The Dallas Arboretum Presents Dallas Blooms!
The largest floral festival in the Southwest, Dallas Blooms, returns to the Dallas Arboretum on February 25 and continues through April 9 with the theme Peace, Love and Flower Power. It will showcase an explosion of color with more than 500,000 spring-blooming blossoms and beautiful floral design at every turn.
Each unique weekend during Dallas Blooms highlights a different 1960s theme and incorporates headlines, music, TV, fads and fashion from the swinging ’60s. Some of these weekend themes include Vibrations of a Nation “Peace Love Freedom Fest,” a music festival throughout the gardens, Ed Sullivan Show-Celebrity Weekend starring celebrity impersonators including Ed Sullivan, and Fashion Forward Weekend, where guests can create flower wreaths, dress paper dolls, get henna tattoos and see 1960s fashion on display in the DeGolyer House.
Dallas Blooms features 100 varieties of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, pansies, violas, poppies and thousands of other spring-blooming annuals and perennials. The finale of this spring celebration is the mass flowering of the garden’s collection of 3,000 azaleas that bloom during the end of April.
Mommy and Me Mondays & Tiny Tot Tuesdays: February 27-April 4
Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark and located in the Pecan Grove, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., children’s activities include face painting, a petting zoo, story time and Kindermusik. In case of rain, check www.dallasarboretum.org or call 214.515.6500 the morning of the event as activities may take place indoors.
Arboretum After Hours: March 1 – October 25
The Dallas Arboretum extends its hours until 8 p.m. each Wednesday evening. Pack a picnic dinner, bring a favorite book and have a mid-week escape from a busy schedule. Check the website regularly for scheduled Wednesday evening activities throughout the year. Buy one get one free general admission, is available at the ticket booth only, with a limit of one purchase per person.
Retro Crafts: March 2- April 6
Retro Crafts bring back memories of peace rallies, flower power and the generation that believed love could cure all the worlds’ ills. Kids and kids at heart can enjoy crafting retro projects and hearing tales of another time in the Ann Stuart Courtyard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Historical Chats in DeGoyler House: March 2- April 6
Join historians in the library of the DeGoyler House on Thursdays at 11 a.m. for chats about the history and happenings in the area surrounding the garden in the 1960s.
Dallas Blooms Unique Weekends: February 25-April 9
Flower Power Festival Kicks Off: February 25-26
Dallas Blooms festival kicks off at the Dallas Arboretum with Baby Boomer memories and music of the ’60s located in Ann Stuart Courtyard and Val Late Garden.
Ed Sullivan Show-Celebrity Weekend: March 4-5
Based on The Ed Sullivan show, a variety show that hosted America’s top talent in the 1960s, The Ed Sullivan Show-Celebrity Weekend features an Ed Sullivan look-alike and celebrity impersonators on the Martin Rutchik Concert Stage & Lawn from 12 to 2 p.m.
Vintage Garden of Games: March 11-12
Join the Dallas Arboretum for a weekend of vintage games from the 1960s. The garden turns into the Candy Land board game where stops like Molasses Swamp, Gum Drop Mountains and Peppermint Stick Forest are incorporated into the Arboretum maps. It’s a scavenger hunt of treats and games throughout the gardens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fashion Forward Weekend: March 18-19
The 1960s has its own special place in history regarding fashion- specializing in bell bottoms and parachute pants, tie die and flower crowns. Activities in the garden include flower wreath making, paper doll dressing and henna tattoos from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Val Late Garden. Guests can also view 1960s fashion on display in the DeGolyer House.
Vibrations of a Nation “Peace Love Freedom Fest”: March 25-26
Take a year-by-year excursion of the 1960s with musical soundtracks throughout the garden. All weekend, the Dallas Arboretum showcases live music in Jonsson Color Garden and Magnolia Glade that embody the 1960s.
The Power of Art: April 8-9
Some of the most iconic artists are from the 1960s, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Claes Oldenburg. Pop Art and Abstract Expressionist were all the rage. As Dallas Blooms comes to an end, guests can create crafts in the Ann Stuart Courtyard that revolve around this era.
Additional Arboretum activities taking place in the garden include the following:
Cool Thursdays Spring Concert Series: March 23 – June 29
Cool Thursdays Concert Series, sponsored by Wells Fargo, returns this March with new and exciting national cover bands and some of DFW’s favorite food trucks. The series includes several new bands featuring tributes to musical greats such as Bidi Bidi Banda (a Selena Quintanilla tribute band), and a thrilling tribute to ABBA with the Dancing Dream band. Crowd favorites return such as Emerald City, Bruce in the USA and Rocket Man. Gates open at 6 p.m. with concerts beginning at 7:30 p.m. Guests can bring a picnic or purchase food from popular food trucks. Nearly all of the 2016 concerts were complete sell-outs, guests are encouraged to purchase tickets or subscriptions today.
Dallas Arboretum Food and Wine Festival: March 16, 6:30-10 p.m.
For the first time ever, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is designing and hosting its own Food & Wine Festival on March 16 to celebrate cuisine and libations from many cultures, set against the backdrop of its spring festival Dallas Blooms.
VIP entrance is at 6 p.m., and general entrance is at 6:30 p.m. This premier, spring social event will feature savory delicious bites made by over 40 award-winning chefs from many fine restaurants around the Metroplex. Guests will be able to sample fine wines and craft beers, and end the evening with dessert, coffee and a special concert featuring Hobo Cane, a blend of pop and acoustic with a Latin flare, on the Martin Rutchik Concert Stage & Lawn. Premium beverages and food sponsors include Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits and Rosewood Ranches Wagyu Beef. Media sponsors are D Magazine and CultureMap. Tickets are available to purchase online http://www.dallasarboretum.org
Discounts:
BOGO Wednesdays: March 1 – April 5 (excludes March 15)
Buy one get one free general admission, is available at the ticket booth only, with a limit of one purchase per person.
C.C. Young Senior Thursdays: March 2 – April 6
Senior-friendly tours and activities are offered each Thursday during the festival. Admission is $11 for those 65 and older, and seniors receive a 20 percent discount in the Hoffman Family Gift Store on Thursdays.
Tom Thumb $1 off General Garden Admission
Tom Thumb offers $1 off general garden admission tickets available at area Tom Thumb locations.
See what else is going on around town HERE!
Be sure to go here to checkout discounted ticket prices for events in Dallas and Fort Worth! Also, keep in mind that Groupon and LivingSocial always have great deals on local shops, restaurants, spas and more. GoldStar also offers half-priced entertainment! For other ways to save on going out, try Pogo Pass or City Pass!