State Fair of Texas

Havin' a Ball at the Fair

Nothing Like a New Pickup When You Need That Crap Economy Pick-Me-Up

The State Fair? So Far, Fairly Empty.

Fair from Over

Events for the week

Events for the week

Events for the week

Best Place to See Pets You Can Eat

Animal Barns at the State Fair of Texas

Fair Play

Animal Barns at the State Fair of Texas

Blackjack Pizza

Animal Barns at the State Fair of Texas

Museum's Loaded

Take us out to MNS

See You at the Fair

Take us out to MNS

Fried Magic

Bring on the State Fair

Deep-Fried Fun

The State Fair of Texas is as eccentric as the state's residents

Fair Game

Don't stand up Big Tex

Batter Up

It's incredibly corny over there

Fair Fare

The State Fair of Texas offers delights from corn dogs to corn-fed cattle

Corn Dogged: Garrison Keillor Visits the State Fair of Texas For National Geographic (?)

Allison V. Smith's photo of Big Tex's 2008 makeover remains one of our favorite State Fair of Texas photos ever.Actually, once you read the piece -- which appears in the issue hitting newsstands this week but which you can read right now -- it seems rather unlikely that the Prairie Home Companionist ... More >>

Why Just Hitch a Ride on a DART Bus?

​Didn't wind up with one of those Dallas Fire-Rescue pumper trucks up for auction last month, which is just as well -- wouldn't have had room for one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses that went up for grabs late yesterday on my favorite everything-must-go Web site. Really, it just makes more ... More >>

Fry Girl

​Didn't wind up with one of those Dallas Fire-Rescue pumper trucks up for auction last month, which is just as well -- wouldn't have had room for one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses that went up for grabs late yesterday on my favorite everything-must-go Web site. Really, it just makes more ... More >>

State Fry of Texas

​Didn't wind up with one of those Dallas Fire-Rescue pumper trucks up for auction last month, which is just as well -- wouldn't have had room for one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses that went up for grabs late yesterday on my favorite everything-must-go Web site. Really, it just makes more ... More >>

Everybody Gets Fried Butter!

Flickr photo: cmiked​A good Friend of Unfair Park who was out at the State Fair of Texas today sends word: OMFG, Oprah! Fried butter for everyone! Nice photo of the clusterflock at top -- especially of WFAA's Cynthia Izaguirre, who looks damned happy to be there -- but this one's the keeper.

Today's Sign of the Times: Where You Can Park for the Red River Shootout on Saturday

​Meranda Cohn at Dallas City Hall sends word for those heading to the Red River Shootout on Saturday: Take the Green Line or at least park on Fair Park property, where spots are $10. But if you insist on parking off-site, in one of the privately owned lots where spots run upwards of $15, just one ... More >>

Our Deep-Fried Decade: Ten Years Of Gluttony And Progress At The State Fair

Photos by Patrick MichelsAfter 10 years, this is where we ended up: four deep-fried butter balls topped with garlic and grape sauce. How did we get to the point where we'd actually eat this?​In the early 2000s, we came to the State Fair of Texas with a doe-eyed, innocent kind of hunger. We'd get a ... More >>

Howdy, Folks, and Welcome to the "Super-Sized" State Fair of Texas?

​What you see up top is the artwork unveiled today for this year's State Fair of Texas, where the theme is "Super Sized Fun." Which is in reference to ...? Let's go to The Official Announcement: "Super is the word heard all around North Texas this year and Fair officials are working closely with t ... More >>

No App Yet for Your Fried-Food Appetite at Fair

The fried Cokes are that way, folks.​Visitors to the State Fair of Texas will have to wait at least a year before they can use their iPhones to instantly locate the closest fried cookie dough stand. State fairs in Ohio and Indiana this week announced plans to roll out iPhone apps that will al ... More >>

Multi-Faceted Art

The fried Cokes are that way, folks.​Visitors to the State Fair of Texas will have to wait at least a year before they can use their iPhones to instantly locate the closest fried cookie dough stand. State fairs in Ohio and Indiana this week announced plans to roll out iPhone apps that will al ... More >>

Honest food at Potager and a roll of the dice at The Mercury

Sara Kerens​This week's Dallas food bloggers learned to trust empty parking lots, took Mary into their own Bloody hands, and found peace on Earth at Potager Café and the Dallas Islamic Center. More Dallas restaurants have Gone Texan, and don't expect to find wines from any other place e ... More >>

Fried Beer Takes the Prize at State Fair

Photo by Hanna RaskinFried beer​"You can't go wrong with chocolate!," a satisfied volunteer crowed upon exiting the Big Tex Choice Awards. Except, it seems, at the State Fair of Texas, where savory resoundingly trumped sweet at this morning's awards ceremony. Fried beer claimed the "most crea ... More >>

Corny Dog Time

Photo by Hanna RaskinFried beer​"You can't go wrong with chocolate!," a satisfied volunteer crowed upon exiting the Big Tex Choice Awards. Except, it seems, at the State Fair of Texas, where savory resoundingly trumped sweet at this morning's awards ceremony. Fried beer claimed the "most crea ... More >>

Watermelon With Feta Salad, We Are So Over You Now

Photo by Robert BostickBut if it tastes good, we can still like it, right?​It's probably a few months too soon to name the most clichéd dish of 2010, but I'm early voting for watermelon with feta salad. The colorful salad showed up at restaurants across town this summer, gracing the salad pa ... More >>

Puzzle + Games = Fun

Photo by Robert BostickBut if it tastes good, we can still like it, right?​It's probably a few months too soon to name the most clichéd dish of 2010, but I'm early voting for watermelon with feta salad. The colorful salad showed up at restaurants across town this summer, gracing the salad pa ... More >>

The Most Beautiful Video of the State Fair of Texas You Will See All Day

State Fair - Twixtor Test from Robert on Vimeo.Just came across this on Vimeo: Robert Hunt's short film made during an outing to the State Fair of Texas. On the Vimeo page he explains how and why he made it, and apologizes for the stuttering start to the slow-mo short that I've found to be a common ... More >>

It's a Different Sort of Pop Rock

State Fair - Twixtor Test from Robert on Vimeo.Just came across this on Vimeo: Robert Hunt's short film made during an outing to the State Fair of Texas. On the Vimeo page he explains how and why he made it, and apologizes for the stuttering start to the slow-mo short that I've found to be a common ... More >>

A State Fair Summation From a Food-Loving Arkansawyer

Editor's Note: Of the gazillion people who yearly visit the State Fair of Texas, a good number of them are outlanders. One of those visitors this year offered to share her fair reflections with City of Ate. Kat Robinson, who blogs about food back in Arkansas, reveals here which fried dish she liked ... More >>

Fair's Cooking Contests Attract Young Top Chef Wannabes

Matronly home cooks clutching recipe cards inherited from their kitchen-wise grannies are no longer shoo-ins to win culinary contests at the State Fair of Texas. ​The number of young men competing in the various contests featuring Dr Pepper, Spam and Malt-o-Meal has been steadily increasing over ... More >>

North Texas Food Bank Sets State Fair Record

Tallies of how much food was consumed at the State Fair of Texas this year aren't yet available, but the amount of food donated was record-setting. ​The North Texas Food Bank this morning announced its haul over a series of collection Wednesdays came to 177,558 pounds, breaking the previous r ... More >>

Clock, Theme Set for Fair

Now that things are looking more like spring, let's talk about next fall. Yes, even before summer, sunglasses and heat-waves, let's talk about deep-fried food, over-sized cowboy hats and the Texas State Fair. ​As if we needed a reason to discuss the month-long exaltation of everything Texas, ... More >>

Landmark Would Like State Fair Vendors to Pick Up After Themselves at Fair Park

Some of the displays around Hall of State and the lagoon that remained after the State Fair of Texas​The 7-year-old who lives in my house and I have spent the last two weekends at Fair Park while he wrapped a school project; so -- sniff -- proud. And somewhere between walking around the Cotton Bow ... More >>

City to Spend Some Fair Park Marketing Money to Keep TicketCity Bowl Through 2018 Game

​The Cotton Bowl Classic, of course, is no longer played at the Cotton Bowl -- hasn't been for two years, when the bowl game decamped for Arlington, thus making it a very unhappy New Year 'round Fair Park at kickoff time. Then came along the TicketCity Bowl -- Texas Tech vs. Northwestern to start ... More >>

More Than Fair Display

​The Cotton Bowl Classic, of course, is no longer played at the Cotton Bowl -- hasn't been for two years, when the bowl game decamped for Arlington, thus making it a very unhappy New Year 'round Fair Park at kickoff time. Then came along the TicketCity Bowl -- Texas Tech vs. Northwestern to start ... More >>

For Sale: An 1894 Texas State Fair Keepsake

From eBay seller "celluloid"​On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park, which opened on June 6, 1936, Friend of Unfair Park PeterK espied this one-of-a-kind keepsake up for grabs on eBay courtesy Minneapolis-based seller "celluloid": a bronze coin commemora ... More >>

Celebrate 75th Anniversary of Centennnial Expo With Footage From 1961 State Fair of Texas

​From the extremely loud to the completely silent ...Yesterday was a momentous anniversary that passed without any notice whatsoever: It was the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park. Coincidentally, though, one YouTuber marked the occasion by posting some ... More >>

Falling for Big Tex's Line

State Fair of Texas' big dude seems vaguely presidential these days.

Your Map(s) to Fried Heaven at the State Fair

Original Map Via State Fair Of Texas; With Art By Alexander FloresCLICK TO EMBIGGEN​If you're going to the State Fair of Texas, it's a given that you have to try the fried bubble gum and fried salsa and definitely obviously the fried buffalo chicken in a flapjack on a stick, plus all the other ... More >>

Big Tex Will Haunt Your Dreams

State Fair of Texas​Moments ago, a Friend of Unfair Park directed my attention to the State Fair of Texas's Facebook page, where 18 old photos from fairs past were just posted. All are worth a look-see; remember the fun we had browsing Nick DeWolf's stash of pics from the '77 State Fair? But this ... More >>

Oh, Bacon Snap: The 2011 State Fair of Texas Bacon and Eggs Contest

Alice Laussade2011 Bacon and Eggs contest at the State Fair of Texas. Idea: Let's put all that stuff in my face.​Yesterday I had the honor of judging at the 2011 State Fair of Texas Bacon and Eggs contest. Yeah, be so jealous. There were six categories for competition: bacon appetizer, bacon e ... More >>

The DFW Truck Farm, Rolling to a Restaurant Near You

Trust me, it's more impressive when it's filled with living produce​There's more to the State Fair of Texas than deep fried my little pony turds, you know. If you find your way past the funnel cakes, Cuban sandwiches and fried beer, you might stumble on the DFW Truck Farm. The pickup truck out ... More >>

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Trust me, it's more impressive when it's filled with living produce​There's more to the State Fair of Texas than deep fried my little pony turds, you know. If you find your way past the funnel cakes, Cuban sandwiches and fried beer, you might stumble on the DFW Truck Farm. The pickup truck out ... More >>