Dos Equis Pavilion is the current name for one of Dallas’s biggest outdoor amphitheaters, tucked inside the Fair Park complex and drawing tens of thousands of fans across a single concert season. Whether you’re trying to figure out how many people fit in the place before buying lawn tickets, or you just heard someone call it “Starplex” and want to know why, this venue has a lot of history packed into one lawn-and-pavilion footprint.
The short version: it’s a roughly 20,000-capacity venue that has carried six different sponsor names since opening in 1988, and it’s still one of the go-to stops for major touring acts in North Texas.
Quick Answer
Dos Equis Pavilion holds about 20,000 people at max capacity — roughly 7,500 in covered reserved seating under the pavilion roof and about 12,500 on the general-admission lawn behind it. That combined figure is the venue’s published capacity and makes it one of the largest outdoor amphitheaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Dos Equis Pavilion Capacity, Broken Down
The 20,000-person capacity splits into two very different experiences. The covered pavilion section closest to the stage holds about 7,500 people across reserved seating sections (numbered roughly 100, 200, and 300 as you move back and to the sides), plus a handful of VIP boxes for groups. These are assigned seats under a roof, which matters in Texas summer heat and the occasional rainstorm.
Behind the covered seating is the lawn, which accounts for the other roughly 12,500 spots. It’s open, uncovered grass with no assigned seating — guests pick a spot first-come, first-served, and lawn chairs or blankets are typically allowed. Because there are no individual seats to count, lawn capacity is really a density estimate rather than a fixed number of tickets, which is why some sources round the total capacity slightly differently.
Max capacity can also flex a little show to show. Some events add premium add-ons like the Live Nation Lounge or a shaded lawn deck, which carve a small amount of general lawn space into premium sections and can trim the effective lawn count for that specific show without changing the venue’s overall 20,000 figure.
From Starplex to Dos Equis: Every Name This Venue Has Had
Few venues anywhere have changed names as often as this one, and “Starplex” is still the name a lot of longtime Dallas fans default to out of habit. Here’s the full run: Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre (1988–1998), Starplex Amphitheatre (1998–2000, after Coca-Cola’s naming rights lapsed), Smirnoff Music Centre (2000–2008), Superpages.com Center (2008–2011), Gexa Energy Pavilion (2011–2017), a brief return to Starplex Pavilion (2017–2018) once Gexa’s deal ended, and finally Dos Equis Pavilion starting in April 2018, when Heineken USA secured naming rights for its Dos Equis brand.
So if you’re asking what the venue used to be called, the honest answer is “several things” — but the name that stuck in local slang the longest is Starplex, since that was the venue’s identity (in one form or another) for its first three decades. None of the renamings changed the physical venue itself, which has kept the same outdoor, partially covered pavilion-plus-lawn layout since it opened in 1988.
Festival History
Beyond single-artist concerts, the venue built its reputation as a festival stop during the 1990s and 2000s, hosting Lollapalooza during several of its original touring years (1991–1997), plus Ozzfest, Lilith Fair, and stops on the Vans Warped Tour. That run cemented it as a fixture of the Dallas live-music scene well beyond typical single-band bookings, and it’s a big part of why the venue has such a loyal following despite the constant name changes.
Today it continues to host a full season of touring rock, pop, and country acts, with Live Nation booking shows that use both the covered pavilion seating and the lawn capacity across its roughly 20,000-person footprint.
Getting to Dos Equis Pavilion
The venue sits at 3839 S. Fitzhugh Ave. in Dallas, inside the Fair Park complex a few miles southeast of downtown. Pricing generally follows the venue’s two-tier layout: covered reserved seats cost more and are sold by section and row, while lawn tickets are general admission and priced lower. Box office hours and on-sale schedules shift by show and season, so check the official Dos Equis Pavilion website for the current calendar, box office hours, parking details, and ticket links before a show.
Parking is available on-site and sells out for larger shows, so arriving early or pre-purchasing a parking pass when it’s offered is worth it for anything close to a sellout.
Dos Equis Pavilion FAQs
How many people does Dos Equis Pavilion hold?
About 20,000 at max capacity: roughly 7,500 in covered pavilion seating and about 12,500 on the general-admission lawn.
What is Dos Equis Pavilion’s max capacity?
The venue’s published maximum capacity is approximately 20,000, though the exact usable capacity can flex slightly show to show depending on premium seating add-ons like lawn decks or VIP boxes.
What did Dos Equis Pavilion used to be called?
It opened in 1988 as Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre, then went through Starplex Amphitheatre, Smirnoff Music Centre, Superpages.com Center, Gexa Energy Pavilion, and a brief return to Starplex Pavilion before becoming Dos Equis Pavilion in April 2018.
Is Dos Equis Pavilion the same as Starplex Amphitheater?
Yes — it’s the same physical venue in Dallas’s Fair Park. Starplex Amphitheatre (and later Starplex Pavilion) was the venue’s name before Dos Equis acquired naming rights in 2018, and many locals still call it Starplex.
Who owns and operates Dos Equis Pavilion?
The City of Dallas owns the venue, which is operated by Live Nation as part of the Fair Park complex.
Does Dos Equis Pavilion have covered seating?
Yes. About 7,500 of its roughly 20,000 capacity is reserved seating under a covered pavilion roof; the remaining capacity is uncovered general-admission lawn.
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