It’s about the imagination the spaces provoke, he says. But the veneer of the play areas is not the point, says Randal Metz, who has worked at the park for more than 50 years.

Many of the play areas could use a coat of paint or even an extra nail. The park’s structures are kid-size and slightly crooked, as if they were sprinkled with a bit of surrealist fairy dust.Įverything looks vintage, which makes sense because of when most sets were built. Kids can unlock the story with a ‘magic key.’ (Pauline Bartolone/KQED) Story boxes with speakers are next to each play set at Children’s Fairyland. The play sets are all based on popular kids’ stories: nursery rhymes like “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” classic children’s books like Peter Rabbit, and folktales like those about Johnny Appleseed and Anansi the Spider.Ī “magic” key - bought for a few bucks - unlocks the story of each scene through a colorful speaker box next to each story station. The park is a unique landscape of dozens of interactive play installations - ideal for kids 8 years old and under - to climb on or into or run through. There are no extravagant light shows, no giant castles and no Donald Duck mascots. If you’ve already been to Children’s Fairyland, you’ll know it’s nothing like a Disney theme park. “I’m kind of curious what their plan is moving into the future and if it will continue to exist as it is,” she told KQED. Gelfand has been wondering something similar. Children’s Fairyland has dozens of interactive play installations based on popular stories for kids. The park’s timeless charm may come from its elaborate play sets based on classic fairy tales - most of which were made in the 1950s and ’60s and have changed little since then.īut as the park approaches its 75th anniversary, in 2025, its leadership is pondering how to update it to better reflect Oakland’s ever-growing diversity. Gelfand is certainly not the only person who grew up in the Bay Area, or currently lives here, who considers Fairyland an iconic East Bay institution. “ sort of always had this presence in our lives, even past the point where I was going as a kid.” NPR One or your favorite podcast platform. “Oftentimes I would meet friends at the Fairyland sign facing the water and sit in the sun and, you know, have long chats and make art together,” said Gelfand, who now lives in Portland, Oregon.īay Curious is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area. But even as a teenager, when Gelfand attended high school at Oakland School for the Arts, Fairyland’s rainbow-colored sign remained a destination. Gelfand grew up in Richmond and as a kid went regularly to the 10-acre storybook-themed amusement park on the north side of Oakland’s Lake Merritt. To Rose Gelfand, Children’s Fairyland exists “outside of the bounds of time.”

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