Texas State Fair

"Howdy folks, this is Big Tex! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas!"

The booming voice of Big Tex is unmistakable. Once you've been on the midway, you understand! 

Growing up, I never went to a state or county fair with my parents - ever. I distinctly remember going to a fair one year when I was in middle school with my friend Robin, and delighting over all the goodness that the fair entailed - the junky food, rides, exhibits, and general atmosphere of thousands of people wandering from place to place. It was fun, but foreign to me at the same time. My parents were not into these types of things so attending fairs was not the norm. Honestly, this was fine since we did other fun activities that seemed similar or better, like going to Busch Gardens and Disney World.

And then when I was much older I moved to Texas, where attending the State Fair is a huge ritual. EVERYONE goes and then they all talk about their experiences afterwards. Notice that State Fair is capitalized on purpose! The kids have a day off of school specifically to attend the fair, so that is the environment that we live in from the end of September through the end of October.

I remember the first year we went to the Texas fair. It was October of 2005, about three months after we moved here. Amelia was 2 years three months old and I was pregnant with John. Scott grew up differently in that he went to fairs regularly as a kid, and as a result Scott knows how to attend a fair. Scott loves to spend a (small) fortune on the midway and he revels in the junky food and in the crowds lining up for each attraction. I was naive the first year, suggesting to Scott that Amelia would probably enjoy things like walking the livestock arenas to see the fat pigs and attending the children's petting zoo. But Scott was all about the action on the midway, despite Amelia being so young. I watched Scott carefully that first year and pondered whether this "understanding" of the fair was somewhat learned. I thought the fair was crowded, messy, expensive, and filled with people saying bad things in foul language that I normally wouldn't pay good money to be around.

Many years later, I have definitely concluded that a love of the fair is something you learn over time. For me, I now really enjoy the fair and I look forward to the years that we attend. But this has come after several years of decent experiences attending the fair in Texas. I enjoy the fair for the once-a-year aspect of the attractions, plus the beautiful October weather days enjoying Dallas' Fair Park, plus Flether's corn dogs (seriously!), and the goofiness of some of the shows. 

The kids and I were determined not to miss the fair this year, so off we went on a beautiful Friday afternoon once school let out for the day. Unfortunately Scott was not able to go with us because of a conflicting work event, but in a way this worked out well because we got to spend more time away from the midway, which I quickly learned is a place for rowdy behavior from teenagers and young adults on a Friday night.

Let's rewind to the good parts. We saw lots of fun shows that one can only see at a state fair! John voted for the BMX stunt show. We saw bikers leap across ramps and do back flips in the air during this show. That's John below in the blue tank top. There were so many boys at this show that were John's age - just oohing over the tricks.

View of the Texas Star in the background of the midway.

We rode the gondola across the midway grounds before dinner! This is one of my favorite parts of attending the Texas state fair! I am very proud that Amelia voted for this attraction, as that shows that she clearly enjoys it too!



Fletcher's Corn Dogs for dinner! Yes, I win the mom of the year award for this one!

We saw many shows at the fair this year. This is a photo from the ostrich races. The human jockeys rode on the backs of ostriches as they rounded the arena field.

We also attended the pig races, which were fun. Both were hilarious and cheesy at the same time.

As we were riding the DART train (mass transit) home, the kids and I debated back and forth whether we enjoyed the ostrich or pig races more. I don't remember the conclusion as they were both largely entertaining, but I think we decided that the races fall a bit in the category of "been there, done that, don't need to go back for several years" category.

In between the shows and corn dogs, the kids went on a few midway rides each (they weren't terribly interested, much to my delight!) and then they both participated in several midway games. The midway games are not my favorite either, but for once a year fun with restraint on the ticket cost, I'll let them have fun with this.

The last event we attended was probably the best of the night. Unfortunately I don't have good pictures because it was in the dark and the lighting was terrible, but the laser light show with fireworks was honestly INCREDIBLE. We sat on a grassy bank lining the esplanade (area with fountains and lots of lights) and listened to music while we saw a laser light show coordinated with dancing fountains and accompanying fireworks. There was a light breeze flowing as we watched the show, the music was pretty, and the area was completely free of the hoodlums that had taken over the midway area towards the end of our visit. Success! We loved the laser light show and fireworks!

Score one for the Texas state fair this year! Thanks Big Tex for a fun Friday night experience that is so much different than our norm!