Oakland's cherished amusement park, Children's Fairyland, turns 75. Can it go 75 years more?

"A parade to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Children's Fairyland is planned for Labor Day on Monday, with the festivities starting at 19th Street BART Station and ending at the iconic destination at Grand and Bellevue avenues. A number of new displays will await the kids attending with accompanying adults, including circus acts, a live performance by DJ Lance Rock from Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. network and the park's first-ever bilingual puppet show, Tio Conejo's Big Wish."

"The reason I think Fairyland endures is that it's got this through line that appeals to everyone, she explained. The minute you walk through the gates, you feel the simplicity of entering a different universe, leaving behind whatever world you had on your shoulders. Everything is built in a child-sized point of view, Miller continued. As an adult, you're following your little person around as their imagination grows and changes with these storybook themes."

"The sensory experience of being a child, those first interactions with the physical world, is often what Fairyland's ardent fans bring up when they reflect on their relationship to the park. It stands out in a world that increasingly has become digitized, where even a McDonald's in Tennessee went viral because its play place had no slides or ball pits, but rather two chairs facing tablet screens mounted on a wall."

Children's Fairyland at Oakland's Lake Merritt will mark its 75th anniversary with a Labor Day parade beginning at 19th Street BART Station and ending at the park at Grand and Bellevue avenues. Staff prepared new displays, circus acts, a live performance by DJ Lance Rock, and the park's first bilingual puppet show, Tio Conejo's Big Wish. Executive director Kymberly Miller, in her role since 2019, described the park's enduring appeal as rooted in a through line that reaches everyone. The park offers a child-sized point of view and a sensory experience that fosters imagination and contrasts with a digitized world.

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