Making spirits bright

Dallas' most enchanting holiday wonderland will light up Fair Park for 2021

Enchant is back to enchant.

Photo courtesy of Enchant Christmas

UPDATE 9-29-2021: Tickets for Enchant Christmas, the whimsical and magical Christmas light maze and village, go on sale Thursday, September 30 at 10 am.

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Dallas' Fair Park will twinkle and shine this holiday season as the new location for Enchant, the magical Christmas lights event that dazzled Dallas-Fort Worth for two years before it sadly went dark in 2019.

The festive light maze and village will welcome guests November 26-January 2 at the Esplanade at Fair Park.

Themed "The Great Search," the light maze — the big highlight of the event — will take visitors "on a quest within the mystical forest of millions of twinkling lights and a world of wondrous art installations as they journey to save Christmas," a release says.

Enchant will also include a chance to glide down the Ice Skating Trail, sample gourmet holiday treats from around the world, shop at the artisan Christmas market, and meet Santa.

Enchant: World's Largest Christmas Light Maze & Market is a touring event from Canada that debuted in Arlington in 2017 and ran for two years in and around Globe Life Park. But construction of the Rangers' Globe Life Field forced it to shut down in 2019, and it did not return for 2020. A new, immersive experience called Luminova Holidays took its place.

In its two years, Enchant had become a favorite outing for families, couples on dates, and Instagrammers seeking for the perfect holiday selfie. More than 600,000 people visited the attraction in two cities — Arlington and Vancouver — in 2018.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to us to be returning to North Texas this year," says Enchant founder and CEO Kevin Johnston in the release. "Providing magical Christmas experiences is at the heart of what we do, and I know I am definitely ready to go back out and celebrate the festivities with my family, and I can imagine many of our guests feel exactly the same way."

According to the release, highlights of the 2021 experience will include:

The Christmas Light Maze – “The Great Search” takes guests through a twinkling wonderland in search of Santa’s missing gifts.
Christmas Market – Taste seasonal delights and shop for holiday gifts from dozens of local vendors showcasing home decor, jewelry, gourmet foods, and more. (Vendor applications are being accepted at EnchantChristmas.com.)
Star Experiences – A "VIP" type experience that includes full-service catering and more. They're now accepting reservations for holiday parties.
Visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus – Santa will be on site for holiday photos, and Mrs. Claus will lead story time for the little ones.
Food and Beverage – Holiday-themed food and drinks that aim to please everyone.
Ice-Skating Trail – An Ice-Skating Trail adorned with spectacular light displays. Skates can be rented at the event.

“It’s only right that one of the biggest and brightest holiday events in Texas comes to the home of some of the biggest events in Texas," says Peter Sullivan, Fair Park manager, in the release. "We’re looking forward to hosting this world-class holiday experience.”

This is the second major holiday event to announce its grand return for 2021, as last year's smash hit Radiance! Holiday Light Spectacular recently unveiled big plans for both Halloween and Christmas throughout Dallas Fort Worth.

Enchant ticket details will be announced in September. For more information, visit EnchantChristmas.com.

holidays

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."

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Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland