State Fair Facts

What: 2006 State Fair of Texas

When: Sept. 29 - Oct. 22

Where: Fair Park, a 277-acre entertainment and recreation complex owned by the City of Dallas, is located two miles east of downtown. The park is the year-round home of the Music Hall, Cotton Bowl and eight museums. Fair Park is a National Historic Landmark and boasts the largest collection of art deco exposition buildings in the United States.

Hours: During the 24-day State Fair of Texas, the exhibit buildings are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

More:
• Fair's economic impact on Dallas: approx. $350 million annually.
• Exhibit space: approx. 370,000 sq. ft. in six buildings.
• Amusement rides: 70-75.
• 212-ft. Texas Star is the tallest Ferris wheel in North America.
• Livestock entries: approximately 8,000.
• Creative Arts entries: approximately 7,000.
• Food service locations: approximately 200.
• Ride & food revenues: $23 million (2004).
• The Texas-OU football game has been played during the Fair every year since 1929.
• Big Tex made his first State Fair appearance in 1952.
• Corny dogs were invented in 1942 by State Fair concessionaires Carl and Neil Fletcher.
• Since 1992, the State Fair of Texas Scholarship program has awarded more than $1.5 million in new and renewed college grants to eligible students.

HISTORY: The first State Fair to be held in Dallas was presented at this location in 1886. Fair Park was the site of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition which ran for six months and attracted 6 million people. An extended 31-day Fair in 1986 celebrated the Texas Sesquicentennial and drew almost 4 million visitors.

• More history