A giant dinosaur structure emerges from the waters of the Lagoon at Fair Park for the opening of the annual fall season of the Texas State Fair in Dallas in 2025.
Steve Hamm/Dallas Morning News
1959 — The Midway at the State Fair of Texas
State Fair of Texas archives
1936 — Cavalcade Building at Fair Park during the State Fair of Texas and the Texas Centennial
As a nonprofit, the State Fair serves as the largest fundraiser in order to give back to the community. It has supported the Fair Park community and Texas youth for 135 years.
State Fair of Texas
State Fair of Texas 2025
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Oprah Winfrey greets fans during a visit to the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on Sunday, October 11, 2009.
Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News
Left to right on stage..Gail King,Nate Berkus, and Oprah sing and joke with one another as Martina McBride performs during the taping of the Oprah TV Show at the State Fair of Texas.
David Woo/The Dallas Morning News
With apologies to Humans of New York, we have our own melting pot here in Dallas: The State Fair of Texas, where we all come together for 24 days a year. Scroll through the slide show for a State Fair slice of life. This eight-year carnival veteran from Minneapolis enjoys doing just about everything there is to do at the State Fair of Texas — except one thing. “The one thing I will never try is the cotton candy.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“I bathe, feed, make them a nice comfy bed, and show them to hopefully win awards.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“I don’t believe there’s any skill involved. I believe it’s pure chance.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
No fast Midway rides for her: “I can hang on to my food, but I don’t go in circles.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“The turkey leg is my favorite.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“No matter what kind of funnel cake it is, I have to try it.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“It’s hard to win the games because they’re made to look easy but there’s a certain spin that’s not obvious,” she said.
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
About those Midway rides, he says: “I won’t go on anything higher than a horse’s back.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
The craziest thing he’s seen at the State Fair of Texas: that storm last week. “A lot of teddy bears were wet and the wind blew over the ice cream stand.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
“If I could pick one new party trick for Big Tex it would be to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”
Alexandra Olivia – Special Contributor
Fairgoers walk by the Texas Star Ferris Wheel during the opening day of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
1900 — State Fair of Texas
1968 photo provided by the State Fair of Texas, showing the historic Midway sign at Fair Park in Dallas and a banner advertising the Spring Jubilee in April.
State Fair of Te/State Fair of Texas
1890 –Texas State Fair, circa 1890
State Fair of Texas archives
Cassandra Jaramillo watches the Midway Barker at the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas.
Rose Baca/Staff Photographer
Dallas police block an entrance to the State Fair of Texas after a shooting, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Dallas. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Elías Valverde II/ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE – Dallas police block an entrance to the State Fair of Texas after a shooting, Oct. 14, 2023, in Dallas. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
Elías Valverde II/AP
FILE – Dallas police block an entrance to the State Fair of Texas after a shooting, Oct. 14, 2023, in Dallas. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
Elías Valverde II/AP
Big Tex during the opening day of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
Fairgoers seen during the opening day of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
The Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas during the opening day of the Texas State Fair at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
Fernie’s Fried Cherry Pie in the Sky during the opening day of the Texas State Fair at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
Bob Ankrum and his dog Buttercup during the opening day of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
Fairgoers ride the Wave Swinger during the opening day of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
An image of Fair Park taken during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.
Courtesy of the State Fair of Texas
Streetcars filled up with passengers during the 1906 State Fair of Texas. Trolleys were often open-air to make riding during the Texas heat more tolerable.
File
Fair goers walk the Midway, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Fair goers walk the Midway near carnival rides, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Fair goers ride the Crazy Mouse ride, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
A neon Big Tex watches over fair goers, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Fair goers walk the Midway, as seen from the Texas Skyway at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
The old auditorium at the State Fair, circa early 1900s.
courtesy State Fair of Texas/digital file
Organizers at the State Fair work tirelessly to redirect proceeds into charitable, community-building groups throughout the region.
State Fair of Texas
Two Texas Skyway cars pass over the Crazy House ride, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
The Texas Star Ferris wheel and the band shell, as seen from the Top of Texas Tower at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
The Texas Star, the Midway and the Dallas skyline, as seen from the Top of Texas Tower at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
A Texas Skyway car glides pas the Cotton Bowl, as seen from the Texas Skyway at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Luisa Lopez, right, helps prepare dozens of Fletchers corny dogs at their food booth at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Dallas police officer Luna, stands on watch on the Midway at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Security personnel watch guests arrive at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Guests make their way through the Super Midway at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Corey McCarrell responds to a reporter’s questions regarding the ban on guns at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Guests make their way through the Super Midway at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Security personnel watch guests arrive at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez/AP
The Ferris Wheel at the State Fair of Texas in 1900.
Courtesy State Fair of Texas
Parade on opening day of the State Fair of Texas, 1893.
State Fair of Texas
Fair goers walk the Midway, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
The new State Fair of Texas offices are under construction at Fair Park in Dallas, July 13, 2026. The Fair says, ‘An investment the State Fair is making in the future of Fair Park and the State Fair of Texas – celebrating 140 years of Texas tradition this year.’ It is expected to be finished by the ned of the year.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Fair goers walk down the State Fair of Texas Midway during the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park on Oct. 2, 2016 in Dallas. (Ting Shen/The Dallas Morning News)
Ting Shen/Staff Photographer
The Texas Star, the Midway, the Texas Skyway and the Cotton Bowl, as seen from the Texas Skyway at The State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Views of the State Fair of Texas the day after three people were shot that led to an evacuation of the fair, on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 at Fair Park in Dallas.
Ben Torres/Special Contributor
The Cotton Bowl and the Midway, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
A family looks out at the Cotton Bowl and the Midway, as seen from the Texas Star Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday, October 12, 2016 at Fair Park in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
The “most Texan place on Earth” is once again planning to prohibit guns — even as Attorney General Ken Paxton continues to challenge the State Fair’s ban on weapons in court.
The State Fair of Texas told The Dallas Morning News that it plans on banning firearms for the third year in a row, pending an appeals decision in a lawsuit filed by Paxton.
The fair first banned firearms in 2024, quickly leading to backlash and legal action. The ban was enacted after a 2023 shooting at the State Fair, when a gunman wounded three visitors. The fair hadn’t seen a shooting since 1988, but quickly pivoted to buck a decadeslong precedent allowing lawful gun owners to bring their firearms onto the grounds.
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Paxton sued both the fair and the City of Dallas, which leases Fair Park to the nonprofit, but was met with pushback from the courts. District Judge Emily Tobolowsky dismissed the case in 2025, and both the appellate court and Texas Supreme Court denied Paxton’s motion for emergency relief.
As Paxton continues to appeal the decision, the fair is still planning to keep guns out of the fairgrounds. Paxton argued that Texans “have a right to defend themselves,” and that any firearm ban on public property is unlawful. The Attorney General’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the ban.
Texas Gun Rights Foundation President Chris McNutt criticized the ban as an ineffective remedy to a dangerous situation.
“It only turns peaceable Texans into sitting ducks, stripping them of the ability to protect themselves and their families,” he wrote in a statement to The News, noting that the shooter in the 2023 incident was not a licensed gun owner.
But Jeffrey Tillotson, a local attorney representing the City of Dallas in the case, said the State Fair’s ban was about more than protecting fair attendees — it’s about preserving the independence of private entities to conduct business as they see fit. He said the measure is a matter of “personal freedom” for State Fair leadership to make their own decisions on event operation and logistics.
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“This is a good principle and a good law that you want, which is that private entities and private people on their own property can decide who enters and who doesn’t,” he said.
Tillotson agreed to give Dallas a steep discount for his services to defend this principle. He’s charging the city just $895 per hour, according to city records — down from his normal $2,000-per-hour rate. Tillotson said the discount was a way to be there for the community and the city.
“That was the right and good thing to do,” he said.
Jim Harris, an attorney for the State Fair of Texas, said he expects the 15th District Court to release its decision before the fair begins in September.
Tillotson said he feels optimistic about the case’s chances on appeal — specifically because Paxton wrote a 2016 legal opinion that appears to support the city’s stance on private entities that lease public land to prohibit guns. While state law prohibits a government entity from banning guns on public land, Tillotson successfully argued that a private entity — like the State Fair — that leases public land can legally enact such a ban.
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“He said, so long as you have complete control of the premises, yeah, you can turn people down,” Tillotson said. “If, like State Fair, where there is no control exercised by the city of any meaningful kind, then you’re basically a private citizen and do as you want.”
Paxton withdrew his opinion shortly after filing the lawsuit in 2024.
A gun owner himself, Tillotson said he believes Paxton is trying to protect gun rights in the state. This case isn’t about politics, he said, but about preserving and protecting freedom at all levels.
“Gun rights is a broad issue on which honest, good people can disagree,” he said. “I think the attorney general is simply just doing his job.”