Oakland's Fairyland Turns 75, But Remains Ageless

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On September 1, 1950, Oakland’s Fairyland opened its gates to 15,000 visitors who paid between 9 and 14 cents to explore this storybook adventure land. The park, with its whimsical fairy tale set pieces and rides geared for young children, was a wild success inspiring copycats across the country. It even served as inspiration to Walt Disney himself. Today, Fairyland offers respite and entertainment for visitors of all ages– many of whom visited as a child and are now grandparents themselves. We’ll talk about the park’s history and its future, and we hear from you: What’s your favorite memory of Fairyland? Guests: Kymberly Miller, CEO, Children's Fairyland Randal Metz, director, Storybook Puppet Theater at Children's Fairyland; author, "Creating A Fairyland" Barbara Lee, mayor of Oakland; former U.S. representative from California's 13th district Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:15.1	Ah, Benny's parents, thanks for coming.
0:16.8	I know.
0:17.5	So, Benny has really blossomed this term.
0:20.1	You're telling me, he outgrew his bike. We sold it, on eBay.
0:24.1	Oh, that's not quite what I meant.
0:25.6	It's free to sell on there?
0:26.8	Free to sell?
0:28.0	Easy too. Sold Benny's bike, your guitar, my jacket.
0:31.3	You sold my guitar?
0:34.4	Shall we talk about Benny?
0:36.6	When it's this easy to sell for free,
0:38.8	you can't help but say you when it's eBay.
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0:45.9	From KQED.
0:50.9	Music From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:02.0	Just about 75 years ago, September 1st, 1950, Oakland's Fairyland opened its gates to 15,000 visitors.
1:10.9	Those people paid between 9 and 14 cents to explore the storybook Adventureland,
1:16.4	and today and yesterday and tomorrow, more people visit this space,
1:22.2	stacking up their memories like all the people before them.
	...

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