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Dallas considers new noise policy for Fair Park
The city of Dallas is working to figure out how to prevent noise at Fair Park from impacting neighborhoods. This comes after people could hear music from the Breakaway Music Festival miles away.
DALLAS - The city of Dallas is working to figure out how to prevent noise at Fair Park from impacting neighborhoods.
The discussion comes after noise from last month’s Breakaway Music Festival could be heard in neighborhoods miles away.
The backstory:
The Breakaway Music Festival happened in 2025 without complaints. But this year, neighborhoods not even close to Fair Park were impacted.
What's new:
Dallas city leaders are working to figure out what happened and why the event caused severe disruptions miles away. Atmospheric conditions could be to blame.
Councilman Adam Bazaldua represents the neighborhoods closest to Fair Park. After hearing complaints from other council districts on the Friday night of the festival, he decided to see for himself the following night. He was able to hear amplified bass at 9:30 p.m. at Old Gate and Garland roads, which is about five miles away from Fair Park.
"I’m not exaggerating when I saw I’m literally standing across the street from the fairground and not hearing it," he said. "Hearing the difference was insane."
"In our conversations with some of the experts including Breakaway themselves and Live Nation, utilizing our resources, I don’t want to dive deep into atmospheric conditions. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on it. But moisture in the air and low cloud coverage really can help. It gives a bouncing effect where it can bounce up over your property line and into the neighborhoods," added Brett Wulke, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department’s assistant director.
What's next:
Dallas leaders said they will now require the stage for events to face inward toward the coliseum and Cotton Bowl to mitigate sound travel.
They will also include decibel limits in all music agreements, require decibel readings during events, and look into requiring event organizers to have mitigation plans for nights with low clouds.
The Source: The information in this story is from Monday's Dallas Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee meeting.