The State Fair of Texas is open Sept. 24 – Oct.17 and is being held at Fair Park. Tickets are $15 at the gate. (Michael Danser/The Daily Campus)
The voice of Big Tex booms from the center of Fair Park.
Mustard spreads on the sides of corndogs. Powdered sugar dusts the tops of funnel cakes. Rides throw their passengers upside down. And fried Frito pie makes its way to the mouths of fried-fare lovers.
The Texas State Fair is here again this fall, continuing to bring in crowds just as it did in its first fair in 1886. Some rain dumped on the fair’s first Saturday, but crowds still made their way to Fair Park for their annual fried food decadence and oversized game prizes.
Down the Midway, signs on stands advertise their various fried items: oreos, butter, bacon and cheesecake—just to name a few.
Aly Christensen, sophomore business major, made an effort to find the fried goods.
“I wanted to make sure I tried as much of the fried food as I could since that’s one of the many reasons the fair is so popular to go in the first place,” she said. “However, among the things I tried, the fried pizza was the best.”
Christensen even managed to try this year’s winner for best fried food: fried beer topped with cheese.
“Among the many fried items I tried, the fried beer was the most interesting,” she said. “It was one of the most interesting things I have ever tried, but it wasn’t a big hit amongst my family. They all thought it was heinously disgusting.”
Looking even higher above these signs are dangling lifts, pulling passengers for a bird’s eye view of the park. Of course, whether it’s aglow at night or just turning its star in the afternoon, the Texas Star Ferris Wheel catches attendees’ eyes, cameras’ lenses and riders’ coupons.
On the other side of the Midway, brave fair-goers are thrown upside-down, spun to the sides of chairs and lifted higher than the Fletcher’s corn dogs’ sign. Many of the 70 amusement rides have more people watching the rides from below than experiencing them from the seats.
And every so often, a smell far less alluring than the funnel cakes drifts over. Not too far away are longhorns, a giraffe, llamas and goats—lots of goats. All of these small to oversized quadrupeds are presented to visitors. They’re also a part of the fair’s early days.
For those who want to spend money on something other than cheese-covered potato chips, the fair offers even more: belt buckles, nail art, teeth whitening, purses, Tempur-Pedic mattresses, car magnets reading “I love my Maltese,” and even a ceramic plate that grates garlic.
The goods and services available at the fair may seem random, but the tables keep visitors. The teeth whitening gets some looks of doubt by passerby’s, while other services may be more popular for some. Mustard dripping off your corndog could make the shoe cleaning necessary.
For more to see but less to spend, venturing to the crafts building may be of interest. Over 7,000 creative art entries make their ways to the fair’s judges. And the winners for photographs, hand-woven Christmas stockings and canned fruit are just some of the spectacles to take in inside. Of course, the hand-carved butter sculpture is a work of art visitors probably won’t be able to miss.
The fair’s Main Stage is featuring a number of performers this fall, including Mat Kearney, the Eli Young Band, the Pointer Sisters and Collective Soul.
Texans and SMU students have been going to the fair for years. Christensen made her way there for the first time this past Saturday.
“I got to see more of Texas culture,” she said. “I’ve yet to really venture out of the SMU ‘bubble,’ so it was nice to see more of what Texas is all about.”
With all of the food, goods, games, admissions and parking, the fair typically brings in $350 million in its 24-day run. This year’s fair is running through Oct. 17. General admission at the gate is $15 or $12.95 at bigtex.com.
