16 September 11 - 17, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents there are festivals across Texas that are worth taking a day trip for. Who knows? Maybe the grass is greener (or should we say, browner and crunchier) somewhere else. Here are 15 Oktoberfest and fall festivals around or within reasonable driving dis- tance of Dallas. Addison Oktoberfest Sept. 18–21, 4970 Addison Circle, Addison The city of Addison kicks off fall with a mas- sive Oktoberfest celebration. Addison Okto- berfest has been dazzling attendees for over 35 years with live polka bands and a wide se- lection of food, ranging from traditional German fare like schnitzels and bratwurst to more standard fair bites like corn dogs and fried turkey legs. There will also be plenty of themed games to get involved with, like Bier Bingo, Bier Barrel Rolling and, for the ladies with big hands and ample serving experi- ence, Bier Maiden Stein Carrying. More in- formation is on the Addison Oktoberfest website. Garland Guzzler and Fall Fest Sept. 20, 5–10 p.m., 300 N. Fifth St., Garland If you’re looking to get ahead of that holi- day weight, this is the 5K for you. After embarking on a run (or stroll) through downtown Garland, participants will be rewarded with event swag and a party at Intrinsic Smokehouse and Brewery. Then head over to Garland’s Fall Fest on the Square, which includes a pumpkin patch, live entertainment and games. Registra- tion for the 5K is $35 and must be com- pleted ahead of time on the event website. The Fall Fest is free. Pumpkins & Pints Night, Dallas Arboretum Sept. 22, 24 26 and 29, Oct. 6, 8, 25 and 25, 6–9 p.m., 8525 Garland Road Hopefully, we’ll be getting some cool fall weather any day now, and we can’t think of a better place to spend those crisp evenings than the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. The garden’s Pumpkins & Pints Nights, held in the sprawling pumpkin vil- lage with its 110,000 inhabitants, will offer live music and craft beers and wines from Gil’s Elegant Catering. Admission starts at $21.95 and can be purchased on the Arbore- tum website. Fort Worth Oktoberfest Sept. 25–27, 2401 University Drive, Fort Worth In addition to dachshund races, barrel roll- ing, carnival rides, a 5K and live music from 50 (FIFTY!) polka bands, Fort Worth Okto- berfest, a Munich-style celebration located in Trinity Park, will have all of the fair food you could want and then some: sausage, pretzels, cotton candy and seasonal craft beer. More ambitious eaters can sign up for the brat-eating contest. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased on the Fort Worth Ok- toberfest website. Legacy Hall Oktoberfest Sept. 27, noon – 6 p.m., 7800 Windrose Ave., Plano Legacy Hall, a food hall and live music venue in Plano, is encouraging guests to throw on their lederhosen and help them “bring Oktoberfest to the ‘burbs.” There will be autumnal photo opps and pop-up vendors, live polka and country music, a costume contest and, of course, enough bratwurst, pretzels and beer to send you into a coma. Tickets start at $15.26 and can be found on Eventbrite. Oktoberfest Dallas Sept. 27, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., 8100 Doran Circle Located at Flag Pole Hill Park in Lake High- lands, this Oktoberfest is going big with food selections from some favorite local vendors. Pizza will be served by Cane Rosso, burgers will come courtesy of Burger Schmurger and Aw Shucks has the seafood locked down. Oak Highland Brewery and Vector Brewing will be there, too. There’ll be brat- wurst and beer to go with the live entertain- ment, including Red, a Taylor Swift tribute act, and Superfreak, a disco cover band. Tickets are $25 for adults and $12 for kids. Kids under four get in free of charge. More information can be found on the event’s website. Frisco Oktoberfest Oct. 4, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., 1 Cowboys Way, Frisco The Star in Frisco, the Dallas Cowboys training facility, will transform into a giant biergarten for the annual Oktoberfest cele- bration on Oct. 5. Look for elk brats, German sausages, Bavarian pretzels, skillet potatoes and turkey legs, among other festival foods. Activities include keg rolling, a brat-eating contest and a beer-stein race. The event is free to attend and activities are $25 each to participate. Murphy Maize Days Oct. 4, noon – 9 p.m., 550 N. Murphy Road, Murphy Corn is a staple of fall and is incorporated into just about every festival’s food selection, but nobody’s serving up corn like Murphy, a suburb in Collin County. You can eat the corn. You can get lost in a corn maze. You can participate in a cornhole tournament. If you have kids who might think all of this is a little too corny, they can hang out at the Primrose Playground for toddlers or the si- lent disco for teens 13 and up. More informa- tion can be found on the Murphy Maize Days website. Texas Mushroom Festival Oct. 18, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., downtown Madison- ville When we talk about fall flavors, the conver- sation is usually dominated by pumpkin spice, apples and caramel. But have you considered the humble mushroom? Madi- sonville, a town about two hours south of Dallas known as “The Mushroom Capital of Texas,” certainly has. Their annual festi- val is, in their own words, “a celebration of fungi, [...] a testament to community spirit, agricultural innovation and the incredible potential of sustainable farming.” Attend- ees will enjoy a mushroom market, art and photography contests, a silent auction and a chance to participate in the Shiitake 5k. More information can be found on the event’s website. Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival Oct. 21–26, 126 W. Main St., Fredericksburg This is the place to be for foodies and wine snobs this fall. Located in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, the Fredericks- burg Food & Wine Festival event will offer culinary demonstrations, food and bever- age tastings and a wide selection of wine, beer and liquor as well as demos on how to pair them. You’ll walk away armed with the knowledge necessary to throw the most en- viable dinner party your friends have ever seen. Early bird badges have already sold out, but further updates will be on the event website. Silobration Oct. 23–25 601 Webster Ave., Waco This homecoming event, hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV fame, is the party of your Gen X mom’s dreams. In addition to shopping for home decor, apparel and art, attendees can enjoy live music and eat at various on-site food trucks. There are also plenty of year-round attractions for Gaines enthusiasts to check out, including sit-down restaurants, hotels, tours of their properties, and several weeks’ worth of furniture shop- ping. The event itself is free to attend, but you’ll need tickets to attend special events like concerts. Wurstfest Nov. 6–16, 178 Landa Park Drive, New Braunfels Located in New Braunfels, about four hours south of Dallas, this 10-day festival offers only the best of the wurst. Dozens of ven- dors throughout the festival will serve tradi- tional Bavarian and Alpine food and beer to the sweet, sweet sounds of live polka music. Many of the food vendors are local organiza- tions; can’t wait to see what the Noon Lions Club and the Comal County Senior Citizens Center cook up (and we’re not being sarcas- tic here). Visit the website for a list of each day’s concerts, which include a fair amount of yodeling. Entry on some days is free (like Monday – Thursday) and $18 and up on weekends. Children under 12 are always ad- mitted for free. Entry costs more at the door, so plan ahead if you can. ▼ EAT THIS SPEED-BRUNCHING IN IRVING THIS NORTH TEXAS RESTAURANT SERVES A DAZZLING ASSORTMENT OF ELEVATED NORTH INDIAN CUISINE.BY NICK REYNOLDS I f you’re interested in a culinary crash course in authentic North Indian cuisine, one of the best places to do that is The Delhi Lounge in Irving. Per the website, The Delhi Lounge (which opened last December) pays “hom- age to the flavors of one of the oldest cities in the world,” Old Delhi. We visited during the weekend brunch buffet, which takes place Saturdays and Sundays in a limited window that runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. At $40 a person ($20 for ages 5-12), you can experience a dazzling showcase of ele- vated Indian fare. We counted 24 buffet dishes in total. And for the record, this isn’t a traditional buffet where you grab a plate, get in line and start stockpiling food. We arrived in a party of three and each got to choose one dish. When our table finished the first round of plates, we were allowed to order another trio of menu se- lections. And you can keep going until the noon to 1:30 brunch window closes (we went through 16 dishes total before bow- Visit Addison Fall in North Texas means Oktoberfests. City of Ate from p15 Nick Reynolds Eggs tikka masala toast was one of the 16 dishes we tried.
