Thanks largely to Super Bowl XLV and the Dallas Mavericks’ trip to the NBA Finals, 2011 was a celebrity-packed year for the Dallas nightlife scene.
Check out our absolute favorite nightlife photos of the year. Right here.

photography by Jerry McClure
Some of you will want to do it big. Sequins, jackets, bottle service, the whole nine yards.
Some of you will want to celebrate casually. At your favorite bar. With your favorite beer. Wearing your favorite jeans. (I’ll be in a cabin, far away, enjoying the peace and quiet.)
No matter your disposition, here’s a list of everything we know is happening around town for New Year’s Eve. Feel free to check back for updates to the list.
And for New Year’s Eve meals and New Year’s Day brunches, check out SideDish.
Selecting the most memorable images from D Magazine this year was tough. At first it was going to be a list of the 10 best, but that proved impossible. Then it was going to be the best 12 or 13, but that still left too many out. So I included even more.
See for yourself. Click here for my review of the best pictures of the year.
Since apparently this and this wasn’t enough for you insatiable party animals, I’ve outlined a few extra activities for you to fall back on. Happy holidays, one and all.
Friday (Dec. 23)
If you haven’t done so already, get yourself over to the Kalita Humphreys Theater to see the Dallas Theater Center’s version of A Christmas Carol. Read FrontRow’s glowing review before you go.
Our very own online lifestyle editor, Raya Ramsey, acquitted herself nicely this morning on WFAA’s morning show, Daybreak. But that dastardly host Ron Corning cut her off before she could plug our website featuring even more ways to celebrate the holidays: www.dmagazine.com/events
She’ll get you next time, Corning.
I like Medieval Times. I had a birthday party there a few years back, which you might want to read about here. (Perhaps not. Your call.) I also love puns. So when Tim forwarded a press release entitled “Resistance is Feudal at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament,” I was buying whatever they were selling. In this case, they were touting a new performance—the first since 2007—and an upgraded menu, and they wanted a fair lady or lord of the media to attend. Jump if you care about my adventures.
Starting sometime last week, the folks behind City Lights (Downtown Dallas Inc., Neiman Marcus, the City of Dallas, Downtown Residents Council, Planet Productions, and Excitement Technologies Group) started making downtown a bit brighter. They shut off streets, pulled out cherry pickers, and strung 3,882 lights (3,800 C9 bulbs, 32 LED pars, and 50 12-inch LED strips–I know you wanted to know specifics). I ran into Jaime Clintsman, events coordinator at Downtown Dallas Inc., last night and we watched as this orb/ball/sphere was hung into place. For someone who has been working nonstop for the past week (as has the entire staff), she sure seemed happy. She promised DDI has a lot of tricks up its sleeves, and that we’re all in for a good show on Saturday. This photo was taken by neighbor Noah Jeppson. I don’t think I’m ruining any of the surprises, because unless you’re Jeppson or one of his neighbors, I doubt you’ll get to view the show from above.
Of course, the tree in Main Street Garden will be lit as well. I’ve made it known how I feel about that thing. Regardless, I’m pretty excited for Saturday night.

Ruby is alerting Faith that her blood sugar is not within the 100-180 range. Photo by Type 1 Diabetes Foundation
Often, while in the middle of a deep sleep, I start dreaming about food—sandwiches, doughnuts, steak, peanut butter cups, gnocchi. It doesn’t matter what it is, I dream about it all. Slowly, I start to wake up. And that’s when I realize my blood sugar is low. I stumble into the kitchen, and in a half-conscious state, dig through the pantry and eat. The next morning, I go back to the kitchen and am ashamed of what happened during my “midnight feeding.” It’s amazing what combinations of food seem like a good idea when I’m half-awake. (Apparently, peanut butter goes with everything.)
This is just what life’s like for me, a type 1 diabetic. I was diagnosed when I was 3. Two-year-old Faith Wilson was diagnosed when she was 9-months-old. She doesn’t dream about food when she’s low. She doesn’t wake up. Life for her, her siblings, and her parents has been a nightmare. But things got just a bit easier a year ago when the Wilsons got Ruby, a British Lab.
FrontRow Live, presented by Chevy at the Dallas Contemporary, is THIS THURSDAY, November 3 from 8 p.m. to midnight. You are going to be there.
Why, you ask? Simple.
Where have you ever been in your entire life in which in one space on one night there was: three DJs blasting an eclectic mix of electronic music; a band of buskers, playing under the night sky surrounded by five food trucks; a video artist mixing visual projections to accompany the musical performances; a classical violinist; a pop-up coffee shop via Pearl Cup; live screen printing; a short film/video art screening room; three galleries full of visual art; a troupe of street dancers; and a series of spontaneous live theater performances? Where? The closest I can claim to have come is a warehouse party on the outskirts of Rome I attended a decade or so ago, but even that featured only two-thirds of the artistic offerings we’ve mashed-up for FrontRow Live.
Oh, and did I mention the event was FREE and your first four beers were FREE too?
Right, so go here now and get your tickets. And go here to find out about all of our performers. Oh, and one thing to note: though the event and your first four beers are free, do bring some cash for the food trucks. Which food trucks? Here’s the list:

Cedar Springs' Halloween Block Party's a top spot for costume watching. (photography by Christina Barany)
Photos from this weekend’s Halloween festivities are here. My personal favorites awards go to the Oregon Trail couple with dysentary and measles, the twisted Mad Hatters, a couple of Pop Tarts, the gay pack of flamingos (aka: “The Flamingays”), the troll doll duo (rhinestone bellybuttons included), a box of Franzia, a frightening Joker chick, and the Ninja Turtle girl. Enjoy all of our weekend’s Party Pics and stay tuned for more tomorrow.
Oh and we’ve got more happy Rangers fans photos (pre-loss, of course) from Ten Sports Grill. So there’s that.
I hope you’ve already secured your FREE tickets to FrontRow Live, which will take place at the Dallas Contemporary on November 3, from 8 p.m. until midnight. If you haven’t, you can get them right here. If your response to that sentence was, “what the what?” then allow me:
FrontRow Live is something we’re calling the “one night high brow, low brow blowout,” and all that means is that we have created an event at the Dallas Contemporary that will bring together an eclectic mix of all sorts of cultural exploits.
Like what? Jump
Check out our guide to plan your own trip to Fair Park.
Thanks so much to photographer Jason Janik for all the wonderful pictures he shared with us during this year’s fair.