Carrollton's 11th Annual TEXFest Returns with Live Music, Longhorns and Community Fun

The City of Carrollton brought its annual TEXFest celebration back to Historic Downtown on Saturday, March 7, drawing families and Texas culture enthusiasts to 1106 S. Broadway Street for six hours of live music, craft beer, food vendors and a mechanical bull.

Now in its 11th year, TEXFest ran from 3 to 9 p.m. as a free community observance of Texas Independence Day, anchored in what the Carrollton Leader describes as one of North Texas's most charming historic districts. Admission cost nothing, and the breadth of programming reflected the event's growth over more than a decade into a signature date on the city's calendar.

Live Texas music headlined the entertainment offerings, with a beer garden serving craft brews from local breweries alongside a food village featuring local vendors and food trucks. A mechanical bull drew lines throughout the afternoon and evening, and among the festival's more distinctive draws was a live longhorn available for photographs, with the TEXFest photobooth serving as an additional option for attendees wanting a keepsake image.

The City incorporated a sensory-friendly break area into the festival footprint, marked by a white tent staffed by event personnel. The tent offered coloring activities, sensory toys, noise-cancelling headphones and bean bag chairs for any attendee needing relief from the noise and crowd.

Specific entertainment acts and food vendor names were not released in advance materials reviewed for this report. The full lineup, including individual performers and food truck operators, was expected to be available through City of Carrollton event programming.

TEXFest's return to the Historic Downtown square cemented its place as Carrollton's longest-running Texas Independence Day celebration, drawing on the district's brick-lined character to host an event that has grown from a single-day community gathering into a recognized fixture of the city's civic identity.