State Fair of Texas

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The Texas Star, North America's largest ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas

The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas, Texas (USA). The fair season usually begins in late September and ends in the middle of October. The fair is held at the historic Fair Park where it has been held since 1886. Big Tex, a 52 ft (16 m) tall cowboy, has been the symbol of the fair since his introduction in 1952.

The State Fair of Texas is considered to be the largest state fair in the United States, attracting over 3 million visitors during its 24 day run.[1] It also has the largest ferris wheel in North America. It is estimated that the fair brings in about US$350 million dollars to the Dallas economy.

Traditionally, one of the centerpieces of the fair has been the annual college football game between Texas and Oklahoma, nicknamed "The AT&T Red River Rivalry" and played in the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park.

The State Fair of Texas is the only Fair in the country to include a full blown Auto Show. It includes over 300,000 square feet of new model vehicles, two buildings, a Truck Zone and a Test Drive Track. The State Fair has been the site for several international launches including the 2007 Chevy Tahoe, the 2007 Ford Sporttrac and the 2008 Chevy Silverado.

In recent years the fair has emphasized its reputation as an event featuring high-fat, unhealthy food items. The fair has been known for years for Fletcher's brand corny dogs. Recent years have seen the introduction of new unusual deep-fried items, including deep-fried Oreo cookies, deep-fried Twinkies, deep-fried pork ribs, fried cheesecake, deep-fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwiches, and most recently fried coke. The fair's 2005 logo featured Big Tex holding aloft a mustard covered corny dog while shouting with abandon, and a slogan of "Let yourself go." The 2006 theme is "Big Tex and the City"

In 1955, tragedy struck the State Fair of Texas when students from the Memphis High School marching band from Memphis, Texas fell from the top of the ferris wheel, resulting in the death of one student.[2] Robert Draper wrote a feature for Texas Monthly commemorating the 50th anniversary of the accident. [3]

A year later, on October 11, 1956, the fair highlighted a show by the then-21 year old Elvis Presley, with 26,000 teenagers attending, and breaking all attendance records for an outdoor concert in the state of Texas.