Paint Dallas Blue: Japan

On June 24, 2026, Dallas turned blue and white for one night. Harwood Park in downtown Dallas hosted “Paint Dallas Blue”  also known as ULTRAS 2026,  a free, family-friendly fan festival built to rally Samurai Blue supporters ahead of Japan’s World Cup match, and to put Japanese culture front and center in a city that doesn’t always get the chance to showcase it.

I wasn’t hired to shoot this one. I showed up because it was happening in my city, camera in hand, curious what a host-city moment actually looks like from inside the crowd instead of from a broadcast angle. What I walked away with ended up doing double duty,  it’s personal work, but it’s also exactly the kind of on-the-ground documentation Dallas Sports Commission and FIFA host city content are built on: real fans, real energy, nothing staged.