Weekend Festivals

July festivals kick into high gear this weekend. Temperatures are predicted to peak around 100 on Saturday and Sunday. Even so, my recommendations for this weekend are outdoors. I will also recommend that you remember your sunscreen and hat.

The biggest and best festival this weekend will be the Taste of Dallas festival in West End. More than thirty-five restaurants will showcase their dishes among arts and crafts, live music on two stages, a kids' area, and a midway. The restaurants will accept cash for their samples, but you'll need to buy tickets for the rides on the midway. Admission to the festival is free. It opens at 11 a.m. Fri-Sun and closes at midnight Fri, 1 a.m. Sat, and 8 p.m. Sun. Take DART's Red Line or Blue Line to the West End station.

Another fun festival -- and it's pretty big, too -- is the Parker County Peach Festival in Weatherford. It, too, has food, drinks, art, crafts, kids' area, and a midway. The best part is the perfectly-ripe peaches. They pick them starting early in the morning of the festival and don't stop picking until the day is over. The peaches sell continuously, so you know you're walking out of there with peaches less than two hours off the tree.

Saturday afternoon, the Latino Cultural Center (2600 Live Oak in Dallas, (214) 671-0045) is having Target Second Saturday. Enjoy bilingual storytelling, salsa dance lessons, and craft workshops. Saturday evening, stroll around downtown Plano with Downtown@Sundown. Shops and restaurants stay open late. Take DART's Red Line to the Downtown Plano station. On Sunday, the NCHA Cutting Horse Spectacular kicks off at Will Rogers Coliseum in the Fort Worth Cultural District.