Fair Park

Fair Park is a great place with a long history and wonderful memories. Long ago I watched the Dallas Cowboys play and then the Texas Oklahoma game at the Cotton Bowl. Always love the art deco style! Great place for any event.

Fair Park originated in 1886 when the Dallas State Fair Assoc was chartered by the State of Texas. 80 acres of cotton field was selected east of Dallas for the fair grounds. And so the beginning of a great place,great stories and great people was born. Little did those original founders realize almost 150 years later the site would be expanded and still enjoyed.In 1936 the Texas Centennial was celebrated here. Dozens of new Art Deco buildings were constructed to house the exposition. Today most of these buildings still stand,have been restored or refurbished and act as exhibit and activity locations throughout the year and during the Great State Fair of Texas every fall.In 1955 the Fair Park Coliseum was built to house the Dallas Black Hawks ice hockey team and Dallas Chaparrals basketball team. I attended several rock concerts in this 8500 seat venue in the 1970s.So,after a lifetime of memories out here,today I find myself attending a Monster Truck event.My first ever at something like this and I'll have to admit,exciting.Loud,crowded and fun!I encourage everyone new to Dallas to search Fair Park for activities to attend. Between the two music venues, football stadium, aquarium and other buildings... always something going on to interest everyone.

The 27 Texas Black Invitational video is a must-watch for anyone who loves high-energy events and vibrant celebrations. Filmed at the Fair Park Coliseum, it captures the essence of a fantastic gathering with impressive visuals and a lively atmosphere. The production does an excellent job showcasing the event's fun and excitement, from engaging performances to enthusiastic crowds. Whether you're reliving the experience or watching it for the first time, this video brilliantly conveys the joy and energy of the Invitational. Highly recommended for a great dose of entertainment and community spirit!

The park that surrounds the football stadium is something of a concrete jungle, with a variety of esoteric museums and event spaces and only moderate greenery or natural features. Its hours are also rather limited and structured around events. Sight unseen, I expected the park to be a bit more of an attraction unto itself, but while there were some interesting things there, it was not a particularly relaxing space.

We came for the food only and got to also enjoy the parade! The food was excellent. I had fried chicken and fries, Biscoff cheesecake, watermelon Agua Fresca, a pickle, chocolate covered strawberries, and lemonade! Everything was good not one thing was off! Loved the parade and all the lights. Super cool that I got to see big Tex, but hearing him talk and seeing him move definitely gave me nightmares. It was crowded and busy was hard to get inside and to find when we left. The food was worth it.

I have such mixed feelings about Fair Park! Most people only think of Fair Park as the park that hosts the Texas State Fair each year. But the rest of the year? It's still there, folks. And it's architecturally one of the most interesting sites in the city! But just not taken care of or made a focus!Fair Park was opened in 1886 with the Dallas State Fair. Several buildings were built in the park between 1900 and 1930. But when Dallas hosted a world's fair commemorating the anniversary of the Texas Republic in 1936, architects and artists came to Dallas to add amazing Art Deco architecture and design elements to the park. Some of the buildings and murals have been restored, but mostly the site is as it was when created for the world's fair. In fact, it's the only intact and unaltered pre-1950s world fair site in the country.)I really wanted to take an architecture tour of Fair Park, but I couldn't find one offered for when I was visiting Dallas a few weeks ago. So my brother and I decided to make our own. We hopped on the DART, because there's a Fair Park station that drops you just in front of the park, and then we just wandered around the park, taking in the architecture and taking lots of photos! There is really incredible architecture, art, and history at Fair Park, but I just wish that the city or a nonprofit would invest in the park as more than the site of the fair. Most of the buildings are empty 11 months of the year, and the park feels like a creepy graveyard (no people around)! I wish that there an architecture museum in one of the buildings offering tours or an art museum or that the Women's Museum was still open! Maybe an Art Deco-themed restaurant!? There is so much wasted opportunity at this site. But all that being said, it is still worth a walk around if you're interesting in art, architecture, or Dallas history! Maybe one day it will be more!

We came for a visit to the Childrens's Aquarium and parking was free. We still had to go through the gate where they were taking money but once we told them our destination they pointed us to the correct lot. It was right across from the Texas Discovery Gardens. The Aquarium costed $40 for two adults and one child, so we weren't sure what to expect since that is half less than what the Dallas aquarium charges. We were actually really impressed! There was a pond of "doctor fish" who eat your dead skin and tickle while in the process! My little loved those the most. There was an alligator turtle which was HUGE, we didn't expect it to be so massive. Oh! There were moonjellies and seahorses, lionfish, eels, pufferfish, and stingrays! So many colorful and interesting sea life animals.When you enter the building and veer to the left, there is a coloring station for children to create their own sea animal. And when they finish they can scan it and have it virtually swim with other childrens' sea animals, it was so cool. The perfect touch to engage littles. We walked to the back of the building which lead outdoors to a stingray exhibit where there were also sharks swimming around! It was amazing to see these animals in person. We also got to pet the stingrays, they were like puppies just begging for a good petting. The most adorable thing I've experienced! There is a hand washing station to rinse before touching them.I noticed there is a birthday room if you want to host a party. And also a gift shop! We enjoyed our family outing together.

We'd never been to the state fair but I'd been told so much about it. The foods were a plethora of to choose from. It was crowded as heck on a week day. Overall we had a great time. We found great parking on a side street in a private lot Thanks to the owner. She was very friendly and we felt comfortable leaving my daughters car in her possession of her property. The state fair offered some awesome Toll perk deals but because it was a third party deal I couldn't utilize them. We did find out that bringing in can goods would give us a better deal though. God works mysteriously that's for sure. We ended up paying $5 a piece to enter in my glam-baby was free (she's under a year old).Overall we ate great foods and drank.For dessert we shared ice cream (my glam-baby and me)We will wait till next year and try visiting again.

It's cool enjoy fair it was a lot of walking need better security an staff know what they talking about

I have visited Fair Park under different situations. One of the first times I went there was a festival. It was partially indoor and it was nice. There were lot's of vendors and some entertainment. I have since returned to go to some of their museums. Unfortunately, one was closed due to no electricity. So, I will have to review their museums in a separate post. If you want to walk around try a cooler day. Dallas is really hot. The last time we went we needed umbrellas. Be sure to find out what's going on there. One time I was there and they had a set up for one of those extreme competition reality shows. They had a huge obstacle course set up outdoors. I'm sure it would have been fun to watch if I had known the schedule and bought tickets.