The State Fair Has a New Policy This Year for Minors After 5 p.m.

It's that time of year when every email ping from the Texas State Fair raises a Rock-like eyebrow. What fried-food news is there today?

On Tuesday, however, it wasn't food news, but a new safety policy. During the 2023 season, starting at 5 p.m. daily, all minors age 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or chaperone who is 21 or older when entering the fair. Parents, guardians and chaperones can be responsible for no more than six minors and they must provide a valid ID at the gate.

Once inside, minors can be on their own.

The policy will be enforced from 5 p.m. until closing.

This rings of an incident at the fair last year. For a bit of background, each year students and teachers of Dallas ISD and school districts within 100 miles of the fairgrounds get free admission on designated days. More than two million student and teacher vouchers are given out each year.

These school vouchers are good for one specified day, meaning many students show up on the same day. This year, Dallas ISD's fair days are Oct. 12 and 13 (usually one day is for primary students, the other for junior high and up). As in years past, Dallas ISD students have those two days off for a fall break, allowing students to potentially spend all day eating corn dogs and riding the Ferris wheel.

Last year, one of Dallas ISD's fair days was on Friday, Oct. 13, the same day that Dallas police responded to the fairgrounds after receiving calls about a shooting — a false alarm. The fair later released a statement, "It appears fairgoers are trying to create chaos by running through the fairgrounds."

Karissa Condoianis, senior vice-president of the fair, says that last year's incident wasn't the sole reason for the change, but it did affect the timing for rolling out this policy.

"This is a policy we have been discussing for a few years. Similar policies are being implemented at many fairs, events, and venues across the nation," Condoianis said.

The fair is running full coverage with two other rules in the code of conduct: "Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, offensive, or illegal is not allowed on the fairgrounds."

Under that, "Disruptive running is not allowed on the fairgrounds."

The State Fair of Texas runs from Sept. 29 through Oct. 22, with lots of nice, calm walking.