Cheap and Free Events in Dallas This Week

Like Water for Chocolate with Chef Pop-up
Texas Theatre
231 W. Jefferson Blvd.
7 p.m. Wednesday
$10
Like Water for Chocolate is one of the more intense, ardent films ever conceived, in no small part because its source material employed food as a symbol for all of life’s passions. It’s difficult to divorce food from emotion, and in the case of the film’s tragic heroine, Tita, it can become a vessel for feeling as well. In this season of culinary indulgence, it’s no accident that the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., is showing director Alfonso Arrau’s sensual and heartrending fairy tale; we all understand that food often connotes love and belonging. In that spirit, before and after the 8 p.m. screening Wednesday, Texas Theatre will present a special food pop-up from former Komali and Kitchen LTO chef Anastacia Quinones. This master of modern Mexican cuisine will serve the perfect accompaniment to the magical movie beginning at 7 p.m., and bites and deserts follow the film at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10; bring additional cash for the pop-ups. Find more information at thetexastheatre.com. — Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Mike Mezuel at Dallas Center for Photography
Dallas Center for Photography
4756 Algiers St.
7 p.m. Wednesday
$5
Few genres of photography separate iPhoneographers, amateur shutterbugs and professional photographers more than images of the night sky, severe weather, aurora borealis, super moons, eclipses and the like. North Texas-based Mike Mezeul II is an internationally published photographer whose breathtaking landscape and nature photos regularly go viral on social media, and his images have been featured on numerous blogs and news sites. Recently, Mezeul’s work has been published in National Geographic Jr., BBC Magazine and Digital Camera Magazine. Mezuel isn’t shy about sharing how he plans, captures or creates his awe-inspiring images. Dallas Center for Photography and Texas Photographic Society present an evening lecture by Mezeul from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at DCP, 4756 Algiers St. Tickets cost $5 on DCP’s website; remaining tickets will be available at the door for $10 (cash only). For tickets and more information, visit dallascenterforphotography.com. — Daniel Rodrigue

A Christmas Story
Denton Community Theatre
214 W. Hickory St.
7:30 p.m Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
$10 and up
When you get your fill of Scrooge, the Grinch and all those Nutcrackers, consider Denton Community Theatre’s presentation of A Christmas Story, a tale of the ’40s based on the 1983 movie of the same name. The dilemma: Ralphie Parker (played by fifth-grader Jackson Blanton) yearns for a genuine Red Ryder BB gun, but the adult response is always: “You’ll shoot your eye out.” Celebrate with Ralphie, his folks and the school bully at the theater, 214 W. Hickory St. in Denton. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 17. For tickets, $10 to $22, call 940-382-7014 or visit dentoncommunitytheatre.com. — Reba Liner

KwanzaaFest
Automobile Building in Fair Park
1010 First Ave.
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Free
After a one-year hiatus while KwanzaaFest founder John Wiley Price, the Dallas County commissioner, faced federal corruption charges, the two-day event returns to Fair Park this weekend. (Price was acquitted in April on seven charges; the jury deadlocked on four.) There will be live music, vendors selling holiday gifts, children’s activities, free health screenings and more from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Automobile Building, 1010 First Ave. in Fair Park. Admission is free, but tickets are required. For more information, including ticket locations, visit johnwileyprice.com. — Emily Goldstein

A Thing Added
500XGallery
500 Exposition Ave,
7-10 p.m. Saturday
Free
The adjunct professor rarely gets his or her due. Faculty get all the love (big paychecks, tenure, ivory towers) while adjuncts, the instructors who are generally immersed in practical aspects of their fields by day, endure crappy pay and diminished respect from their institutions and/or students. But good adjuncts are critical to the learning experience for college students. They bring applied knowledge and career insights in ways that pure academics can’t. In art, this is especially important. Kudos, then, to 500X Gallery, 500 Exposition Ave., for recognizing adjuncts’ hard work in A Thing Added, which opens with a reception from 7-10 p.m. Saturday. Participating artists are adjunct instructors who balance and inform their teaching with their creative exploits. Other shows opening that night include a joint exhibition between Molly Valentine Dierks and Yuni Lee called Squeeze Machine and an exhibition from Houston’s Box 13 art collective upstairs. Each will be on view through Jan. 7. Visit 500X.org for more information. — Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Winter Wonderland ?in the Foundry District
Feathers Boutique
2621 Whitmore St., Fort Worth
2-6 p.m. Saturday
Free
If holiday shopping has become an impersonal, stressful and downright unpleasant task, it’s time to inject a little spirit into your gift-buying excursions. The Foundry District’s Winter Wonderland event from 2-6 p.m. Saturday at Fort Worth’s Feathers Boutique, 2621 Whitmore St., has activities and indulgences that will give you a little boost as you hustle and bustle this holiday season. Ronnie the Red Nose DJ (aka Ronnie Hart) will spin a merry soundtrack as you pile up marshmallows at the Quarry Coffee Bar hot chocolate station. Hand over your Foundry District purchases for glitzy adornments at the Wrapping Bar for a $5 donation, venture to the Rapping Bar, where clever young artists put a rhythmic spin on Christmas classics, and commemorate the experience with a photo booth snapshot with the Grinch. Don’t forget to bring a found object to contribute to a collaborative Christmas art installation by artist Katie Murray. The final product will remain up as a representation of the spirit of community through Jan. 15 in the Foundry District. Admission is free; see thefoundrydistrictfw.com for more. — Jennifer Davis-Lamm