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State Fair of Texas

Your Guide to the State Fair of Texas 2016: The Final Days

The last day of the fair is Sunday, but we'll always have "Celebrating Texas Agriculture."
By The Event Listings Committee |
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The last day of this year’s State Fair of Texas is Sunday. Then, Big Tex will go back into his pen. Thousands and thousands of North Texans will start dieting out of a residual fried guilt. The debate about the future of Fair Park will continue to go back and forth and up and down and around.

We get teary-eyed thinking about it, but at least we’ll always have “Celebrating Texas Agriculture.”

And for a few more days, there are still corn dogs to eat and gravity-defying death traps to ride. Keep reading for our final tips on how to make the most of a visit to Big Tex’s playground, and we’ll see you next year.

Click the map below to see it at full size.

state-fair-map

What to See and Do

No football this weekend, but you can test your own hand-eye coordination on the Midway. The more sensible and less gullible will stick to the light-up sights and sounds, both of which thrive after sunset.

Visit one of the exhibits we keep telling you about:

An exhibition featuring replicas of Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel is on display in the Women’s Building throughout the fair’s run, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Admission to the Vatican knock-off is an extra $8.

In the Hall of State, guests can visit the Taylor Swift Experience, a collection of memorabilia arranged to tell the story of the pop star’s career. The other three more traditional exhibits in the Hall of State are of a more historical, Texan nature: “Six Nations Over Texas,” “Ways of the West,” and “Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy.” Historical photographs from the Ebony-esque photojournalistic magazine Sepia will be on display at the African American Museum.

Or one of the new daily shows we keep telling you about:

…the Lone Star Stampede is a romanticized cattle drive — the Wild West as performance, with American Indian dancers and more. Shows are in the Pan Am Arena. In the Chevrolet Park Plaza, The Lords of Gravity Basketball Slam Dunk Show enlists the Harlem Globetrotters of Hungary to run the court.

Have we already told you about the pig races? Probably. Every hour at the Pan Am Arena. Go Pig No. 2.

Pay a visit to one of Fair Park’s year-round tenants. We like the African-American Museum and Texas Discovery Gardens, where you will learn more about butterflies than you thought possible.

Even if you’re not car shopping, it’s nice to cool off at the Auto Show.

Perhaps some oddities will grab your interest:

oddities

Planning to shop ’til you drop? Consult this list of vendors and 18(!) market spots around the fair.

As part of the Texas Cultural Partnership, international dance groups perform in Marine Corps Square in front of the Women’s Museum every weekend. Here’s the performance schedule for Friday and Saturday:

screen-shot-2016-10-18-at-3-51-53-pm

For a full State Fair of Texas daily schedule so overwhelmingly comprehensive it will fry your brains, go here.

What to Eat, Drink, and Consume

The consensus seems to be that this year’s new food options, however Instagram-able, are not all they’re fried up to be. We advise sticking with the all-time classics: The corn dog and the funnel cake.

Head to the Food and Fiber Building and the GO TEXAN General Store for an impressive selection of locally made margarita mix, salsa, jalapeno quail eggs, and other delicious treats and eats.

Our advice from last week also holds true:

Vegetarians don’t have to miss out on all the fried fun. It is, in fact, possible to go meat-free at the State Fair, and our vegetarian’s guide to fair food is the proof. Vegans may have a tougher time.

Grab an adult beverage at either the Magnolia Beer Garden or the State Fair Wine Garden. Kick back at the mobile beer truck of Beer Haven.

New fried confections this year include Fried Jell-O, sodas in edible cups, and deep fried nachos. We’re partial to the deep fried chicken pot pie. To find all these delicious dishes, go here.

Food discounts are most prevalent on Thrifty Thursdays, when many fair favorites are offered at a discount. Go here to see the deals included in the program.

Creative cook-offs are at 10:30 a.m. every day in the Creative Arts Building. The Celebrity Chef Kitchen, in the same building, is also open daily. That schedule can be found here.

What to Listen to

The headliners at the Chevrolet Main Stage:

  • Friday, Oct. 21: The Quebe Sisters at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Oct. 22: Colton Dixon at 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, Oct. 22: Skillet at 8:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, Oct. 23: La Energia Nortena at 3 p.m.

Here’s the remaining main stage schedule for regional performers:

screen-shot-2016-10-18-at-3-40-48-pm

The great Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band take us home with daily performances at the Bud Light Sound Stage near the Cotton Bowl.

The Western swing band the Light Crust Doughboys close out the daily shows at the Dr Pepper Sound Stage near the Creative Arts Building.

The U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps continues its daily performances at Marine Corps Square.

For more on the best live music at the fair and our recommendations, go here.

For Your Information

State Fair Hours:

  • Gates open: 10 am
  • State Fair Building and exhibits hours: 10 am-10 pm
  • Midway hours: 10 am-10 pm

Admission tickets are available at bigtex.com, at a Kroger or Walgreens near you, or at the gates of Fair Park. Food, rides, and some other activities will require the purchase of extra coupons, which you can get at the fair or order online.

A general admission ticket is $18 for adults, and $14 for children and seniors. Download the DART GoPass app for $2 off admission. Go here for more ways to save at the fair, and keep reading to learn how to take advantage of daily deals.

Daily discounts: 

  • Tuesdays: Trade a Dr Pepper can for a $5 ticket.
  • Wednesdays: Exchange four cans of food, to be donated to the North Texas Food Bank, for a $4 entry ticket.
  • Thursdays: Bring a 20 oz. bottle of Coke for $6 admission. Seniors (60 and older) get in for free. And if you’ve got a real hankering for fried food, Thrifty Thursdays — a discount promotion on fair food — is back in full force.
  • Fridays: Visit 106.1 KISS-FM’s website to print off a ticket for $5 admission.
  • Daily: Come after 5 p.m. and trade a Dr Pepper can for half-off admission.

The fair runs through Sunday, Oct. 23.

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