{"id":3663,"date":"2025-04-14T22:53:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T04:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2025-04-14T22:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T04:53:27","slug":"bluebonnet-festival-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2025\/04\/14\/bluebonnet-festival-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluebonnet Festival Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival<\/h1>\n

In the bluebonnet spirit of Texas, fields full of Texas\u2019 iconic state flower draw tens of thousands of visitors to Ennis each April. The city\u2019s annual Bluebonnet Festival kicks off Friday and will run through the weekend, offering live music, drinks, food, vendors and carnival rides in the heart of downtown Ennis. Entry tickets are $5, though it is free to drive the bluebonnet trails, which opened April 1 and will run through the end of the month.<\/p>\n

Every April, Ennis sees anywhere between 75,000 to 90,000 visitors who come to traverse the city\u2019s 40 miles of driving trails to view the bluebonnet fields and attend the festival, according to Ashley Colunga, community engagement director for Ennis.<\/p>\n

Castilleja, also known as Indian Paintbrush, grows in the bluebonnet field at the Meadow View Nature Area as the city prepares for the 73rd Annual Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival in Ennis, TX on Thursday, April 10, 2025. The festival is this weekend, Friday through Sunday, April 11-13. (Juan Figueroa \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n

Festival Details<\/h2>\n

She said the three-day festival will feature 13 live bands and 70 vendors, which will include wine tasting and a beer pavilion with a full cocktail bar.<\/p>\n

Colunga said April is Ennis\u2019 \u201cChristmas time,\u201d with the large influx of visitors leading local shops to adjust their hours to accommodate festivalgoers and bluebonnet fans. The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails, sponsored by the Ennis Garden Club, are the oldest trails in the state of Texas for bluebonnet viewing, local officials said.<\/p>\n

Colunga recommended visitors start at Ennis\u2019 Welcome Center, where they can be pointed toward the best places for bluebonnet blooms.<\/p>\n

\"HaleyHaley Burnett (right), tourism and Main Street manager, talks visitors through the trail map at the Ennis Welcome Center as the city prepares for the 73rd Annual Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival in Ennis, TX on Thursday, April 10, 2025. The festival is this weekend, Friday through Sunday, April 11-13. (Juan Figueroa \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n

Best Places to View Bluebonnets<\/h2>\n

Suzy Oster, a \u201cbluebonnet enthusiast\u201d who helps with the festival, said she loves pointing visitors in the right direction to see the bluebonnets, and noted she often sees visitors from all over the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up here, and I just love this little town,\u201d Oster said. \u201cI love meeting the people who come in. It\u2019s just a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, Oster said the best place to view the bluebonnets is the Meadow View Nature Area, located at 1901 Laneview Drive. It is a public area and best for getting out and walking amongst the bluebonnets. While all the trails are on public roads, many of the areas with sprouting bluebonnets are on private property.<\/p>\n

The area features sprawling fields of bluebonnets with the backdrop of Bardwell Lake, and has several tables perfect for picnics.<\/p>\n

Bob Wilsford and his wife, Janice Wilsford, drove down from Frisco on Thursday to check out the bluebonnet trails, about an hour-and-a-half drive.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival In the bluebonnet spirit of Texas, fields full of Texas\u2019 iconic state flower draw tens of thousands of visitors to Ennis each April. The city\u2019s annual Bluebonnet Festival kicks off Friday and will run through the weekend, offering live music, drinks, food, vendors and carnival rides in the heart of downtown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":3664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/5PRYU4HEINHBXBQGD5LJFJJ5JY.jpg?auth=a9360a6086dbf1748dd7b013687f8fee013a8ab0aa271bcc65b2b47e58f3b9cf&height=630&width=1200&smart=true&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3665,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions\/3665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}