The 2023 State Fair Of Texas By The Numbers

DALLAS – November 1, 2023 – Serving not only our most extensive community program but also as our largest fundraiser of the year, the 2023 State Fair of Texas proved to make a difference in more ways than we can count. Below are just a few of the noteworthy successes from this year’s exposition:

• The State Fair of Texas welcomed more than 2.3 million fairgoers through the gates.
• The all-new Kroger® Starlight Parade featured brand-new floats illuminating the fairgrounds each night, with more than 790 riders adorning the floats during 24 processions.
• More than 71,000 folks attended 15 FREE rodeo events across the 24-day run of the State Fair.
• More than 400 folks supported the Feed the Need promotion, donating 217,913 pounds of canned food items at the State Fair gates, which equates to 181,594 meals for the North Texas Food Bank to serve the community this fall.
• More than 17,000 first responders and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
• More than 54,000 members of the military and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
• More than 528,000 Visitor’s Guides inform fairgoers of all the Fair fun they can enjoy during their visit.
• The State Fair welcomed 30 new shopping booths this year, creating 268 shopping locations for fairgoers.
• Approximately 518,000 Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs – Visitors bought by visitors during the 24-day run of the State Fair of Texas
• More than 1.95 million free admission tickets – Park gave to students throughout North Texas, and more than 320,000 teachers received a voucher for free admission.
• Community members got crafty with more than 12,102 entries in the Fair’s Creative Arts competitions. The State Fair awarded 4,181 ribbons to folks celebrating their creativity this year.
• The State Fair’s cooking contests featured 2,951 participants from across the state.
• During the fourth year of the Lone Star Music Series, more than 50 Texas music artists performed throughout the grounds.
• More than 1,100 admission tickets –  The Fair donated to local nonprofit organizations for the community to enjoy the Park.
• Mundo Latino’s ‘Día de los Muertos’ exhibit featured 25 tombstones as a part of their Mexican cemetery floor, honoring the memory of loved ones.
• The Fair’s livestock and agricultural events hosted more than 18,000 livestock entries.
• More than 45,000 slices of cheesecake – Fairgoers enjoyed Drizzle Cheesecake throughout the run of the Fair.
• The Fair’s busiest day for the 2023 season was Saturday, October 7. Big Tex welcomed more than 208,000 Fairgoers.
• This year, the 75th Annual Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction celebrated another record-breaking year, raising more than $2.2 million for youth livestock exhibitors and the Big Tex Scholarship Program.
• The Grand Champion Market Steer of the Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction broke a record this year, selling for $160,000 to Frank Deel.
• The Big Tex BBQ & Chili Challenge included 171 entries, featuring 130 chili cooks and 41 BBQ cooks.
• More than 154,000 rides – Fairgoers took on the iconic Texas Star Ferris Wheel.
• Approximately 65 faith leaders came together for fellowship during the annual Pastors Luncheon hosted by the State Fair of Texas during the Fair on October 12, 2023.
• Ag Awareness Day, they gathered 166 chapters of 4-H, FFA, and FCCLA to participate in the canned food drive, donating more than 27,900 pounds of food to the North Texas Food Bank. In addition,20 members of 4-H, FFA, and FCCLA went to local schools to read about the farm-to-table process to 200 second graders.
• Five concessionaires joined the State Fair of Texas community of vendors this year, bringing our total number of food and beverage concessionaires to 91.
• Nearly 300 nonprofit leaders attended Community Engagement Day, which the State Fair of Texas hosted during the Fair on October 17, 2023.
• Fairgoers joined over 100 celebrity chefs who brought their culinary creations to the Celebrity Chef Demo Kitchen.
• The Big Tex Contact Center answered more than 13,500 calls from fairgoers during the run of the Fair.
• Over 500,000 prizes were distributed on the State Fair Midway, valued at $1,650,000.
• The State Fair of Texas and the Juanita J. Craft Civil Rights House & Steering Committee hosted the Sixth Annual Juanita Craft Humanitarian Awards, honoring seven individuals and one organization following in Mrs. Craft’s footsteps. Nearly 130 community members were in attendance.
• As of 2023, Big Tex Urban Farms has donated more than 128,693 pounds of fresh produce. It equates to more than 1.4 million servings donated to help feed the South Dallas/Fair Park community since 2016.
• The Livestock Birthing Barn celebrated 74 animal births throughout the run of the Fair: 56 piglets, ten calves, five kids (aka, baby goats), and three lambs.
• More than 144,000 fans were in attendance for the State Fair Classic and the Allstate Red River Rivalry at the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium during the Fair.
• Over 30 acts took to the Chevrolet Main Stage this year, with Lil Jon and Yahritza y Su Esencia drawing the largest crowds at their FREE concerts.
• More than 131,000 people visited the Hall of State to enjoy two exhibits, the Texas Tech University Centennial and the Texas Rangers Bicentennial.
• More than 300 of the latest vehicles and 14 boats displayed all 24 days of the State Fair of Texas at the Texas Auto Show.
• Over 30 dogs found their fur-ever homes through the DFW Rescue Me booth.
• In 2023, the Fair’s Big Tex Scholarship Program awarded more than $1.3 million in new college scholarships to more than 220 students throughout the Lone Star State.
• With college applications right around the corner, the Fair encourages eligible high school seniors and seasonal employees to go online to BigTex.com/Scholarship and apply for a 2024 Big Tex college scholarship.
• A total of 8,010 individual cookies entered the gates of the State Fair of Texas on the day of the Cookie contest.
• Throughout the 24 days of the Fair, 2,937 activities happened across the fairgrounds, including shows like Soap Bubble Circus, Monarch Releases at the Texas Discovery Gardens, live music shows, and more.
• The Love Bug horn blew more than 4,000 times throughout the 24-day run of the Fair.
• The State Fair of Texas marketing team made 44,532 new Fair friends across all social media channels during the Fair.
• The marketing team gave away 48 items across 24 daily live streams on Instagram and Facebook, including a brand-new mattress.
• Fairgoers ate over 111,000 individual sopapillas in 24 days at the Texas Sopapilla Factory and Texas Holy Fried Ribs and Fusion BBQ — home to Cody and Lauren Hays’ Big Tex Choice Award-winning Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas.

While the above facts and figures provide an overview of what we could summarize from the 2023 State Fair of Texas, what needs to be quantified is the number of joyful lifelong memories fairgoers and their families, our vendors, and our staff made throughout the 24-day run. The State Fair of Texas is honored to be an integral part of the year for so many families, and we hope y’all will join us again next year for the 2024 State Fair of Texas, running in historic Fair Park from Friday, September 27 through Sunday, October 20, 2024.