The Texas State Fair is consistently ranked in the top 5 state fairs in the country. (The other top ones generally include Minnesota, New York, and Iowa.)
It’s not hard to see why. There’s multiple good reasons.:
1 – Rides. There’s many notable ones on the midway here, including three roller coasters. And they’re far, far better than your dinky portable roller coasters. There’s a “crazy mouse”, a classic metal-cyclone style, and another coaster, all here. (These aren’t here year round, but they seem to come back every year.) One of the most important traditions is the “Texas Star” ferris wheel, which is the largest Ferris Wheel in North America. 
2 – Traditions. There’s many traditions of the Texas State Fair. The rides (especially the Texas Star) represent many of these traditions, but one of the other main traditions is the general layout of the fair, the common booths from year to year, the gigantic butter sculpture, and of course, Big Tex. Big Tex is a large statue that serves as a landmark of the fair, while welcoming folks to the state fair and actually engaging them. His mouth moves and he is bilingual–speaking both Spanish and English to fair-goers.
3 – Wacky food. – Fried food is clearly one of the traditions of the Texas State Fair as well. Every year, they give out awards for tasty and unique fried foods. Try to find the awards and seek out the award winners. But, save room for the real treat…
There’s a lot of conflicting evidence as to where the original corn dog was made. My money’s on Fletcher’s, who claim that they produced the Original Corny Dog in the late 30’s. I’m not sure if they’re the original but they definitely are the best that I’ve had. I’m pretty sure you can’t get them in any other location. You can get a smaller version of the “real McCoy” at the Taste of Dallas, also held at the Texas State Fairgrounds at a different time of year.
4 – Size. Texas is known for everything being big… the sheer size of the overall fair is impressive. Other state fairs that I have been to pale in comparison in multiple ways, and the sheer size of the State Fair of Texas really drives this home in the mind of the attendee. 
Today, Big Tex burned to the ground. I started writing this review a couple of hours before the sad event. Big Tex represents a very important part of Dallas-ite culture. (This coming from a guy that showed up at the Halloween Yelp event 2 years ago dressed as Big Tex.)
I dedicate this review to Big Tex. Thanks for the memories buddy, and I hope to see you again next year… with a little more flame resistance.
