Fairgoers walk by Big Tex at State Fair of Texas, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Fair Park in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
State Fair of Texas organizers set out to make this year’s fair more affordable. After fairgoers complained about high costs, organizers cut prices across the fairgrounds, including parking and admission. But did the rollback on prices make a difference this year?
The change didn’t do much for Isaiah and Haley Sigala’s family of three.
Isaiah and Haley brought their 10-month-old daughter to the State Fair of Texas on the final Friday of the season. They visited Fair Park twice this year, the first on a discounted admission day and then with Isaiah’s employer.
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Getting into the fairgrounds cost less than the year before, Isaiah said. But prices still felt too high.
“Any food that you get, it seems like it was still on the incline,” he said.
Fair attendance rose 3.1% from 2025 to nearly 2.1 million this year. The slight spike in daily visitors followed familiar patterns as in previous years, with the Red River Rivalry drawing the biggest crowds and weather playing a role on slow days.
For its 140th anniversary, the fair lowered admission and parking prices in response to last year’s criticism of overall affordability. But even with employer-provided tickets or cheaper entrance fees, fairgoers took the time to count up the coupons to determine if the fun came at a justifiable price.
Attendance makes a difference
From 2017 through 2025, the fair averaged 2.29 million visitors per season, excluding 2020 when it was canceled because of COVID-19 precautions. In 2025, fair attendance fell to 2,020,064, the lowest in the time span.
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Social media posts shared during the 2025 fair showed empty parking lots and sparse crowds. The posts blamed low turnout on high prices for parking, rides, food and admission. Although prices were not directly linked to the lower attendance, the decline validated the critics’ concerns about affordability.
After last year’s extensive discourse on affordability, the fair rolled back parking and admission prices for 2026.
“This is an event for families,” fair spokeswoman Karissa Condoianis said. “We have generations of families who attend the fair and have this as part of their annual family traditions. We want to make sure that we’re keeping the State Fair an affordable family experience.”
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The fair lowered official parking lot prices by $5 to $25, and offered cheaper admission. Kids’ tickets cost $10. Adults paid between $15 and $25.
Adult admission also dipped in price based on the various discounts the fair provided this year, including an after-5 p.m. deal for $10 admission Monday through Thursday and $20 on weekends.
The Allstate Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 10 drew in 203,280 to Fair Park, the fair’s largest crowd of the season. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners have played at the fair for nearly 100 years. The game day historically has the highest turnout for the fair.
Rain made Oct. 1 the fair’s slowest day. Severe weather and a flash flood warning delayed opening by two hours, and attendance fell to a season-low 30,478.
New prices, same complaints
Isaiah, 29, said he appreciates the lowered price of getting into the fair, but his family still sticks to a budget or shares food.
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Alexis Judie, 37, skipped the State Fair of Texas last year after deciding a day at Six Flags with her family would cost less.
“It’s just a flat rate,” Judie said. “You just have to pay for food and drinks and stuff like that. So I would say Six Flags is cheaper.”
Judie returned this year on a job outing with her coworkers during the fair’s last weekend. She only had to pay for parking, but said the discount days and changes to admission prices do make a difference.
Still, she had one criticism: food, especially turkey legs, is too expensive. At the 2026 State Fair, a turkey leg ran up to $24, or the equivalent of 24 coupons, at some booths.
“The coupon prices should definitely go down,” Judie said. “I’ve been coming since I was a kid. It used to be 25 cents a coupon or 50 cents a coupon, but it’s now $1 a coupon.”
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Turkey legs sit in the sun on the grill on the last day of the State Fair of Texas on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Coupons increased to $1 in 2021. At the time, State Fair of Texas President Mitchell Glieber emphasized costs did not double. Instead, he said, the change allowed the fair to print fewer coupons, making it more efficient.
Condoianis said the State Fair controls admissions and parking prices, while vendors and concessionaires set their own.
Mini turkey legs were among this year’s lower-priced options. Fairgoers could get the same smoky flavor but at a reduced price of $16. Officials worked with vendors to lower prices.
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“And we saw an incredible response from our vendors out here,” Condoianis said.
Condoianis said some of the fair’s food and beverage vendors created new value menus with over 270 items priced at $10 or less.
Howdy’s Value Menu near the Children’s Aquarium changed their menu to include smaller popular fair treats for $6 or $8. Condoianis said. Big Tex Choice Award items were also offered at discounted prices, including a half-size order of the Burger Chop Tater Tacos at $8.
(From left) Julie Ruiz, 21, Aban Garcia, 19, Kelly Robles, 29, and Claudio Robles, 30, react as Kelly launches a rubber chicken towards pots on the last day of the State Fair of Texas on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
On the Midway, Condoianis said operators reduced ride prices this year.
“There are so many things that keep people wanting to come back year after year and experience the fair,” she said. “We just need to make sure that families can continue to afford to come to the State Fair of Texas.”
‘There every day, like a war’
Vegan Vibrationz co-owner Jovan Cole said the fair stepped up this year to keep prices affordable and the energy at the fairgrounds showed it.
Cole and his twin brother run the first all-vegan booth at the fair and serve vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free food for $25 or less.
“It’s definitely a better turnout than last year as far as people complaining about the pricing and everything,” Cole said.
Judie said she understood why the fair attracted more people this year as she enjoyed a Fletcher’s Corny Dog near Big Tex. Judie was one of the 107,933 people who visited on the last Friday of the fair.
A popular stop for fairgoers was the food court, where Tommy G’s booth had patrons from the minute the fair opened.
Tom Grace, 58, doesn’t recall a day when his line wasn’t trailing out the doors of the food court. Social media videos and posts led many to crave a slice of cheesy pickle or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos pizza from the booth.
“We were literally in there every day, like a war,” he said.
On some nights, the line remained so long by closing time, workers had to turn people away, Grace said.
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It took about 16 minutes for a reporter with The Dallas Morning News to move through the intimidating line. Grace takes pride in moving the line as quickly as possible. He said it’s his 38th year at the fair, but this year’s boost in attendance really showed up, and most were likely looking for pizza.
“It was unbelievable what we were dealing with this year, and it was a lot of fun, but it was certainly our biggest challenge to date,” Grace said.
The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos pizza cost $14 inside the food court, but a cheaper $8 value-sized slice was offered during the fair at Howdy’s.
Taking advantage of deals, choosing value-sized food items, going on Thrifty Thursday or enjoying discounted rides on Tuesday can help save a little money.
The Sigala family wasn’t headed to the fair for the viral pizza, football games or $24 turkey legs. They’re trying to cherish the small moments and spend time with each other.
Visiting every year might be costly, but Haley said it comes down to carrying on a tradition.
“I grew up going to the fair,” Haley said. “Now that we have our daughter, we’d like for her to enjoy going to the fair.”