The Winter Classic won’t be played in a barn, but it may look like it.

The NHL will create a ranch-like aesthetic for the Winter Classic between the Stars and Predators at the Cotton Bowl, according to NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer and NHL Vice President of Creative Services Paul Conway.

“Creating this environment here so it’s almost the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Ranch,” Conway said.

The Winter Classic on Jan. 1 will be the southernmost outdoor game in NHL history, and the first outdoor game for both the Stars and Predators franchises. The game will draw at least 83,000 people, Mayer said, and will be the second-highest attended NHL game in league history.

The NHL will transform the Cotton Bowl’s look with wood-textured trim, and will attempt to bring the State Fair onto the field. Mayer said there will be animals in an area of the field dedicated to the State Fair and a theatrical element that comes to life during pregame, timeouts and intermission.

Mayer referenced the 2018 Winter Classic at Citi Field in New York, when the field was decorated with taxis and the field design “came to life” during breaks in action, including actors playing construction workers and the taxis moving.

“The goal with all these is that you take a shot of our field and you know immediately as a fan in Chicago or a fan in Iowa or a fan in Florida, they’re playing the game in Dallas,” Mayer said. “That’s something that we take a lot of pride in.”

In past locations, the NHL has drawn on specific elements to illustrate where the outdoor game is being played. Last year at Notre Dame Stadium, it used shamrocks on the field. In St. Louis in 2017, it used a music theme and put a guitar on the field. In Los Angeles in 2014, the league put a beach volleyball court in left field of Dodger Stadium.

“It’s always exaggerated,” Mayer said. “Like in New York, taxis. That’s exaggerated to the rest of the world. Is New York about taxicabs? No, but that’s a visual cue in our mind that tells you where we are. … It’s our job to balance it a bit, but it’s also our job to honor where we are and let people from not here, but around the world quickly let them know where we are.”

The musical stage will be in the north end zone opposite of the tunnel. Mayer said the game will also have a house band to play during timeouts instead of strictly canned music played over the speakers.

Musical acts: Mayer said the league would announce the musical performers in the coming weeks, but did say the two acts were country artists with ties to Dallas and Nashville. One of them is a Grammy nominee this year and the other previously won awards.

One performance will be before the game close to introductions and the other will be during the first intermission. Mayer said it was possible there was a third performer for the national anthem.

Rapper Post Malone, a Grapevine native, is not one of the artists as scheduling prevented his inclusion.

Opening the Midway: As part of the Truly Hard Seltzer NHL PreGame — the fan fest at Fairgrounds — the league will open the Midway for fans to attend from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It will re-open after the game and close at 8 p.m. Only fans with tickets to the game can attend the fan fest.

The fan fest will have interactive games, live music and a chance to take a picture with the Stanley Cup. Rides like the Texas Star Ferris Wheel, Top o' Texas Tower, Texas Skyway, Pirate Ship and Lone Star Scooters will be free to ride.

Road to the Winter Classic: The television series “The Road to the Winter Classic” will return to chronicle the lead up to the game on New Year’s Day and will air on NBCSN, Mayer said. There will be two total hours of programming, but it has not been determined in what form: either two 30-minute episodes plus one hour-long episode, or two hour-long episodes.

Shooting will begin Dec. 11 and could premiere the next week. Last year, the first episode aired Dec. 19. The series will also be available on demand and on YouTube.

Other Winter Classic links

How and why the Dallas Stars and Cotton Bowl landed the NHL’s 2020 Winter Classic

How a five-person committee shaped the Stars’ Winter Classic uniforms