Downtown Dallas lives up to the city's nickname of Big D: In the last few years the downtown area of Texas' third-largest city has been on the fast track to growth and urban revitalization, having expanded the downtown districts from eight to 13. The result is a wealth of distinctive Downtown Dallas event venues in a convenient central location, surrounded by some of the best dining, cultural, and entertainment options in the city.
The downtown districts are Main Street, Arts, Deep Ellum, Farmer's Market, Baylor, Bryan Place, Government and Convention Center, Reunion, Cedars and Southside, Trinity and Design, Uptown, Victory Park and West End.
The shining star of the districts is the 68-acre, 19-block neighborhood Arts District in the heart of downtown, chock-full of world-class museums, theaters and other Downtown Dallas venues hosting star-studded performances in music, dance, theater and more. The 370,000- square-foot Dallas Museum of Art offers stunning private event spaces for small groups up to 800. The must-see 2,200-seat Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House has become a Dallas landmark since its 2009 opening, its vibrant red glass panels a beacon in the night. Other favorite Arts District venues are the serenely elegant Crow Collection of Asian Art, the sleek Nasher Sculpture Center and the historic, stately Belo Mansion, site of some of the city's most prestigious events.
Chief among Downtown Dallas venues, the Dallas Convention Center, in the Government and Convention Center District, boasts more than one million square feet in exhibit space, including the largest column-free exhibit hall in the U.S., a 9,816-seat arena, a 1,750-person-capacity theater and 96 meeting rooms. The recent opening of the 1,016-room Omni convention center hotel, with 80,000 square feet of meeting space, attracts groups looking for the ultimate in convenience.
The big daddy of downtown hotel meeting space is the 1,840-room Dallas Sheraton – the biggest hotel in Texas – which underwent a $90-million re-do in 2009. Meeting rooms totaling 230,000 square feet, including the largest ballroom in Dallas, accommodate any size group from the most intimate to a Texas-sized blowout, with more than 50 elevators and escalators to get attendees to meetings quickly. Step outside to a DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) station right by the hotel, with 45 miles of light-rail and 35 stations, to explore the rest of downtown Dallas and beyond.
