The Ultimate Guide to Your Weekend in Dallas, March 11-13

Do This! 
The Dallas Flea quickly became one of the largest shopping events in the city. It grew so large that it has expanded, changed locations and even re-branded. This year, Flea Style takes over Fair Park’s 85,000-square-foot Automobile Building (1010 First Ave.) with a huge array of vendors selling handmade and vintage wares ranging from clothing to jewelry to art. Doors open at 9 a.m. Saturday and the sales will keep racking up through 4 p.m. Entry is $5; free for kids 12 and under. If you stay all day or need nourishment, there will be food trucks on site. More at fleastyle.com. 

The pursuit of utopia has long motivated artists and philosophers alike. For 16 years, Swiss-born artist Mai-Thu Perret’s work has centered around The Crystal Frontier, a fictional feminist art commune of her own creation. The women in her imaginative work in various media live alongside one another in the New Mexico desert. For the upcoming Sightings exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center (2001 Flora St.), Perret will create an installation related to that ongoing project, tying it to the recent development of a secular Kurdish community in the Syrian region of Rojava, which is utopian in its democratic practices and female-driven leadership in an unlikely, war torn place. In this way, Perret will blend fiction and reality, in an exhibition that uses art to envision a more perfect world. The exhibition opens at 11 a.m. Saturday, and the artist will give a talk at 2 p.m. Admission to the Nasher is $10. More at nashersculpturecenter.org.

Embody your spirit animal at the Texas Furry Convention this weekend. The animals take over the InterContinental Dallas (15201 Dallas Parkway) from Friday through Sunday. For more information and tickets, head over to furryfiesta.org.

Eat This! 
Is there anything better than a well-made cheese plate? No. The answer is no, of course there isn't. It might be basic to admit, but a good blue, next to a triple cream, paired with a handful of cornichons might be culinary heaven for this writer. Which is why the new Scardello cheese shop in the Farmers Market is the place to be this weekend. This smaller version of their shop on Oak Lawn Avenue will focus on American and Texan cheese. Which again, we're totally OK with. 

It seems Dallas' favorite meat lover, Alice Laussade, has lost her edge. She ate a vegan chili at Wayward Sons and liked it. We know, we're confused too. But I guess that means we have to try it?

We don't know why there's a Hello Kitty food truck serving desserts. We don't know why we're recommending Hello Kitty cookies. We don't know why you'd wait in Hello Kitty lines. Yet, here we are heading to the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday when it sits outside the Crate and Barrel store in Plano's Shops at Willow Bend, 6121 West Park Blvd. Again, no idea. 


Drink This!
Here in Texas, we're proud of our Bluebonnets. And what do we do when we're proud of something? We drink to it. The Bluebonnet Brew-Off is an annual home-brewing competition. Starting Friday there will be talks, brews and a pub crawl. Head to the Irving Convention Center, 500 Las Colinas Blvd., from 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $30 for a tasting glass or $40 to add some hors d'oeuvres. 

If you're looking for somewhere to drink, you might not immediately think: Let's go to the movie theater! But that's because you haven't been to Vetted Well yet. The new bar at the new Alamo Drafthouse in The Cedars doesn't just serve up some delicious drinks, they do it on a huge patio with killer views of downtown. Don't argue with us, just go see it for yourself.

You want to drink. You want to be outside, if this godforsaken rain will ever stop. Well, lucky for you, Savor the Arboretum wants to help you check both those things off your list. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, wander the flowers and sip wine with likeminded booze hounds. There will also be food. The cost is $70 for non-members. Proceeds benefit the educational department at the Arboretum.

Hear This! 
The National goes classical at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra this weekend.  They'll perform "St. Carolyn by the Sea," a new collaboration between Bryce Dessner and Kronos Quartet, as well as  “Lachrimae,” a 2012 string orchestra composition from Bryce. Tickets are just $19 and include pre-show s'mores and a free drink. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

This weekend is all about musicians changing paths or making small alterations to their art. Take singer songwriter Korby Lenker. He'll be in town this weekend with his book, Medium Hero, which tells 27 stories culled from his 15 years as a solo touring indie artist. But while he's at Wild Detectives at 7 p.m. Friday, he'll play some songs as well. 

If you just want to dance this weekend — and isn't that true every weekend? — the Prophet Bar is ready with the dance floor and the tunes Saturday night. Dance Yourself Clean is an indie-pop dance party inspired by LCD Soundsystem and a number of your other favorite bands.  Starts at 9 p.m.; admission is $10. 

Watch This!
All the Way at the Dallas Theater Center delves into the year between Lyndon B. Johnson's "accidental presidency" and his winning an election. His pivotal campaign hinged on his passing a civil rights bill,  advocated for by Martin Luther King, Jr. There's all of this drama and more in a political thriller that keeps pace with a show like House of Cards.

The Internet is a world unto itself and as we become ever more connected with it, the future becomes a dark, complicated, digital place. This is the setting for Jennifer Haley's play, The Nether. It's the near future and everything is at your fingertips. There's addiction, violence, pleasure and crime. See the play at 8 p.m. Friday or Saturday this weekend at Stage West (821 W. Vickery Blvd.) or through Sunday, April 10.

There's something magical about a story that stands the test of time. In the case of Cinderella, the magic is in the story itself. The fairy godmothers, the mice turned into horses, the magical glass slipper. Now, Texas Ballet Theater brings the magic to the stage at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive. Performances will take place at 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15-$180.