Star-Spangled Summer
No matter your locale, the Lone Star State has a wide variety of celebrations to suit your patriotic fancy. One such soiree takes place July 3 in the Dallas suburbs: Addison Kaboom Town, which welcomes more than half a million guests. Make your way to one of dozens of watch parties, check out an air show featuring skydivers and aerobatics, and gaze at one of the top fireworks displays in the nation. Down in Central Texas, Belton’s annual Fourth of July parade commemorates its centennial year with celebrations July 3-6. The events draw more than 50,000 people and include a kickoff barbecue, a festival at Nolan Creek, a carnival, and a three-day rodeo. The fun continues over in Round Top with a 169-year-old tradition—the oldest Fourth of July celebration west of the Mississippi. Guests enjoy an all-American parade with more than 140 entries, live music, and a barbecue lunch.
Arts & Culture
CENTRAL TEXAS
Kerrville
Southwest Gourd Fine Art Show
Through July 6
The nation’s finest gourd artists compete in a variety of categories in this annual show. Kerr Arts & Cultural Center, 228 Earl Garrett St. 830-895-2911; kacckerrville.com
NORTH TEXAS / PANHANDLE
Canadian
Humanities Texas Traveling Photo Exhibit: Rural Texas Women at Work 1930-1960
June 26-July 31
This photo exhibit highlights industrious and enterprising rural Texas women who performed the common tasks of housewives everywhere—cooking, housekeeping, and doing laundry—but also raising large gardens, tending flocks of poultry, making and repairing furnishings, driving tractors, and taking over the men’s work during World War II. River Valley Pioneer Museum, 118 N. Second St. 806-323-6548; rivervalleymusem.org
Corsicana
Hotter Than Blue Blazes: Summer in the West
Through July 30
Featuring artwork from the Pearce’s permanent collection, this exhibit contrasts the recent show The West in Winter and communicates the ferocious heat of the Wild West. See the lives of ranchers depicted in art during the hottest part of the year, or catch a moment of respite as a cowboy naps in the shade. Pearce Museum at Navarro College, 3100 W. Collin St. 903-875-7642; pearcemuseum.com
Salado
Salado Legends
July 20, 27; Aug. 3
Central Texas’ favorite outdoor musical drama depicts life in Texas in the 1850s. Tablerock Amphitheater, 409 Royal St. 254-947-9205; tablerock.org
Wichita Falls
ArtZeum Interactive Kids’ Exhibit
June 21-Aug. 11
This year’s exhibit, Small Wonders: Insects and Art, combines interactive play areas and large-scale photos of insects to create a one-of-a-kind art experience for kids and adults alike. Kemp Center for the Arts, 1300 Lamar St. 940-767-2787; artscouncilwf.org/artzeum
EAST TEXAS
Kilgore
Texas Shakespeare Festival
June 27-July 28
For the 34th summer season, East Texas’ only professional theater produces As You Like It, Born Yesterday, Othello, Into the Woods, and The Girl Who Cried Throgmonster. The performances historically sell out fast. Van Cliburn Auditorium, 1000-1198 Brook Drive. 903-983-8119; texasshakespeare.com
SOUTH TEXAS / GULF COAST
Corpus Christi
Frida Fanatics
