The 2026 State Fair of Texas closed on Sunday after 24 days at Dallas's Fair Park, with organisers putting attendance at nearly 2.1 million. The edition marked 140 years of the fair, and its biggest single day was Saturday 10 October, when the Red River Rivalry football game helped draw more than 203,000 people through the gates.
The closing figures show how much the fair runs on volume. Visitors ate roughly 450,000 corny dogs and won about 500,000 Midway prizes worth an estimated $1.8 million. Around 135,000 fans watched the two college football games at the renovated Cotton Bowl, and 15,326 turned out for a women's soccer match between Dallas Trinity FC and Chivas Femenil. The programme also included a nightly 1,500-drone show, more than 3,000 activities across the grounds and over 150 Texas acts in its music series.
The fair is run by a nonprofit, and the event is its main fundraiser. The youth livestock auction and scholarship programmes raised a record of more than $2.7 million this year, including $227,000 for the grand champion steer. More than 1.3 million free tickets went to schoolchildren across North Texas. Organisers estimate the fair generates more than $600 million in economic activity a year.
"As a nonprofit organization, a successful Fair helps fuel our work throughout the year," said State Fair president Mitchell Glieber. The 2027 fair returns to Fair Park next autumn.
Source
Original summary by Proventier.