Nightlife

Despite its decent size, Fort Worth still feels like a small town, and plenty of young people looking for a bigger scene split for Big D on weekends. Still, Cowtown has a few good nightlife options, especially at the two extremes of the scale: high culture and cowboy culture. Whether you're inclined toward opera, symphony, and theater, or up for some boot-scootin', Fort Worth has some fine venues. Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards is where you want to be on weekends for some hot Western swing, Texas shuffle, and honky-tonk tunes. The street becomes a cruising strip of souped-up trucks, guys and dolls in cowboy and cowgirl finery strutting their stuff, and dancers ducking into honky-tonks and cowboy discos. Meanwhile, Sundance Square is full of bars, restaurants, cafes, and movie theaters, and is mobbed on weekend nights (luckily, there's plenty of free parking after 5pm and on weekends right in and around the square). City Streets, 425 Commerce St. (tel. 817/335-5400), is a one-stop-shopping entertainment complex, generic and mild-mannered but popular with visitors for its range of bars, lounges, and pool halls -- and, of course, happy hours.

For listings, check out the "Entertainment" section of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram or check the weekly listings posted on its website, www.dfw.com. For tickets, try Arts Line at Ticketmaster (tel. 817/467-ARTS or 214/631-ARTS; www.ticketmaster.com) or Texas Tickets (tel. 817/277-3333).

The Performing Arts

Bass Performance Hall (tel. 877/212-4280 or 817/212-4280; www.basshall.com) is one of the top places in the country to see a musical or theater performance. Home to the distinguished Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, its stage has welcomed an eclectic range of productions including The Nutcracker and Handel's Messiah, Madame Butterfly, Broadway shows (such as Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk), and pop, jazz, and country concerts by the likes of Tony Bennett, the Oak Ridge Boys, Nanci Griffith, and Pink Martini.

Casa Mañana Theater, 3101 W. Lancaster, at University Drive (tel. 817/332-2272; www.casamanana.org), the country's first permanent theater designed for the musicals-in-the-round, is an aluminum geodesic dome with an oval stage. It recently underwent a $3-million renovation. Casa, as it's known locally, puts on a wide range of dramas, comedies, and musicals, and is home to one of the top children's theater operations in the United States, mounting productions such as Aladdin.

The Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main St. (tel. 817/338-4411; www.jubileetheatre.org), is home to intimate African-American theater, staging such dramas as Brother Mac (adapted from Shakespeare's Macbeth) and A Raisin in the Sun as well as musicals such as Lysistrata Please (a rock version of the Aristophanes classic) and Road Show, an original production.

The Rose Marine Theater, 1440 Main St. (tel. 817/624-8333; www.rosemarinetheater.com), an 85-year-old movie theater just south of the Stockyards, has been restored and converted by the Latin Arts Association; here you'll find plays in Spanish, Latin films, and other arts targeting the Latino population.

Rodeo

The Stockyards Championship Rodeo is held most weekends on Friday and Saturday nights at Cowtown Coliseum in the Stockyards, 121 E. Exchange Ave. (tel. 817/888-COWTOWN; www.stockyardsrodeo.com). Tickets range from $4.50 for children to $13 for reserved box seats. Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show runs during summer months and holiday weekends.