Half a Million Corny Dogs Served, Fun State Fair of Texas Facts

The annual State Fair of Texas recently wrapped up in the Big D, and the final numbers are in. Over 2.3 million fairgoers were welcomed through the gates.

But, that's just one of the numbers supplied to us by the folks at the State Fair. Check out these figures:

• More than 71,000 folks attended 15 FREE rodeo events across the 24-day run of the State Fair.
• More than 400 folks supported the Feed the Need promotion, donating 217,913 pounds of canned food items at the State Fair gates, which equates to 181,594 meals for the North Texas Food Bank to serve the community this fall.
• More than 17,000 first responders and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
• More than 54,000 members of the military and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
• Approximately 518,000 Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs were sold during the 24-day run of the State Fair of Texas.
• More than 1.95 million free admission tickets were given to students throughout North Texas, and more than 320,000 teachers received a voucher for free admission.
• Community members got crafty with more than 12,102 entries in the Fair’s Creative Arts competitions. The State Fair awarded 4,181 ribbons to folks celebrating their creativity this year.
• The State Fair’s cooking contests featured 2,951 participants from across the state.
• Mundo Latino’s ‘Día de los Muertos’ exhibit featured a total of 25 tombstones as a part of their Mexican cemetery floor, honoring the memory of loved ones.
• The Fair’s livestock and agricultural events hosted more than 18,000 livestock entries.
• More than 45,000 slices of cheesecake from Drizzle Cheesecake were enjoyed throughout the run of the Fair.
• The Fair’s busiest day for the 2023 season was Saturday, October 7. Big Tex welcomed more than 208,000 Fairgoers.
• This year, the 75^th Annual Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction celebrated another record-breaking year, raising more than $2.2 million for youth livestock exhibitors and the Big Tex Scholarship Program.
• The Grand Champion Market Steer of the Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction broke a record this year, selling for $160,000 to Frank Deel.
• The Big Tex BBQ & Chili Challenge included 171 entries, featuring 130 chili cooks and 41 BBQ cooks.
• More than 154,000 rides were taken on the iconic Texas Star Ferris Wheel.
• Fairgoers joined more than 100 celebrity chefs who brought their culinary creations to the Celebrity Chef Demo Kitchen.
• More than 500,000 prizes were won at the State Fair Midway, valued at $1,650,000.
• As of 2023, Big Tex Urban Farms has donated more than 128,693 pounds of fresh produce. This equates to more than 1.4 million servings donated to help feed the South Dallas/Fair Park community since 2016.
• The Livestock Birthing Barn celebrated 74 animal births throughout the run of the Fair: 56 piglets, 10 calves, five kids (aka, baby goats), and three lambs.
• More than 30 dogs found their fur-ever homes through the DFW Rescue Me booth.
• In 2023, the Fair’s Big Tex Scholarship Program awarded more than $1.3 million in new college scholarships to more than 220 students throughout the Lone Star State.
• With college applications right around the corner, the Fair encourages eligible high school seniors and seasonal employees to go online to BigTex.com/Scholarship and apply now for a 2024 Big Tex college scholarship.
• A total of 8,010 individual cookies entered the gates of the State Fair of Texas on the day of the Cookie contest.
• The Love Bug horn blew more than 4,000 times throughout the 24-day run of the Fair.
• More than 111,000 individual sopapillas were sold in 24 days at the Texas Sopapilla Factory and Texas Holy Fried Ribs and Fusion BBQ — home to Cody and Lauren Hays’ Big Tex Choice Award-winning Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas.