World Food Championships will return to Dallas for its third year November 9-13, 2022. This culinary competition features over 1,000 visiting chefs competing for industry awards. WFC is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year and will occur in Centennial Hall at Fair Park. From “Burger Battles” to exclusive, award-winning VIP tastings, there are dozens of mouth-watering opportunities for foodies of all ages to take a bite out of the event that ABC News called the “Olympics of Food.” Tickets for the year’s biggest and most unique live-cooking competition are now on sale.  

According to event organizers, this year’s event will offer a new experience for DFW foodies. “Every year we receive questions from attendees about how they can taste the incredible dishes in our tournament,” said Mike McCloud, President and CEO of WFC. “So this year, for the first time, we are creating an experience that will allow them to do just that. While our trained judges will still determine who wins each category and moves on to the $100,000 Final Table, we are introducing an unparalleled opportunity to sample 10 incredible dishes from each of our categories through our People’s Choice “Best of the Fest” tasting sessions.” According to McCloud, WFC’s Best of the Fest will allow almost 1,000 people to taste actual dishes from the BBQ, Bacon, Burger, Dessert, Sandwich, Seafood, Soup and Steak categories. In addition to sampling up to 10 dishes in each session, ticket holders will get to vote for their favorite to determine a People’s Choice winner.

Since tickets for the Best of the Fest will go fast, WFC organizers have also planned many more tasting moments in the event, ranging from four-course tastings at the VIP Champion’s Tables to an all-you-can-eat sampling at BBQ Ranch. Here’s a list of the official WFC 2022 line-up:

BBQ Ranch ––  Back by popular demand, WFC and its barbecue partners will be serving up over 5,000 pounds of barbecue favorites in a Texas-style block party that lasts all five days of the event. Pitmasters and celebrity chefs will be conducting demos, free samplings, competition secrets and one-on-one insights about the hottest grills and barbecue pits on the market. This attraction is part of the event’s general admission and always features special guests making incredible food.

Best of the Fest ––  For the first time in WFC history, YOU get to taste the championship food that is normally reserved ONLY for certified judges!! WFC’s Best of the Fest will feature actual dishes entered into our competition by award-winning chefs. From Dessert to Seafood to Sandwich and Barbecue, our most popular categories will be available through special “session tastings” with a chance for ticket holders to choose their very own winner! You’ll get to taste all 10 samples of the session you choose, and then vote for your favorite – which will help WFC determine which team wins their way back for the 2023 Championship!

Biscuits & Jampionships –– WFC has once again partnered with the Dallas-based jam and jelly company, The Jelly Queens, to bring back the “Biscuits and Jampionships” ancillary chef competition. Determined through an online recipe contest months prior, ten finalists will recreate their recipe submissions in person at WFC for an esteemed panel of judges. This delicious and quirky contest is always full of fun surprises, thanks to the lovable Jelly Queen herself, Donna Collins. All sweet tooths should standby for leftovers!

Bourb’N’Que –– What do you get when you mix premium bourbon tastings with delicious ribs prepared by the best pitmasters in America? The best barbecue block party - and People’s Choice voting - Dallas has ever seen (or tasted)! If you’re a foodie who loves barbecue and bourbon, then this is a WFC must-attend event!

Burger Battle –– Watch TEN WFC Burger All Stars as they compete for the title of the People’s Favorite in an epic two-hour sampling extravaganza! Guests will receive tastings from all ten contestants before casting their votes for THE best burger of the night. If you love a good burger, then you’re going to LOVE this championship throwdown which will be paired with fantastic brews and views of the Fair Park Esplanade!

Champion's Table –– Feast on exclusive tastings from WFC’s previous champions as your sweet and savory guide. This is your chance to taste $100,000 worth of award-winning dishes that will be perfectly paired with cocktails to enhance your experience. This luxury tasting event will take place next to the heat of WFC’s live-action culinary competition in Kitchen Arena and available only to VIP patrons.

E.A.T.™ Food Judge Class –– An interactive event where you’ll be trained by a WFC associate or professional chef on the E.A.T.™ methodology, which is WFC’s scoring system that enables judges to rank any dish based on three key criteria: Execution, Appearance and Taste. Only foodies who are E.A.T.™ certified are eligible to judge at WFC’s Main Event. As a bonus, all judges will receive FREE WFC General Admission access throughout the five-day event.

Fire Woman –– Ninety minutes. Four award-winning female pitmasters. One challenge. Zero help. Need we say more? Join us to see who will rise from the smoke to take home the Fire Woman title and cash prize.

Hall of Taste –– This is a new area to Food Sport, where WFC attendees have the opportunity to sample a variety of complimentary food-related products as they enter the gateway to Kitchen Arena. From exclusive Texas bites to hidden gems throughout America and the World, this area will warm up everyone’s palettes as the perfect prep for the sights, sounds and smells of WFC.

VIP Lounge –– Want to sip and savor in comfort while taking in all the WFC action? Then the VIP Lounge is your best bet! Attendees will enjoy a separate entrance to the main event, a private cash bar, TV screens to keep up to date on all of the action, complimentary chef demos and sampling, featured cocktails & refreshments, and more!

Tickets to WFC start at $10 and are available HERE. Stay up-to-date on all culinary competition news, by following the World Food Championships on Twitter (@WorldFoodChamp), Facebook and Instagram (@WorldFoodChampionships).

On Thursday, May 19, the bright golden haze on the meadow met the sophistication of the Dallas Arts District inside the stunningly sleek Bill Booziotis designed home of Broadway Dallas patrons Laree Hulshoff and Ben Fischer. Ticketed guests enjoyed an expansive view of Downtown Dallas from the twenty third floor of Museum Tower at a Spotlight Dinner benefiting Broadway Dallas in anticipation of the upcoming performance of OKLAHOMA! The premise of the series, generously sponsored by PNC Bank, is for patrons to experience exclusive dinners in beautiful Dallas homes or venues, each showcasing a specific Broadway Dallas production. This dinner, imagined and executed by Hamilton A. Sneed of HAS Events, marked the third event in this new fundraising series.

During the reception hour, attendees enjoyed an interactive experience with W Durable Goods who stitched personalized bandanas for each guest and could wander the spacious apartment admiring the owner’s personal art collection curated from their many years of travels. Ken Novice, Broadway Dallas President and CEO gave a toast to welcome guests and introduced performers Rachel Poole, Preston Page, and Joey Rodriguez who serenaded the room with songs from OKLAHOMA! including Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ and People Will Say We’re in Love.  A four-course dinner paired with HALL wines was served at curated tables placed throughout the home, creating an intimate experience for theater lovers to share conversation. The evening ended with another live performance of The Surry with the Fringe on the Top. In attendance were PNC’s Beth Hollowell with her husband Mark, Janey and Jack Lowe, Stacey Angel, Broadway Dallas Board Chair Tom Watson and Chair Elect Mark Cannon with their wives Leigh Ann and Elizabeth respectively; Lynn Fisher, Robert Emery, Broadway Dallas Board member Chris McRore and his wife Julietta, Broadway Dallas Board member Gail Plummer and more.

Tickets for Broadway Dallas’ Fall 2022 Spotlight Dinner Series, which are $450 a seat, go on sale this June and will be themed around the shows Ain’t Too Proud, My Fair Lady and SIX. Proceeds will benefit artistic and educational excellence at Broadway Dallas including programs in classrooms and throughout the community that serve more than 40,000 students and families each year. www.BroadwayDallas.org 

The 3d Annual Frisco Uncorked festival presented by H-E-B took place on Saturday, April 30th at Frisco Square. Trinity Falls, a master-planned community located in McKinney, hosted the VIP tent complete with a photo booth, Blue Fizz sparkling cocktail with edible flowers, and an appearance from W Durable Goods who customized Trinity Falls-branded bandanas for attendees. Twenty-one award-winning wineries, fifteen delicious restaurants, and a wide variety of retailers were on hand for shoppers to enjoy and shop. The event was held in partnership with the Frisco Arts Foundation.

On Wednesday, March 23, Dallas Summer Musicals announced a name change to Broadway Dallas and its 22/23 Germania Broadway Series Season, at the first in an exciting new “Spotlight Dinner Series” of fundraising evenings generously sponsored by PNC Bank.

The premise of the series is for attendees to experience exclusive dinners in beautiful Dallas homes or venues, each showcasing a specific Broadway Dallas production. On the menu for each event will be fine wines, an exquisite multi-course plated dinner, and exciting show-themed entertainment and décor. These intimate events, filled with song, fun facts, and always a surprise or two, benefit artistic and educational excellence at Broadway Dallas, including programs in classrooms and throughout the community that serve more than 40,000 students and families each year.  Interested patrons can select the dinners that entice them the most - or sign up the entire series.

Wednesday’s kickoff saw Ken Novice, Broadway Dallas President and CEO, host the first Spotlight Dinner on the stage of Music Hall at Fair Park in celebration of the Broadway Dallas renaming and the 2022-2023 Season Announcement. Starting in an elaborately decorated Music Hall lobby, in celebration of the show announcement of My Fair Lady, Act One had guests sipping on British inspired cocktails including classics Pimm’s Cup No.1, the Vesper Martini and Elderflower Gin & Tonics paired with passed hors d’oeuvres of tea sandwiches, mini-Yorkshire puddings, and stilton tartlets with pear, with an intermission solo performance of “I Could Have Danced All Night” by Riley Jones, a student from the Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards program.

For Act Two, attendees entered the theater and were greeted by the unveiling of the dinner on stage. Attendees including Diane and Hal Brierley, Calvert Collins-Bratton and Vince Bratton, Laree Hulshoff and Ben Fischer, Leigh Ann and Tom Watson, Gail Plummer, Stacey Jones Angel, Kymberley Scalia, Terry Loftis, Veletta Forsythe Lill, and Helen and Brendan McGuire dined on a four-course meal inspired by the 2022-2203 Broadway Dallas season. From the amuse bouche of a deconstructed lobster roll to the decadent milk chocolate crème brûlée dessert the evenings dinner was accompanied by HALL Wines, additional unveilings of the season’s shows including Moulin Rouge, Six, To Kill A Mockingbird and more,  [HS3] and additional performances from the Broadway Dallas HSMTA students.

The evening concluded with the curtain lowering and rising again with an encore bow, lights, applause, and a champagne toast to celebrate the announcement that Moulin Rouge! will be the theme for the Broadway Dallas Gala to be held Saturday, April 1, 2023, with Kathryn and Craig Hall serving as Honorary Chairs.

While the organization’s name is changing, its commitment to bringing the best Broadway productions to Dallas is not.  As the premier presenter of touring Broadway in the region, Broadway Dallas will continue to deliver the hottest, most award-winning, edge-of-your seat exciting shows to its diverse, multi-generational audiences on a year-round basis (not just in the summer). The name change and a series of new sub-brands also reflect the core of Broadway Dallas’ mission to grow its already expansive education programs and community partnerships which allow the organization to share the “Spirit of Broadway” with members of the community who might not otherwise have access to these world-class productions.
 

“We changed our name from Dallas Summer Musicals to Broadway Dallas to accurately capture who we are and what we do. It encompasses not only the magnificent work that we put on our stage, but also our other exciting events and community engagement and education programs through which we share ‘the spirit of Broadway’ with as many members of our community as possible,” said Ken Novice, President and CEO of Broadway Dallas.

The next Spotlight Dinner Series will be held on April 27 at a private estate centered around Broadway Dallas’ upcoming performance of Mean Girls. A revival of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! will be the third themed dinner in the series, held on the 23d floor of Museum Tower on May 19. These intimate gatherings of 50 are already sold out.

Tickets for Broadway Dallas’ Fall 2022 Spotlight Dinner Series, which are $450 a seat, will go on sale in late Spring 2022 and will be themed around the shows Ain’t Too Proud, My Fair Lady and SIX. Proceeds will benefit artistic and educational excellence at Broadway Dallas including programs in classrooms and throughout the community that serve more than 40,000 students and families each year. Tickets on sale now at www.BroadwayDallas.org.  Please contact Deborah Ann Trimble, Broadway Dallas Vice President of Development at 214-413-3957 or dtrimble@broadwaydallas.org for more information.

The Fourth Annual Polar Plunge took place on Saturday, February 19 for residents of Trinity Falls, a master-planned community in McKinney, Texas. Temperatures were at around 45 degrees this morning, but that didn't stop residents from taking a thrilling dip in the community pool located inside the Trinity Falls development. Those who dared to take the plunge received a commemorative Polar Plunge T-Shirt. Members from resident Girl Scout Troop Number 572 were onsite to help warm up guests and jumping participants with complimentary Hot Cocoa. This event is just one of the many engaging amenities on Trinity Falls robust activity calendar, providing residents ample opportunity to connect and bond with neighbors.