactive photography exhibit that will transport you to an incredible world of art, light, and sound.
From becoming the hero of your own comic to riding a hot air balloon, the possibilities are endless at this amazing gallery. So call your friends and get ready to add some rainbow to your Instagram feed.
Grab tickets to the Rainbow Vomit Art Exhibition here.
19. Put your problem-solving skills to the test with an escape game
Located in Grapevine Mills Mall, The Escape Room Dallas offers a one-of-a-kind, premium adventure experience. Once you arrive, a dedicated game guide will take you on your adventure and help you as needed.
You will have exactly 60 minutes to escape. Follow the clues and solve puzzles with your team to complete your mission together. Choose to play one of four uniquely immersive games such as Gold Rush, Prison Break, The Heist, or Playground. You may or may not escape… but you’ll definitely have fun!
Get tickets to The Escape Game Dallas: Epic 60-Minute Adventures here!
20. Try an indoor skydiving experience
With a new season comes new dreams, new objectives, and things to tick off our bucket lists. One thing that always finds itself on bucket lists worldwide is skydiving. Now, we’re not saying jump out of a plane in the winter skies above Dallas, but we are saying give it a go in a state-of-the-art indoor skydiving center to get a taste of what it is like and why it is such a popular ‘do before you die’ activity.
At iFLY Dallas, a premier indoor skydiving facility powered by a state-of-the-art vertical wind tunnel, you can experience free-fall conditions, feeling the adrenaline rush as you float at wind speeds reaching 130 to 175 mph (209 to 282 kph).
The stable wall-to-wall airflow keeps you from falling off the column of air, and your instructor will be on hand at all times to guide you. No experience is necessary, and afterward, you can take home a personalized flight certificate!
Grab tickets to an indoor skydiving experience here.
21. Check out the new Portillo’s
It’s very unlikely you’ve not heard of Chicago’s famed fast-casual restaurant Portillo’s. After opening in 1963 as a small hot dog stand, Portillo’s has since flourished into a Midwestern treasure of national recognition.
Locals and tourists alike now flock to locations around the Windy City to taste the all-beef Vienna hot dogs that have helped shoot the Chicago-style hot dog to fame.
If you’re a fan, or you’re eager to see what all the fuss is about, you’re in luck as Portillo’s has just opened its first Texas location.
Located in The Colony, the iconic Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs are now obtainable just 30 minutes north of Dallas!
22. Travel back to the ’80s at FlashBack RetroPub
Some of us weren’t around in the ’80s, but that doesn’t stop us from the feeling of vivid nostalgia we have for new wave hits, technicolored-patterned jumpers, and all the zaniness the decade had to offer.
For those who were around in those simpler times, games that are today seen as extraordinarily plain and primitive compared to today’s digital depth were portals to unchartered territory.
Hours and hours were spent contesting those most competitive cutting-edge classics that were so beautifully basic.
In Dallas’ Bishops Arts District old gamers can take a trip down memory lane, or simply a journey back in time at Flash Back Retro Pub in Oak Cliff.
More information can be found here.
23. Sneak into a stylish speakeasy
There’s something special about speakeasies. The secretive, vicarious forbidden feel of transporting back to the prohibition or entering an establishment only known to the few in-the-know fellow attendees makes imbibing cocktails all the more tantalizing.
Here are a few of our favorite speakeasies in and around Dallas:
- Rare Books Bar is a bookish speakeasy that requires a password via phone booth to enter. Read more about it here.
- Atwater Alley is a dimly lit and old timely yet enchanting den hidden near some dumpsters behind Henry’s Majestic. Read more about it here.
- Room 520 at the SOVA Hotel is an intimate speakeasy adorned with Japanese-inspired decor selling six unique Kyoto-styled cocktails from the confounds of one secretive hotel room. Read more about it here.
24. Satisfy your sugar cravings at this sweet cocktail bar
If you like your drinks sweet the Sweet Tooth Hotel is your boozy new sanctuary. The offbeat art venue’s Stay Sweet Candy Bar offers a cocktail program influenced by the likes of Starburst, gummy bears, and all your favorite candies.
25. Dine royally up in the clouds
Savor the high life this winter by escaping the city streets to the Monarch Restaurant high in the sky. Perched on the 49th floor of The National, Monarch is designed with floor-to-ceiling windows, giving restaurant-goers the chance to dine on their wood-fired Italian dishes with an epic view of the city.
[Featured image from Shutterstock]