Outside of the 24 days when millions of people descend upon Fair Park for the State Fair of Texas, the Dallas park largely sits empty and sedate.
The City of Dallas is hoping to change that now that the 277-acre park is back under its management following the termination of a private management contract in place since 2019.
A Sunday farmers market, which will kick off March 1 at the Leonhardt Lagoon, is one of the first changes the city is implementing to reinvigorate Fair Park. Good Local Markets, a nonprofit that has operated producer-only farmers markets in Dallas since 2009, will run the weekly event with dozens of local food producers and artisans.
The partnership between Good Local Markets and the Dallas Park and Recreation Department came together at the end of 2025 when the nonprofit’s future was in jeopardy after a loss of funding and a lack of venue for its Sunday market.
Eat Drink D-FW
Starting in March, a farmers market will set up every Sunday at the Leonhardt Lagoon at Fair Park in Dallas.
Ben Torres / Special Contributor
“Knowing that the city is going to be there to back us up and help us with marketing and help us get the word out is really exciting,” said Lisset Bell, executive director of Good Local Markets.
The market also received a grant from The Dallas Foundation and donations from vendors to keep operating, Bell said.
The nonprofit hosts markets in Dallas on Saturdays and Sundays most weekends of the year. The Saturday market will remain at White Rock United Methodist Church, and the Sunday market will now be at Fair Park March through August, when set up for the State Fair begins.
During the weeks the State Fair is underway, the Sunday market will be held at Tietze Park in East Dallas. It will resume at Fair Park again in November after takedown for the fair is complete, and it will run until the end of the year.
Bringing Good Local Markets to Fair Park is a step to address what has long been a pain point, especially for the residents living in the fairgrounds’ shadow, said Brett Wulke, general manager of Fair Park.
“People have felt historically like nothing happens outside of the fair,” Wulke said. “We want to change that … We’re going to make it destination and something that retailers and entities want to be a part of. I think a market is a great start.”
Eventually, the plan is to host daily events in the park and for those events to be integrated with the businesses that operate there year-round like the Music Hall at Fair Park, Wulke said.
Alongside the tents of vendors selling their goods, the city will bring in food trucks and live music for the weekly market. Farmers market goers will also be able to visit the Children’s Aquarium and Texas Discovery Gardens and walk the fairgrounds.
More than 100 vendors have applied for booths at the Fair Park market, some of which are businesses from South Dallas, said Monica Monyo-Tetteh, the park’s community engagement and marketing manager.
Good Local Markets, which accepts SNAP benefits and WIC vouchers, maintains strict standards for who can sell goods at their markets. All vendors must be within a 150-mile radius of Dallas and must grow or make everything they sell.
“I’m very committed to making sure we have quality vendors, that everything is as sustainable as it can be, that everything is handmade. That is not something I will bend on,” Bell said. “My biggest thing that I’m focused on right now is finding farmers, especially a dairy farmer. There aren’t many that are small enough that they’d come to a market.”
The Fair Park Market will start March 1, 2026, at 3535 Grand Ave., Dallas. Parking for the market will be available between Gate 5 and Gate 6.