Big Tex makes his triumphant return to the State Fair of Texas in Dallas
The unveiling of the iconic Big Tex statue – to replace the one that burned during last year’s event – helped to give the State Fair of Texas in Dallas its second most profitable year in the state’s history, with food and ride coupons up 1.6 percent over last year.
Only 2010, with the all-time high of $37.3 million, bested this year, which saw food and ride coupons reaching $37,186,519, up from last year’s $36.6 million, said Sue Gooding, the fair’s president of public relations.
“Definitely the return of Big Tex had a big impact,” Gooding said. “It was the first year people would be able to be here and take photos with the new Big Tex after he was destroyed by fire.”
The 55-foot-tall statue, constructed for a cost of about $500,000, replaced the 52-foot-tall structure that caught fire and was destroyed quickly due to an electrical short on the last weekend of the 2012 fair, which happened to be the 60th birthday year of the original Big Tex.
“The hottest place on the fairgrounds was in front of Big Tex,” Gooding said. “You could barely walk through there. It was hard to maneuver a golf cart through. We added seating to Big Tex Circle. Very seldom would you go up there and not see every seat taken by a patron. They really enjoyed that area. It was a very popular location for photo taking.”
As with the old Big Tex, sponsor Dickies provided an outfit for the statue, which was unveiled a day prior to the opening of the Sept. 27-Oct. 20 fair after a news helicopter got a shot of him behind the curtain that had been placed over him for the occasion.
Also, “The wind whipped up so strong, there was a danger of that curtain having an impact on Big Tex or tearing and blowing across the ground. So we dropped the curtain a day prior to opening,” Gooding said.
A formal ceremony still was held on opening day and fairgoers could hear the new Big Tex speak for the first time, saying, “Howdy folks, welcome to the State Fair of Texas. It’s good to be back.”
The return of Big Tex was a boon to the fair, which lost about 2 ½ days to rain, with an additional three or four days with some intermittent showers, Gooding said.
“One was a major day for us, Columbus Day, which is a holiday, but it’s a large school day for us. Sixteen schools have complementary tickets. Fair management decided we would accept those tickets through the end of the fair.”
Fair officials have not released attendance figures in several years but it is estimated at 3 million-plus, making it the best-attended fair in North America.
The fair’s independent midway featured 75 rides. Rusty Fitzgerald, vice president of operations, released the top 10 rides and the operators who provided them: Texas Star, Sky Spectacle; Texas Star and Top O’Texas Tower, operated by Mike Demas and owned by State Fair of Texas; Crazy Mouse, S.J. Entertainment Inc.; Love Bugs, operated by Mary Hayworth and owned by State Fair of Texas; Fast Trax Super Slide, State Fair Spectaculars; Windstorm Rollers, S.J. Entertainment; Magnum, Wood Entertainment; Rock It, Mike Demas and State Fair Services; and the Scooter bumper cars, Patrick Sheridan of Alamo Amusements.
Gate admission was raised $1 across the board, to $17 for adults and $13 for those 60 and over and children age 3 to 48 inches tall.
“We’d not gone up in a couple of years,” Gooding said. “Costs continue to rise. I didn’t hear any complaints and we have such a great discount program. We have sponsors who help us provide extremely big discounts for those that are real price conscious.”
Sponsor Chevrolet changed the name of the main stage concert from the Chevy Main Stage to the All New Silverado Main Stage, Gooding said.
The three acts that drew the biggest crowds at the free concerts were Casting Crowns, Duelo and Kelly Rowland.
Other acts included Asleep at the Wheel, X, Blondie, An Evening with Molly Ringwald, Will Hoge, and Kristian Bush.
Gooding did not have budget figures for entertainment, marketing or the overall fair budget.
In the summer of 2013, the fair rolled out Summer Adventures in Fair Park, which featured about 15 amusement rides as well as the Fair Park museums for patrons. To promote that and the fair, officials created a combined season pass that went on sale Friday that covers admission to both the summer park and the fair.
The next Big Tex Insider Season Pass will cost $79 with a $10 discount if purchased between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1 and will allow the bearer entrance during the entire run of each event, said fair spokeswoman Sally Wamre.
In food, said Carey D. Risinger, senior vice president of food, beverage and retail, the fair grossed more than $1 million every day of the 24-day fair for a total gross of nearly $25 million, just $12,000 off the all-time high hit in 2010.
The Big Tex Choice Awards were held on Labor Day ahead of the opening of the fair. The winner for the most creative went to Fried Thanksgiving Dinner by Justin and Rudy Martinez. They sold 50,000 before the fair closed,” Gooding said. “It really was everything you look for at Thanksgiving dinner – turkey and dressing and potatoes and spice all rolled up into a ball and deep-fried. They provided a cranberry sauce for dipping.”
The best tasting entry was judged to be the deep-fried Cuban Roll, created by Isaac Rousso, who sold 72,000 of the items during the fair. The Cuban Roll was filled with cooked pork shoulder and cheese and rolled up in pastry dough and deep fried.
Other popular food, Risinger said, included the Big Tex Choice Award finalist deep-fried meat loaf, along with deep-fried Nutella and deep-fried King Ranch Casserole.
As usual, the Big Tex Choice Awards garners the fair a great deal of media attention.
“We have all kinds of food shows like the Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel that have a lot of interest and film during the fair because of the notoriety we receive being the fried-food capital of Texas,” Gooding said.
Next year’s dates will be Sept. 26-Oct. 19.
Interviewed for this article: Sue Gooding, Rusty Fitzgerald, Sally Wamre and Carey D. Risinger, (214) 565-9931
