Timeline

Big & Bright is the theme chosen for the Fair in 2012. The theme is selected to pay homage to Dallas' brightly lit skyline and the milestone 60th birthday celebration for the Fair's host - Big Tex. The theme takes on new meaning when a hail storm damages the Fair's historic Midway sign prior to opening and a fire destroys Big Tex on the final Friday of the season.

125 Years - A Timeless Tradition is the theme for the State Fair of Texas in 2011. The season goes down in the books as the second most successful year in the event's history (based on revenue generated from food and ride coupon sales). Guinness World Record™ judges are on hand at Big Tex Circle to officially grant Mattress Firm the new record for the world’s Tallest Mattress Stack. The company achieves the lofty honor by stacking 12 mattresses totaling 13 feet and six inches and keeping the stack standing for one full minute.

Super Sized Fun is the order of the day in 2010, and existing records of coupon sales are shattered. The Greenhouse on the Midway is a new attraction housing the long-time favorite miniature railway, lush greenery and garden talks. Football gets even bigger with the addition of a third game, Texas Tech vs. Baylor in the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium.

Just call it what it is: 2009 is the Year of Oprah. The talk show queen tapes a mid-October segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show at the State Fair of Texas, where crowds follow the star and her cast and crew across the 277-acre park. When the program airs a few weeks later, another "bit" of national attention was directed on the State Fair of Texas.

The year brought with it the theme of Ignite Your Senses! for 2008, and the focus was, again, on food with Big Tex Choice winners, Chicken Fried Bacon and the Fried Banana Split.

Big Tex made his annual appearance wearing a brand-new canary yellow and sailor blue cowboy shirt. The big man's clothes, provided by Dickies, are replaced every three years.

Illuminating the Dallas sky were richly-colored new LED lights on the 212-ft. Texas Star Ferris wheel.

The Sky's the Limit! is the Fair's 2007 theme, and the food craze continues with the winners of the Big Tex Choice Awards. Fried Latte and Texas Fried Cookie Dough won top honors.

The $5M Texas SkyWay debuts on opening day and offers visitors bird's-eye and panoramic views of historic Fair Park. Area traffic is snarled when the Jonas Brothers appear on the Chevrolet Main Stage in a special, Columbus Day show. The crowds are so enormous, the boys have to be helicoptered in.

Bryan Berg - the Cardstacker - earns a Guinness World Record(TM) for the Tallest House of Cards. The towering structure measures 25-feet 9-7/16 inches.

Big Tex and the City is the chosen theme for 2006. On Labor Day, winners are announced in the 2nd Annual Big Tex Choice Awards. Shirley London's Fried Praline Perfection wins for best taste and Abel Gonzales, Jr. wins most creative with Fried Coke. Local, national and international media attention is heaped on the Fair (and its claim as Fried Food Capital of Texas).

Bryan Berg, the Cardstacker, recreates familiar Dallas landmarks out of 135,000 ordinary playing cards. More than 84,500 visit the free exhibit held in the African American Museum. Marilyn Monroe: Explored, Exploited, Explained draws 159,000 to the The Women's Museum.

Elvis returns to the State Fair of Texas and captures national media attention when an 800 lb. butter sculpture, carved in his likeness, collapses just days prior to the Fair's opening. The first Big Tex Choice Awards are held with the challenge for concessionaires to create new and unique food items. A fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwich wins the trophy for Best Taste. Pig races are brought back by popular demand. The three daily performances in the Pan American Arena enjoy standing-room-only crowds.

An additional 4,000 seats are added to the Cotton Bowl to accommodate the increasing number of fans for the annual TX-OU football rivalry. The State Fair Fall Garden Exhibition gets off to a great start when area landscapers enter their designs in this annual gardening competition. The national touring exhibit, Memories of World War II, with award-winning photos and wartime memorabilia, offers a nostalgic review of defining moments in history. Dominique Le Fort brings his Flying Housecats from the piers of Key West, Florida, to perform acrobatic feats uncommon to the ordinary housecat.

The centerpiece of the Fair is a seven-acre, indoor/outdoor activity center at Texas Discovery Gardens. The Jim White Celebrity Kitchen offers demonstrations by acclaimed chefs from well-known area restaurants. Rich LeFevre of Nevada manages to eat 12 corny dogs in ten minutes during the First Annual World Corny Dog Championship.

Big Tex turns 50, receives his AARP card and celebrates with a giant birthday cake. A replica of the Woofus arrives at Fair Park in time for the opening day of the State Fair. The 9-foot-tall, 3,000-pound bronze statue is a composite of six Texas animals. The original statue was created for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.

Following the tragedy of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Dallas police and State Fair officials announce the implementation of new security measures during the annual event. The State Fair exhibit, The White House in Miniature, opens to a receptive audience of fairgoers as a renewed sense of patriotism spreads throughout the country.

Big Tex receives a new look for 1999 fairgoers.

The State Fair of Texas purchases 47 acres of property adjacent to the park's northeast fence line to use for auxillary parking at major events. During the 1997 State Fair, two passenger trains leased from DART shuttle fairgoers along a rebuilt railroad trackline connecting the parking lots to a new entry gate constructed near the Pan American Arena.

Six Bengal tigers are the center of attention on "Tiger Island," a unique educational show sponsored by Exxon and focused on the need to preserve tigers in the wild.

The T.I. Founders IMAX Theater opens in a new wing of The Science Place. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride fills the Coliseum with fairgoers for nightly shows and spectacular pageantry.

The Cotton Bowl receives $11 million of improvements, including installation of a natural grass field, in preparation for its role as one of the host sites for World Cup '94. Former president George Bush cuts the ribbon to open the Fair. Pat & Vanna and the rest of the Wheel of Fortune crew pay a weeklong visit to the Fair.

The State Fair of Texas acquires property along the eastern boundary of the park and moves its maintenance department out of the deteriorating 1910 Coliseum.

Construction begins on the African American Museum to be located next to the Magnolia Lounge facing Grand Avenue.

The Comet Roller Coaster, a Fair Park landmark since 1947, is torn down.

The Dallas Park Board establishes a Fair Park management staff to coordinate park activities and market the facilities on a year-round basis.

Starplex Amphitheatre (later renamed Smirnoff Music Centre) is constructed in Fair Park to offer an annual warm-weather concert season featuring the top names in the entertainment world. The popular pig races returned to Pork Chop Downs.

Fair Park is designated a National Historic Landmark. The Sesquicentennial edition of the State Fair of Texas attracts more than 3.9 million visitors during a 31-day run. Top attractions at the 1986 State Fair of Texas include a major exhibit from the People's Republic of China and the Incredible Acrobats of China. Pig races are offered for the first time.

Friends of Fair Park is formed as a non-profit support group for the institutions and activities in Fair Park.

The 212-foot Texas Star, the tallest ferris wheel in North America, is built in Italy and moved to Fair Park in time to operate during the Fair.

A summertime Formula One Grand Prix race is held on a 2.43 mile course through Fair Park.

Voters approve an $18 million bond proposal encompassing sidewalk, street, waterway, lighting and building improvements for Fair Park. King Olav V of Norway cuts the ribbon to open the 1982 State Fair.

Completion of State Highway 352, a portion of which is named Robert B. Cullum Blvd., extends the boundary of Fair Park to this roadway adding needed parking areas for the museums.

Tragic Skyride accident occurs on the last day of the Fair.

Rock music fans attend the first-ever Texxas Jam presented in the Cotton Bowl over the July 4th holiday weekend.

The City of Dallas uses bond money to build a modern Livestock Judging Pavilion. Big Tex set the tone and style for "The Yankeedoodle Dandy" State Fair of Texas. Tex sported a new candy-striped western shirt and stars on his boots.

A $5.4 million renovation of the Music Hall adds three new wings to accommodate concourses, a stage annex and a spacious intermission lounge and restaurant.

$12.6 million of the Crossroads Bond Program is allocated for Fair Park improvements including acquisition of property south of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Belgian waffles are introduced to fairgoers.

Fairgoers marveled at the speed and convenience of direct distance dialing.

The Dallas Texans of the new American Football League and the new Dallas Cowboys of the established National Football League play their first seasons in the Cotton Bowl. The Texans will move to Kansas City in 1963, the Cowboys to Irving in 1971.

Vice President Richard Nixon cuts the ribbon to open the Fair.

The old racetrack grandstand is torn down to make way for a new Coliseum which will be selected to host the first-ever National Finals Rodeo during the 1959 Christmas season.

A short monorail line is constructed inside the park and operates between the Music Hall and Cotton Bowl Plaza until it is removed in 1964. Elvis Presley performs in the Cotton Bowl during the Fair.

The Women's Building, now known as Grand Place, is built on the corner of First and Grand in the park.

Big Tex makes his first State Fair appearance.

R.L. Thornton purchases a large Santa Claus figure from the Kerens Chamber of Commerce and commissions local artist Jack Bridges to make a giant cowboy out of the material.

An upper deck is constructed on the east side of the Cotton Bowl bringing the number of seats to 75,000.

An upper deck is added to the west side of the Cotton Bowl increasing the stadium capacity to more than 67,000. Construction of a new $800,000 Automobile, Aviation and Recreation Building is completed in time for the Fair.

The first post-war edition of the State Fair features Ice Capades, Rural Youth Day and Elsie the Borden Cow.

The government begins leasing various Fair Park buildings for military purposes.

War-related transportation restrictions make it necessary to cancel the 1942 State Fair. Although other activities continue to be held in the park, there are no fairs again until 1946. Neil and Carl Fletcher come up with a new fast food product - corny dogs - which they offer to the public for the first time during the summer midway operation.

Fire destroys the Automobile Building.

"Opera Under the Stars," later called the Starlight Operettas, introduces summer theater to Dallas audiences. The shows are presented in Fair Park's Band Shell. The series moves indoors in 1951 and is known today as the Dallas Summer Musicals.

Fair Park's swimming pool reopens, and the city's first lighted softball diamond is completed in time for summer play.

The first Cotton Bowl Classic is played in Fair Park. A crowd of 12,000 watches TCU edge Marquette.

Most of the Centennial's exhibitors and attractions return to Fair Park for a five- month-long celebration, the Greater Texas and Pan American Exposition.

Nov. 30

The Texas Centennial closes with a final attendance count of 6,353,827. The exposition's legacy includes the structures which today house the Texas Hall of State, Dallas Museum of Natural History, Dallas Aquarium, Dallas Horticulture Center, D.A.R. Museum and The Science Place and Planetarium.

June 12

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visits Dallas to attend the Centennial.

June 6

The Texas Centennial Exposition opens with festivities including a downtown parade viewed by 150,000 spectators and a gala "Ceremony of Flags" in the Cotton Bowl.

May

The city acquires 26 acres to complete the southwestern quadrant of the park. This area is designated for construction of a lagoon, band shell and five museums. A workforce of 8,000 laborers is employed in renovation and construction of a physical plant that will consist of more than 50 structures, waterways, massive pylons, terraces, sculptures and murals expressed in an architectural styling most often described as art deco.

May

With betting on horse races again legalized in Texas, a new racetrack complex is built in the northeast corner of Fair Park. Dallas is named the host city for the central celebration of the 1936 Texas Centennial. Fair Park will be the site of a six-month exposition.

Construction of Fair Park Stadium begins. The facility, which will be renamed the Cotton Bowl in 1936, is built to seat 46,200 spectators and is the largest stadium in the south.

The Universities of Texas and Oklahoma play a neutral site football game during the Fair that becomes the first in a long-running annual series.

An above-ground circular swimming pool is constructed along Grand Avenue near the new auditorium.

A 15,000-seat wooden football stadium is built in the area south of the racetrack.

July

The U.S. Army takes control of Fair Park and establishes an aviation boot camp known as Camp Dick. The 1918 State Fair is canceled.

Attendance tops one million for the first time. The purchase of 14-acre Gaston Park expands the southwestern boundaries of the property. The Gulf Clouds Fountain, a tribute to the State Fair's first secretary, Sidney Smith, is unveiled on opening day.

This sculpture now stands across from the Music Hall.

The first Automobile Building is filled with 175 vehicles for fairgoers to admire.

Another 7.4 acres is added on the eastern side of the park. Fairgoers enjoyed deep sea diving shows performed in a mammoth tank.

A multi-purpose coliseum is constructed near the main entrance and used for horse shows and major entertainment events. This durable building is currently unoccupied but under consideration as the site for the future Women's Museum in Fair Park.

The Dallas Art Association offers its private collection to the city in exchange for a permanent home in the park's new Textile and Fine Arts Building. William Howard Taft is the first president of the United States to visit the State Fair of Texas.

Year-round use of the property increases. Movies are shown, and automobiles can be rented for drives through the park. A skating rink is also opened.

Landscape architect George Kessler of St. Louis is hired to design a master plan for developing the property now commonly referred to as Fair Park. Five years later Kessler produces a plan for Dallas that will influence the growth of the city for the next 80 years. A 10-acre strip is added to the southwest side of the park extending that boundary to Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Texas State Fair re-organizes as a private non-profit corporation to be known as the State Fair of Texas. The Fair then donates $45,000 of the money it received from the sale of the property plus an additional $30,000 to the city to fund construction of a new 75,000 square-foot exhibit hall.

This structure, though extensively remodeled in the ensuing years, is used today as the Centennial Building. Consideration of maintenance needs, rental requests and fee disputes at the fairgrounds prove so time consuming that the Dallas City Council creates a park commission to oversee the administration of the city's two parks.

April 5

Dallas voters approve purchase of the grounds from the Texas State Fair for $125,000 making the property the second park in the city's park system.

July 20

Fire breaks out early on a Sunday morning destroying the main exposition hall and adjacent buildings leaving only blackened, twisted iron and charred shrubbery in the aftermath.

July 20

Fire breaks out early on a Sunday morning destroying the main exposition hall and adjacent buildings leaving only blackened, twisted iron and charred shrubbery in the aftermath.

April 22-25

The grounds are used for the 12th National Confederate Soldiers Reunion, the largest convention ever hosted in Dallas.

Auto racing makes its State Fair debut.

Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley star in a show with 600 horses and a buffalo herd, while Booker T. Washington delivers the main address on Colored People's Day.

Fair attractions include "Dewey's Victory at Manilla," an outdoor spectacle featuring 200 performers, war vessels and fireworks every night.

Oct 18

A 4,000 seat music hall is built adjoining the main exposition building and governor David R. Francis delivered the Opening Day address.

Feb 10

Directors of the Dallas State Fair and representatives of a rival crosstown fair unite. The reorganized Texas State Fair & Dallas Exposition purchases three parcels of land along the western boundary thereby expanding the East Dallas property to 117 acres.

Nov 7

The Dallas State Fair closes after a successful run that attracts more than 100,000 visitors to watch horse races, examine purebred livestock, marvel at new inventions and enjoy entertainment ranging from concerts by the Mexican National Band to a grand war dance staged by 100 Commanche Indians.

Oct. 26

Approximately 14,000 people attend the opening day of the first state fair to be presented on the grounds. The developed property includes a racetrack and grandstand, stables, two exhibit buildings and attractive landscaped gardens.

July 3-6

The first public event on the property is a gala Fourth of July celebration highlighted by a free barbecue, entertainment, Races and dancing until late into the night. An estimated 25,000 people enjoy the long weekend.

March 25

The board of directors of the Dallas State Fair votes to purchase 80 acres of land in East Dallas for an exposition site.