A new mural was added to the former McKinney City Hall building as part of the upcoming Downtown McKinney Scavenger Hunt event.

The event, hosted by McKinney Main Street and Visit McKinney, will offer interactive challenges, hidden prizes and a $2,500 reward for the grand prize winner.

The specifics

The event will include two different games participants can play for free.

The scavenger hunt will begin at 8 a.m., with the first clue and puzzle available at 222 N. Tennessee St. The scavenger hunt will be digital, and include eight stops with a challenge to solve at each, followed by a final prize challenge. The first participant to successfully complete all 8 challenges in the correct order will be the $2,500 grand prize winner.


Cultural District Director Andrew Jones said this year’s scavenger hunt has a tech-focused theme, inspired by the technology businesses located in downtown McKinney.

“[It’s] an escape room but out in the wild,” Jones said of the scavenger hunt.

The second game will allow both adults and children to hunt for hidden prizes around downtown, in an Easter egg hunt style, Jones said. Adults will hunt for over 250 green computer chips throughout the Downtown Cultural District. Children will search for wooden coins in specific zones designated on the event map.
The event has a designated playable area encompassing parts of the downtown area, with specific areas designated to find children's wooden coins. (Courtesy city of McKinney)
Each computer chip will be marked with a prize tier, and can be exchanged for a reward in that tier, with prizes ranging from $15-$500, Jones said. The computer chips can be exchanged at the Visit McKinney Visitor’s shop, located at 200 W. Virginia St., and are limited to three tiered prizes claimed per household, the Visit McKinney website states. Children’s wooden coins will be exchanged for an age-appropriate prize at the same location.

Diving in deeper


Local artist Ivanevid Llamas started painting a mural on the former McKinney City Hall building in downtown McKinney Aug. 11.

Llamas said the mural, which will have glow-in-the-dark elements, was commissioned by Visit McKinney and will be incorporated into the Downtown McKinney Scavenger Hunt.

Llamas pointed out various downtown McKinney points of interest are incorporated into the mural including the McKinney water tower, and that it has a 3-D effect reflective of an old neon sign. The mural has a similar technology-focused iconography to align with the event theme, Jones said.

Although Llamas creates paintings in a variety of mediums, he chose to only use spray paint for this mural.


“I think it's funny that I started doing graffiti in Mexico City, now I’m spray painting on a government building,” Llamas said.

Llamas said he has street art pieces in 40 cities and 15 countries. Locally, he has multiple murals in McKinney including at The McKinney Cotton Mill as well as a studio in The LAST Art Gallery in downtown McKinney.

Jones said the new mural may stay on the building for some time after the Aug. 30 event, but was not intended to be permanent and can be removed.

Get involved


The city’s first scavenger hunt, held in 2024, featured “Indiana Jones” theming. About 4,000 people turned out for the event, Jones said.

The scavenger hunt puzzles, which are made by city staff, “struck the right balance of difficulty” in 2024, Jones said, but the puzzles for this year’s event will require less walking. Clues will also be posted on official city social media channels throughout the event day.

For more information on the event and how to participate, visit www.visitmckinney.com/scavengerhunt.