The State Fair of Texas has come and gone for another year. This time, it saw hundreds of thousands fewer visitors compared to 2024, according to data released Monday by fair officials.
About 2 million people visited the fair, down by about 400,000 from last year. Fair officials said anywhere from 2 to 2.5 million visitors is typical.
Fairgoers said affordability was an issue this year
Across social media, posts circulated about families skipping the State Fair of Texas this year because they said they simply couldn’t afford it. Some families told CBS News Texas that even with discounted admission, once they added in food and games cost in the midway, it still was not in their budgets.
They said that kept people away this year, but fair spokesperson Karissa Condoianis said the social posts on low attendance were misleading.
“There’s been days that don’t feel as busy, that happens,” Condoianis said on Sunday, the last day of the fair. “What’s going on in the world impacts how the fair performs that year.”
2025 State Fair of Texas by the numbers
The fair’s busiest day this year was on Oct. 11 – the annual Red River Rivalry football game with the University of Texas vs the University of Oklahoma. More than 193,000 people attended the fair that day with more than 148,300 going to the football game, fair officials said. Last year, there were about 211,000 fairgoers on this day.
During the duration of the fair, about 400,000 prizes were won in the midway, with an estimated total value of $1.6 million. Last year, the same amount of prizes were won, but at a value of $1.4 million.
According to the fair, there were no safety or security incidents on fairgrounds this year, to which it credits new safety measures.
The State Fair of Texas will return Sept. 25, through Oct. 18, 2026.