The State Fair of Texas: Rooted in Agriculture

Every fall, more than two million people pass through the gates at Fair Park in Dallas for the State Fair of Texas. This year's run is September 25 through October 18, 2026, 24 days that make it the longest-running state fair in the country. Long before the Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs and the Texas Star Ferris Wheel, the Fair started out as something much plainer. A spot for Texas farmers and ranchers to show off what they'd been working on all year.

The Fair got its start in 1886, when a handful of Dallas businessmen, among them William H. Gaston, John S. Armstrong, and Thomas Marsalis, filed a charter for what became the Dallas State Fair and Exposition. A second group broke away that same year and ran a competing fair just north of town, on a different patch of land entirely. Neither one turned a profit, and by the next year, the two sides had dropped the rivalry and joined forces on the 80-acre grounds that eventually grew into today's Fair Park.

From the start, agriculture was the point. Early fairs centered on cattle sales and the newest farm equipment, and drew speakers like Booker T. Washington, who addressed the fairgrounds in 1900. The State Fair has run most years since, with breaks tied to both World Wars, a mid-1930s pause while Fair Park was rebuilt for the Texas Centennial, and a 2020 closure during the pandemic. Attendance passed one million by 1916 and two million by 1949.

The Fair's best-known symbol showed up almost by accident. A 55-foot Santa Claus went up in Kerens, Texas, in 1949 to draw holiday shoppers, but failed to bring in crowds the following year and went up for sale. The State Fair bought it in 1951 for $750, reworked it into a cowboy, and introduced Big Tex to the grounds in 1952. He's been greeting fairgoers ever since, aside from a 2012 fire that destroyed the original structure. A rebuilt Big Tex returned for the 2013 State Fair of Texas and still stands watch over Fair Park today.

Underneath the concerts and fried food, the State Fair has never let go of its agricultural roots. Its livestock show draws thousands of 4-H and FFA members from across Texas every year, with online registration for the 2026 show typically opening August 1. Students bring animals they've raised and cared for over months, and many have completed the Texas 4-H/FFA Quality Counts training required before they can enter. For younger fairgoers who've never been near a working ranch, the livestock barns are often the closest they'll get to seeing what that work actually looks like.

For the students, competing at the State Fair carries real weight. It sits alongside majors like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on the calendar 4-H families build their year around, and a strong showing here can mean scholarship dollars alongside the ribbon. It's also a rare stage for these kids. Few other events put a 4-H showmanship class in front of the same crowd that came for the Texas-OU game or the Midway.

That weight shows up most clearly at the Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction, held towards the beginning of the Fair each year. More than 600 students earn one of the auction's coveted spots, selling steers, lambs, goats, broilers, and barrows to the highest bidder. Last year's Grand Champion steer set a new Fair record, selling for $200,000. Proceeds beyond each student's guaranteed payment go toward the Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction and Scholarship Program, which has put more than $25.3 million toward Texas students' education since 2018.

The livestock exhibitor handbook and show schedule are available now on BigTex.com/Livestock , right alongside the concert lineup and attractions list. Same website, same fairgrounds, same 24 days.