Mayfest in Fort Worth

It’s time for Mayfest! Mayfest is  a great outdoor family-friendly festival with vendors, live performances, food, bounce houses, and games that takes place at the beautiful Trinity Park in Fort Worth.

She Is Dallas info: Mayfest will be held in Trinity Park in Fort Worth, May 5-8, 2011.   Admission is $8.00 Adults, $5.00 Children 6-12, Children 5 and under are Free.    ?SPECIAL DISCOUNT: ?On Friday, April 29, all Mayfest tickets will be $5.00 online at www.mayfest.org using the the promo code KIDS.For more information, please visit the Mayfest website.   Mayfest can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

We attended Mayfest for the first time last year.   We knew the moment we arrived that this must be a popular event because the place was packed. There was a really long line just to buy tickets to get in. Fortunately, I had bought our tickets online so we didn’t have to wait in the line. I bought the tickets through the Mayfest website and I highly recommend doing this to avoid that initial long line to buy tickets at the gate.   And don’t forget to take advantage of the April 29th special discount mentioned above! Even after we got through the gate, there were still tons of people and long lines for food and coupons. But there had been a sign at the gate stating that no grumps were allowed so we plodded through the crowds like happy cattle. Once inside the festival gates, there are plenty of free attractions including the award winning Tom Thumb Children’s Area which features over 20 activities, Great American Duck Races, All American Lumberjack Show, Flippenout Extreme Trampoline Show and the Texas Parks and Wildlife ˜Life's Better Outdoors Experience ™ with more than 15 booths of education and activities all about enjoying the great outdoors in Texas. In addition, music and performing arts entertainment can be seen and heard across the 33 acre park as bands and local community groups perform on seven stages. Here’s the complete Event and Performance Schedule. Nicholas was excited to learn that the Game Truck will be there again this year. The Game Truck is a truck that is outfitted with seats on one side and 4 50 inch plasma televisions on the other. There are video game consoles hooked up and 16 players can play video games at the same time. The players can play by themselves, against each other, or in teams. What a fun idea for a video game lover’s birthday party! The kids are having fun at your house but not running around your living room or tearing up your yard. We spent a lot of time in the Children’s Area.   This year’s Children’s Area looks really great and includes activities like a Dinosaur Dig, puppet show, Radio Disney, arts and crafts projects, and even a wood crafting workshop! Nicholas also spent a lot of time and used up plenty of coupons in the many bounce houses at Mayfest.   I really don’t like events like this that require you to buy coupons in advance for all of your meals and special activities.   It makes it easy to lose track of how much you are actually spending plus you inevitably end up with one extra coupon when it is time to leave. We also enjoyed some folk music…coupon-free! The food vendors offered the usual food like corn dogs, BBQ, funnel cakes, etc.   This year’s food vendor list looks really impressive with items like jambalaya, gyros on pita bread, and the one thing I want to try most of all, Texas Fried Frito Pie! Last year we enjoyed our lunch while sitting in the shade of a tree on the bank of the Trinity River.     We even got to watch 3 guys in kayaks stroking their way down the river. I would definitely recommend Mayfest as a good family outing but I would say that you really need to go early in the day to enjoy as much as you can before the serious crowds hit. Mayfest festival is held annually in Fort Worth, Texas in beautiful Trinity Park along the banks of the Trinity River. From I-30, head north on University Dr. to Crestline Rd. There is parking available at Farrington Field at this corner. From this parking area Mayfest is a short walk down Crestline. Or, head north on Montgomery Street to Harley Ave (to the Harley Lot). $3 per car parking is available here with FREE shuttle service to and from Mayfest. Please note that the coach bus shuttle service begins 30 minutes before Mayfest opens and continues until 30 minutes after closing each day. These shuttle busses run every 10-15 minutes.