| late September or early October, the Fair Park in | | | | State Fair of Dallas is the only fair in the United |
| Dallas, Texas becomes a haven of activity for | | | | States to feature a full-scale auto show, with |
| visitors hoping to see cowboys, eat some | | | | multiple buildings and hundreds of vehicles on |
| fantastic food, and take a ride on the enormous | | | | display for visitors to browse, admire, and ask |
| Ferris wheel. | | | | questions about. Because of the auto |
| The State Fair was first held in Fair Park in 1886, | | | | show’s success at the fair, many vehicle |
| and is thought to be the largest state fair in | | | | manufacturers now choose the State Fair as a |
| America, with over 3 million people attending the | | | | debut location for their new model launches, such |
| fair each year. It runs for 24 days, weather | | | | as the 2007 Chevy Tahoe and the 2007 Ford |
| permitting, and rough estimates claim that the fair | | | | Sporttrac. |
| contributes around 350 million dollars US to | | | | The park’s Ferris wheel Texas Star |
| Dallas’ economy. | | | | is also considered to be the largest in North |
| In 1952, a giant cowboy statue of 52 feet tall | | | | America, and although it helps to draw in the |
| was added to the fair grounds as the State | | | | crowds to the Fair, there was one tragic incident |
| Fair’s symbol, and was given the name | | | | in 1955 when a teenager from the Memphis High |
| Big Tex’. Appropriately, one of the | | | | School marching band was killed after one of the |
| fair’s main attractions is an annual football | | | | wheel’s cars broke loose, plummeting to |
| game between the colleges of Texas and | | | | the ground. However, it didn’t seem to |
| Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl; its nickname | | | | affect attendance the following year, when |
| — and presumably, sponsor — is | | | | 26,000 teens flocked to see Elvis play at the |
| The AT&T Red River Rivalry. | | | | largest outdoor concert in Texas at the time. |
| With over 300,000 square feet of space, the | | | | |