Can you believe that I have lived in Texas my entire life and have never been to the State Fair? It's true! I watched numerous episodes of Carnival Eats on Food Network which prompted my family to become more interested in one day going to the fair. However, timing has always been an issue. I was committed to going this year, so much so that I even included this specific blog post in my 2023 preview to kick off the year of blogging. I was excited to experience the fair for the first time with my older sister! As a first time fair-goer at the State Fair of Texas, I thought it would be a good idea to recap my experience in case you ever have plans to go to the State Fair in the future.
Parking
This fair is huge with thousands upon thousands of daily visitors. That means parking options are both limited and expensive. Official parking onsite at Fair Park will cost $20 for accessible parking and $40 for premium parking which are just all of the non-accessible parking spaces. There is no covered parking, so the Texas heat will turn your vehicle into an oven. I highly recommend utilizing a solar shade to help keep the interior of your vehicle slightly cooler.
As wild as it may seem, paying for the official Texas State Fair parking is honestly your best deal if driving yourself to the fair. There are various lots at nearby businesses and lots that charge $35 for parking. The extra five dollars spent for official parking is not only more convenient in terms of walking distance, but also less sketchy because your vehicle isn't parked in some completely random location. When in doubt, carpool and split the cost of parking amongst your group to save money on parking!
The best way to get there at a more affordable price is via DART (local public transit), taxi, or rideshare. Either of these options can drop you off by an entrance and saves a lot of money that can be used for other activities at the State Fair or literally anything else.
Navigating Fair Park
From the official parking lots, you can just start walking towards the fair and there will be some guides to help direct you towards the entrance. If you have bags, they check those first before you continue on to providing your tickets for entry. You can purchase ticket packages in advance and have them mailed like my sister did or you can walk up and purchase tickets directly at the fair when you arrive. Advance ticket purchases are not date-specific, so you can go at any time while the State Fair is open.
When you walk into Fair Park, you can pick up a small booklet that highlights all the new and exciting food, drinks, exhibitions, and other helpful information to know about the fair. It also includes a map of the fair so you can get a sense of where you are and where you want to go next. My sister and I used the map the entire time as we searched for all the food we wanted to try. There is very limited indoor and outdoor seating, so comfortable shoes are a necessity as you will be walking and standing nonstop for several hours -- especially if you are aiming to see the entirety of Fair Park the day you visit.
For those with children...
As a person that does not have kids, I was surprised by the number of people who brought very small children to the fair. Strollers were everywhere and so were wagons filled with children and items to help keep them occupied. There are things to do at the fair for people of all ages, but it is important to point out that there are no rides that infants and toddlers can go on. Even some of the other activities such as the petting zoo do not allow strollers or wagons inside. Additionally, it seems that chicken tenders and fries is not a common food at the State Fair. I even heard one parent point out the one stand that actually advertised having that menu item once they finally found it for their hungry toddler. If bringing a small child to the fair is something you plan to do, these are all things you'll want to keep in mind as you prepare for your day at Fair Park.
Coupons
Rather than paying for food and rides with cash or card, you use "coupons" which are just like tickets used at any other fair. You can get some coupons in advance via mail like my sister did for us or you can order online to pick up at the gate when you arrive at the State Fair. There are also staffed and self-service coupon kiosks scattered throughout Fair Park. You can look in almost any direction and find one within a few seconds of where you're located. This is great for anyone that needs to stock up on more coupons. Each coupon is the equivalent of $1, so to purchase 50 coupons you will pay $50.
So what can coupons be used for at the State Fair? You can use coupons for rides, games, food, and drinks throughout the fair. There are some indoor shopping locations where you can use regular cash or card to make purchases, but you will most likely spend the most money on coupons at the fair. Coupons are distributed in strips of 10 tickets which also helps speed up the mental math of counting coupons to hand over for your purchase. Just hand over the flat amount of coupons for your total purchase at a vendor or ride! However, coupons are non-refundable. I recommend strategically purchasing tickets so you don't have to worry about losing any money as you conclude your day at the Texas State Fair.
Food & Drinks
Inspired by my American Buffets 101 post I wrote several years ago, I carefully considered how best to approach trying as much fair food as possible without getting too full too quickly. My sister and I also had to factor in how many tickets we had to spend to be able to accomplish this goal. In total, we spent 120 coupons on food and drinks, sharing several items along the way. Our list of food to try was just a bit more extensive than what we could manage in a single afternoon, but we still ate a lot of food!
Fletcher's Corny Dog
We started out with a classic Texas fair food and ordered corny dogs from Fletcher's. They have locations scattered throughout Fair Park. I was hesitant at first because I usually don't like to eat corn dogs, but my sister (who loves corn dogs) reassured me that it would be good and we each got a Fletcher's corny dog. She was right and it was very tasty!
Classic corny dog = 7 coupons
Cotton Candyrita
The Cotton Candyrita was a featured item for the State Fair this year. I mentioned it to my sister the night before we went to the fair and she perked up, so I knew we had to make sure to find it. Fortunately, it didn't take long! Shortly after finishing our corny dogs, we came across Stiffler's Mom's Cookie Factory where my sister debated ordering a bucket of warm chocolate chip cookies. However, I pointed out that the Cotton Candyrita was here and she ordered that instead. We shared this sugary alcoholic drink which ended up being one of the best margaritas I've ever had!
Cotton Candyrita = 16 coupons
Mini Donuts
We continued to search for other food locations to see what all the Texas State Fair had to offer and came across mini donuts. My sister suggested the Oreo stuffed mini donuts which are basically like 5 fried Oreos on a stick covered in powdered sugar. They were delicious and one of my favorite items from the fair. They were super sweet though and chasing it with the Cotton Candyrita was not the best idea (sugar is not my friend), so we began to search for something savory.
Stuffed mini donuts = 10 coupons
Ox'cellent Soul Rolls
Several TikTok videos and Instagram Reels indicated that the Ox'cellent Soul Rolls, another featured State Fair of Texas food item this year, were the best food at the fair. We happened to find ourselves right by it just as we were trying settle on a savory food option and there were only a couple of people in line ahead of us. There are 2 rolls per order and they come with 2 hush puppies and a chili dipping sauce. My sister and I split the order and the roll was a good as advertised. It was flavorful without the cheese overpowering the dish and the oxtail was tender. The chili sauce was a bit salty, but provided a nice kick to the food. I think I would've preferred a regular hot sauce though. The hush puppies were fine. As you may be realizing, I don't really like cornbread so hush puppies and corn dogs are not something I go out of my way to eat.
Ox'cellent Soul Rolls = 22 coupons
Juicy's Turkey Leg
After finally making our way back to where we started, it was time to get our turkey legs. I told my sister that we would need to save the turkey legs for the end because that would be the heaviest food item, and we wanted to make sure we tried as much of everything else on our list first. Juicy's turkey legs are in a large spread just roasting all day for hungry fair-goers to feast on. They have forks and condiments for the turkey legs off to the side, but those items aren't necessary if you just want to dig right into the turkey leg. My sister and I each got a turkey leg and chose to skip the utensils and condiments. Is it the best turkey leg I've ever eaten? No, that would be the Disney World turkey leg. Did the Juicy's turkey legs fulfill our desire to eat a classic fair food? Yes!
Juicy's turkey leg = 22 coupons
Bottled Water
Bottled water is the cheapest thing at the State Fair. It's just a regular bottle of water, but it's served cold which is ideal on a hot Texas day. Cold water was very important to get since we were walking around outside under a beaming sun and eating a lot of sugary and greasy food.
Bottled water = 2 coupons
Old-Fashioned Draft Root Beer
With only 10 coupons left, my sister and I needed to find something to spend them on before we left Fair Park. We walked around for several minutes, looking at food items such as sopapillas and fried cacio e pepe as potential options since we had discussed those items previously. However, we didn't have enough tickets for either and even if we did I had no more room in my stomach for food. I was still carrying around a partially eaten turkey leg that I intended to take home because I simply could not consume anymore food. That's when we found old-fashioned draft root beers. We each ordered one of these delicious and less fizzy root beers to drink on the way back to the car and called it a day.
Old-Fashioned Draft Root Beer = 5 coupons
Rides and Games
I won't spend much time discussing rides and games. The State Fair of Texas has the same variety that you can find at nearly any other fair. There's roller coasters, swings, kiddie rides, ring toss, basketball -- the usual things. However, the Sky Walk is a bit unique. This is kind of like an enclosed ski lift that takes fair-goers from one side of the park to the other. It costs 12 tickets per person one way. If you want to avoid walking all the way to the opposite side of Fair Park or just want an aerial view without being on thrilling ride, this is a good option to consider.
Exhibitions
My sister and I checked out a couple of exhibitions, mostly as we were passing by on the way to find different food items. It wasn't our intention to come across them, but the ones we checked out were cool!
Chevrolet Experience Exhibition
Test driving a Chevy pickup truck or a Corvette is what eligible fair-goers could do at the Chevrolet exhibition. The test driving track was set up to experience the off-roading capabilities of the trucks and the speed of a Corvette in a way that likely isn't replicated in your average test drive. We only watched people test drive, but would've participated in test driving a Corvette if I wasn't so focused on food.
Go Texan Exhibition
This exhibition highlighted the different Texas-based food production entities across the state. Everything you could think of from beef, to honey, to produce, to dairy products all had unique booths set up and there was even a live cooking show. The dairy farmers were giving away free vanilla ice cream sandwiches, so my sister and I each grabbed on to eat as we continue to walk around the State Fair!
Automobile Exhibition
Around the corner from the Go Texan Exhibition was the Automobile Exhibition. This exhibition featured a variety of new vehicles from Ford, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Dodge, Nissan, Fiat, and Toyota. This exhibition was so expansive that it occupied indoor space and multiple outdoor areas. Most of the vehicles on display were unlocked, so fair-goers were able to sit inside the vehicles to get a good look and feel for them. I really enjoyed this exhibition because I have been slowly working towards being in the market for a new car and wanted to check out some of the vehicles I have been considering for my short list of options. I feel like I have so much more clarity as I continue to prepare to purchase a new vehicle in the future.
Wrap-Up
So that's how 4 hours at the State Fair of Texas with my sister went! It was a busy day of continuous walking and eating, but lots of fun. The walking helped burn calories as we were consuming them and because everything we wanted to eat was spread out across all of Fair Park, we were able to see pretty much all that the fair had to offer. All in all, it was still just a fair. It was massive in size as everything in Texas tends to be, but if you've been to one fair, you've already experienced a lot of what can be done at the Texas State Fair. However, if you are food-driven like I am, going on a regular basis may be of interest to you. I think I would go again in the future, but I do not see the need to go back again anytime soon. It's very expensive and not close to where I live. That being said, everyone that calls Texas home should try to experience the State Fair at least once and I hope you have chance to go one day if you haven't been before!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share any memories you have from the State Fair of Texas!