Kaleidoscope Park, the 5.7-acre signature park in Frisco, will celebrate its grand opening, presented by Capital One, with activities scheduled from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. During the entire weekend, guests can find arts and entertainment experiences that are guaranteed to appeal to all.
Kaleidoscope Park Executive Director Shawn Jackson values all the hard work from the Kaleidoscope Park Foundation and its partners to create this spectacular weekend.
“This Grand Opening celebration is the culmination of years of work, not only by the Kaleidoscope Park team, but by our partners at HALL Park, the City of Frisco and Communities Foundation of Texas,” Jackson said. “We want Kaleidoscope Park to be a destination for North Texas and beyond for now and for generations to come. We look forward to creating dynamic programming and events for the entire community.”
Saturday’s events begin with yoga on the recreation lawn by Frisco health and wellness club Hunni Duoe at 8 a.m. and fun family activities and lawn games. Face painters, a petting zoo, and the Plano Symphony instrument petting zoo can be found from 9 a.m. to noon. Sci-Tech Discovery Center shares their brand of mind-stretching fun with a fun science demonstration on the main stage at 9 a.m. The popular Frisco Rotary Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will return to the park weekly. Baylor Scott & White’s Dr. Afsha Kaisani will lead guests on a Walk with a Doc at 9 a.m.
At 11 a.m., all eyes will be on the main stage on the performance lawn for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony will be hosted by Kaleidoscope Park Executive Director Shawn Jackson and will feature special guests including Craig Hall of HALL Group, City of Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney, Carolyn Newham of Communities Foundation of Texas, Park board chair The Honorable Florence Shapiro, and featured park artist Janet Echelman.
Following the ribbon cutting, Echelman will lead park visitors for mini-talks about Butterfly Rest Stop, the dynamic aerial sculpture that is the visual centerpiece of Kaleidoscope Park. Guests can learn how this acclaimed artist harnessed both art and engineering to tell a beautiful story that is rooted in science. OJB landscape architects and designers, the designers of the park, will also offer tours of the unique features and landscape of the park.
On the family stage, visitors can enjoy a 2 p.m. magic show followed by other family-friendly activities throughout the day.
The day culminates at 7 p.m. when the Emerald City All-Stars, presented by Emerald City Band and sponsored by H-E-B, take to the stage on the performance lawn. Following the high-energy concert, guests can enjoy a spectacular drone show at 9 p.m.
On Sunday, the day begins with a morning meditation session at 10 a.m. and fun family lawn games on the recreation lawn.
The theme for the day’s Grand Opening activities will be art and music. Visitors will enjoy music by the Plano Symphony Orchestra from the family stage from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The main stage will feature hourly concerts from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., a spoken word performance from Infinite Arts (1 p.m.), a fabulous performance by the Frisco Symphony Orchestra joined by the Frisco Youth Symphony (2 p.m.), theater performances (3 p.m.), Indian dancers from the Natyanjali Kuchipudi Dance School (4 p.m.) and Texas Cellos (5 p.m.). Plus, guests will enjoy the lively Lone Star Circus performance at 12:30 p.m.
Throughout the weekend, visitors will be thrilled to see live performance artists throughout the park, meet and receive from local retailers and businesses including many amazing dog vendors located near the dog park, fabulous food trucks and more.
The Grand Opening weekend serves as the official kick off for activities at Kaleidoscope Park. For a full list of upcoming events and activities, visitors should check out the Kaleidoscope Park website.
KALEIDOSCOPE PARK SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday, October 5, 2024
8 a.m. Yoga
9 a.m. Frisco Rotary Farmers Market (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.)
Family Games and Activities (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
Face painting, crafts and petting zoo (9 a.m. – noon)
Baylor Scott & White Health’s Walk with a Doc (9 a.m. – 10 a.m.)
Plano Symphony instrument petting zoo (9 a.m. – noon)
Sci-Tech Discovery Center – Exploding Bubbles (9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)
11 a.m. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
11:30 a.m. Janet Echelman Mini-Tours (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.)
OJB Park Walking Tours (11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.)
2 p.m. Magic Show
3 p.m. Melody of Hope (3 p.m. – 6 p.m.)
7 p.m. Emerald City All-Stars
Sunday, October 6, 2024
10 a.m. Morning Meditation
Family Games and Activities (10 a.m. – 6 p.m.)
North Texas Performing Arts – Addams Family
11 a.m. Plano Symphony Orchestra String Trio
North Texas Performing Arts - Frozen
12:30 p.m. Lone Star Circus
1 p.m. Infinite Arts
2 p.m. Frisco Symphony Orchestra with the Frisco Youth Symphony Orchestra
Plano Symphony Orchestra Jazz Quartet
3 p.m. Theater performances
4 p.m. Natyanjali Kuchipudi Dance School
5 p.m. Texas Cellos
*All performances and times subject to change.
ABOUT KALEIDOSCOPE PARK:
Kaleidoscope Park is a dynamic, innovative arts and culture destination for North Texas currently under construction. The Park will be home to free, year-round public programming, including films, diverse musical and dance performances, and a variety of health and recreational activities. The Park will feature monumental works of public art, architecture, and gardens set among a children’s play area, dog park, performance lawn, outdoor workspaces, and shaded promenades and plazas. Learn more at kaleidoscopepark.org.
ABOUT THE KALEIDOSCOPE PARK FOUNDATION:
Kaleidoscope Park Foundation is a nonprofit public-private partnership between Communities Foundation of Texas and the City of Frisco. The Foundation’s mission is to thoughtfully engage the diverse and rapidly growing communities of North Texas through free public arts and culture programming that is genuine, inclusive, and accessible. Operating as a Foundation supported by private donations, financial support for development, operations, and programming is always welcome.
ABOUT COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS:
The mission of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is to improve the lives of all people in our community by investing in their health, wealth, living, and learning. CFT works to accomplish this by growing community giving, expanding community impact, and advancing community equity. With a vision of building thriving communities for all, CFT works locally and across the state with many individuals, families, companies, foundations, and nonprofits through a variety of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking initiatives. CFT professionally manages more than 1,300 charitable funds and has awarded more than $2.5 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.
CFT is committed to serving and understanding donor needs, expertly handling complex gifts, wisely managing charitable funds, and leveraging its community knowledge to increase charitable impact, in addition to powering several initiatives including the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at CFT, CFT for Business, Educate Texas at CFT, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy at CFT, GiveWisely, and CFT’s North Texas Giving Day. CFT’s North Texas Giving Day raised $64 million on a single day in 2023 to help over 3,250 North Texas nonprofits. Learn more at www.CFTexas.org.
ABOUT HALL PARK
A pioneering development in Frisco since the mid-1990s, HALL Park today encompasses 2.2 million square feet of office and retail space throughout 15 buildings. One-third of the park is dedicated to green space and includes three miles of walking trails, over 200 works of art including the Texas Sculpture Garden, the largest private collection of contemporary Texas sculpture made available to the public. In October 2021, its developer, HALL Group, commenced construction on the first phase of its new masterplan development that will evolve HALL Park into a dynamic mixed-use community. Upon completion, the full masterplan–anticipated to span 15-20 years of development–will encompass approximately 9.5 million square feet of usable mixed-use space, including residential, with a projected value of around $7 billion. Learn more at hallpark.com.
ABOUT OJB LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
OJB Landscape Architecture is a collective landscape architecture and urban planning practice founded by James Burnett, FASLA in 1989 in Houston, Texas and led today by Burnett and his partners in six offices around the country. Transforming public spaces is central to the mission of the firm. The work weaves together ecology and play, celebrates discovery and delight in the landscape, and allows people to connect to the natural world in new ways. Notable among more than 150 significant honors and awards, OJB is the recipient of four ULI Open Space Awards for its urban parks, the 2020 National Design Award for Landscape Architecture from the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum as well as the ASLA Firm Award. Learn more at https://www.ojb.com