The Ultimate Guide to Your Weekend, June 17-19

Do This!
For a free and fun Friday night, hit up the Dallas Arts District’s Summer Block Party, which will close off Pearl and Flora streets from 6 p.m. to midnight. The Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Klyde Warren Park and Crow Collection of Asian Art will all open their doors and Shakespeare performances, dancing and live music will fill the streets. You'll also have a chance to catch a screening of The Grand Budapest Hotel (free) or Best in Show ($15). Food trucks will be on site to provide refreshments. More info here.

Gaming can be a solitary activity, but not this weekend. Saturday and Sunday the Plano Centre (2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway) will host the Let's Play Gaming Expo, which will feature 90 classic arcade games and 85 vendors, plus tournaments for games like Tetris and Super Smash Bros. Weekend passes are $25 online or $30 at the door, whereas single-day passes are $15 online and $20 at the door. VIP weekend passes are $75. More info at letsplaygamingexpo.com.

Instead of apathetically handing Dad another Bass Pro Shop gift card this weekend, put in some bonding time with him over $2 root beers and hot dogs during Father’s Day at the Dallas Arboretum (8525 Garland Road). On Sunday there will be remote control airplane demonstrations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and free superhero-themed crafting in the Children’s Adventure Garden from 1 to 3 p.m. For more info and tickets, $10 to $15, visit dallasarboretum.org.
Eat This!
Just looking at Vivo 53's sundaes is enough to give anyone a stomachache, but don't be a wimp. Your Instagram followers will lose their minds when they see a pic of The Holy Spumoni, made with spumoni ice cream, macarons, crushed pistachios, maraschino cherries, a swirl lollipop, rock candy, whipped cream and sprinkles. Tag any of their over-the-top creations and you stand to win a free sundae at Vivo 53 (525 Taylor St., Fort Worth) every week for a year. Time to find a good personal trainer.

This one isn't so much about what you'll eat, but how you'll eat it: The Blind Cafe is coming to town to give Dallas diners the opportunity to enjoy a meal sans the sense of sight. You'll be served a vegetarian meal and wine in a pitch-black room while you're serenaded with live music. The experience is intended to be fun, but also to raise awareness of what it's like to be blind or visually impaired. A Q&A session will follow. Seatings are at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 1321 Valwood Parkway in Carrollton. Tickets are $85. More info at theblindcafe.com.

If you decide to kick a soccer ball in Klyde Warren Park this weekend, you may not want to immediately add back those burned calories with brisket sliders from the food trucks. You're in luck, because an equally tasty but more healthful option now awaits you outside of the nearby Dallas Museum of Art. A stand there (1717 N. Harwood St.) is selling a type of chickpea-based crêpe called socca — also the name of the stand — which is popular in southern France. The pancakes are topped with a variety of salads, including a pulled chicken, artichokes, roasted grapes, goat cheese and mixed greens version that hits the spot. 

Drink This!
This week, Midnight Rambler (1530 Main St.) at The Joule was named one of the 10 best hotel bars in the country. Celebrate the accomplishment by tipping back one of their award-winning cocktails. The Sonic Bloom, a sparkling cocktail made with white apple brandy, chamomile, leatherwood honey,
Texas wildflower bee pollen and sparkling wine sounds just right for a hot summer evening. Who knows, maybe the bee pollen will even help with those seasonal allergies.

Another cocktail that's right for the season? Our cocktail of the week: Smoke on the Water at Abacus (4511 McKinney Ave.). It's assembled from shishito pepper-infused tequila, Aperol, Yellow Chartreuse and lime juice, resulting in a drink that's light, bitter and herbaceous, with a touch of heat. Our cocktail writer Susie Oszustowicz has the recipe for you here.

Hear This!
One of Texas' best cover bands visits the Granada Theater (3524 Greenville Ave.) tomorrow. Heartbyrne is a tribute to the Talking Heads, and they draw heavily from the theatrics of the band's legendary 1983 Stop Making Sense tour, immortalized on film by Jonathan Demme. See them with Phish cover band A Live One at 7 p.m. Tickets are $19 to $30.

New York noise rock band A Place to Bury Strangers plays the Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd.) Saturday with True Widow as part of the Oak Cliff Film Festival. The performance at 10:45 p.m. will follow a screening of the movie Goodnight Brooklyn: The Story of Death By Audio. The documentary's subject is an underground Williamsburg music venue that was owned by several of the band's members. Buy a bundled ticket package to both the screening and concert for $12 here. 

Another great choice for Saturday night is King Camel's Local Education Fest at Three Links (2704 Elm St.) in Deep Ellum. The lineup is stacked with some of Dallas' best and danciest bands including Party Static, Pearl Earl, Dark Rooms and Field Guide. For the full lineup and tickets, $10 to $13, click here. The music starts at 7 p.m.
See This!
One of the best possible uses of your weekend is to park your butt in a chair at the Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd.), or any of several other venues in Oak Cliff, and catch what's playing for the Oak Cliff Film Festival. It's an excellent escape from the heat, and there are lots of great throwbacks, and contemporary documentaries and narrative features showing, with many directors and actors in attendance. See Jamie Laughlin's guide for our picks, or visit oakclifffilmfestival.com for a complete schedule.

JM Rizzi's career as an artist began with doing graffiti as a teen growing up in Brooklyn. But he later went on to study art formally and now he merges the two, for evolved takes on street art like the 150-foot mural he completed for Josey Records. His exhibition opening at 6 p.m. Saturday at Erin Cluley Gallery (414 Fabrication St.), The Sanest Days Are Mad, is made up of large paintings and works on paper that show the roots of urban expressionism. More info at erincluley.com.

When Anastasia Munoz isn't renovating churches, she's playing the lead in She Stoops to Conquer at Shakespeare in the Park. So, the 18th century farce wasn't written by Shakespeare — Oliver Goldsmith penned this one — but it makes for an equally good excuse to indulge in an elaborate picnic and some local theater at the same time. Catch it at 8:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Samuell Grand Park (1500 Tenison Parkway). More info here.