Is there shade at Dos Equis Pavilion?

Dos Equis Pavilion: what the canopy covers and what it doesn't

Dos Equis Pavilion has something most outdoor venues in this class don't: a canopy over the reserved seating. The result shows up plainly in the numbers, our model rates a typical 7:00 PM show 88 percent shaded overall, and pavilion sections 101 through 105 and 202 all score a flat 100 percent. Under the roof, the Dallas sun is somebody else's problem.

Geometry helps too

The stage points northwest toward the crowd, so the audience faces southeast, back turned to the evening sun, which sits west-northwest at about 18 degrees when a show starts in high summer. Between the canopy overhead and the sun behind the seating, the covered sections are effectively sun-proof from gates to encore. Sunset lands at 8:35 PM.

The lawn is the exposed half

Outside the canopy the usual open-sky rules apply. Lawn 6 measures 69 percent shaded across an evening show, Lawn 7 comes in at 64, Lawn 8 at 63, and Lawn 9, the sunniest ground in the venue, at 51 percent, meaning roughly half of a typical show there is spent in direct light. This is Dallas in the summer, and the heat is real even as the sun drops, so lawn-goers should treat water as a ticket-day essential and expect relief to arrive in stages: shade creeping across the grass first, then sunset at 8:35, then the evening finally cooling off.

Early arrival works better here than most places

Measured from 6:00 PM, Dos Equis Pavilion still scores 76 percent shaded, the canopy doesn't care what time it is. If you're under it, come as early as you like; if you're on the lawn, later is cooler.

Check your section for your actual date on the interactive shade map.