Art, books and chiles: the weekend top 10’s ABCs

ZestFest 2018

1 We’ve all got that friend who likes his or her food the hotter, the better. This annual event is a perfect fit. It has cooking demos from celebrity chefs such as Fort Worth’s Jon Bonnell and Eddie Deen of Dallas, food booths, eating contests, live music and — best of all — food samples, lots of food samples. The fest is Friday-Sunday at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. Daily tickets are $11-$14, a weekend pass is $33. Get them at zestfest.net.

Stock Show continues

2 The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo rounds its midway point like a barrel racer and sprints for the end (Feb. 3). Along the way there’s still plenty to see and do, including special days (Military Day, Jan. 29, and Cook Children’s Day, Jan. 31). See rabbit shows, barrel racing competitions and twice-daily rodeos, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Get more details and ticket information at fwssr.com

Rhett Miller

3 The lead singer of the Old 97s travels west for a solo show in a pretty intimate space: the W.E. Scott Theater at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Not exactly Miller’s usual club setting, but the acoustics and sight lines should be primo. The show is at 8 p.m. Sunday (doors open at 7 p.m.), with singer Matthew Ryan opening. Tickets are $20 via www.ticketfly.com. The theater is at 3505 W. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth.

Movie and ‘air conducting’

4 We’re still waiting for Fort Worth’s own Alamo Drafthouse, and it’s events like these that make the rejection hurt even more. The Richardson Drafthouse is showing “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” featuring an extremely young Keanu Reeves, at 6 p.m. Saturday and, in a nod to the movie’s “air guitar” scenes, is hosting an “air conducting” competition. The winner gets an all-expenses-paid trip to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, and you can vote for the audience favorite. Admission is $12.99. The theater is at 100 S. Central Expressway, Richardson. 972-534-2120; drafthouse.com

‘Steve Moya & Christie Neale’

5 Support local art with this show at the Arlington Museum of Art. An opening reception with the artists — Moya is from Arlington and Neale from Fort Worth — will be 7 p.m. Friday at the museum. RSVP at arlingtonmuseum.org. The exhibit runs through Feb. 25. Admission is $8, $5 seniors and students, and age 12 and younger are free. The museum is at 201 W. Main St., Arlington. 817-275-4600; arlingtonmuseum.org

‘Focus: Nina Chanel Abney’

6 The latest in the Modern’s series of small shows with big messages is this exhibit of the Chicago-born artist’s recent pop-culture-influenced work. Abney’s paintings feature bright, flattened images and messages about topics as diverse as celebrity and police brutality. The exhibit opens Saturday and runs through March 18. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is at 3200 Darnell St. 817-738-9215; themodern.org

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

7 The all-male drag ballet company — the subject of the recent documentary “Rebels on Pointe” — makes an unforgettable impression with equal parts physical comedy and athleticism. The documentary will screen at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and the troupe will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets for the screening are $5-$10 and for the performance, $20-$30. Both events are at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving. 972-252-7558; www.irvingartscenter.com

Cliburn at the Kimbell master series

8 Instead of ailing pianist Janina Fialkowska, this concert will feature pianists Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1-2 in the intimate concert hall of the Piano Pavilion at the Kimbell Art Museum. Fleisher will perform works of Bach-Petri, Debussy, Chopin and Bach-Brahms’ “Chaconne for the Left Hand,” from the Violin Partita No 2 in D Minor. After intermission, the duo will perform Schubert’s Fantasy in F Minor for Piano Four Hands and Ravel-Garban’s “La Valse.” Tickets are $25-$85. The museum is at 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. 817-212-4280; cliburn.org

‘How Rednecks Saved the World’

9 This week’s quirky item features Joe Bob Briggs, and if you don’t know who that is, then read along, little doggie, read along. The Dallas syndicated film critic and comedian (real name: John Irving Bloom) will perform a one-man show that explains — among other mysteries — “the identity of the first redneck in history” at 8 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas. Tickets are $16-$17 from prekindle.com.

Friends of the Dallas Public Library book sale

10 Book lovers won’t hesitate to load up on water and snacks and hit the road for a worthy sale, and this one, held twice a year, promises volumes of volumes and loads of digital media stuff, too. It’s 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St., in downtown Dallas. There’s free parking in the underground garage (the entrance is on Wood Street). For more information, call 214-670-1400 or 214-670-1458, or visit dallaslibrary2.org

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Art, books and chiles: the weekend top 10’s ABCs."