State-Fair Facts

Big Tex is the 55-foot cowboy who greets everyone at the State Fair of Texas. He wasn't always a cowboy. In 1949, tiny Kerens, Texas, built a 49-foot Santa Claus to save its Christmas shopping season. Dallas bought him in 1951 and turned him into a cowboy. He debuted in 1952 wearing size-70 boots and a 75-gallon hat. He's greeted fairgoers with "Howdy, folks!" since 1953.

Every October, Texas and Oklahoma play their biggest football rivalry at a state fair. Carnival rides spin outside the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. More than 92,000 fans pack the stands. Tickets split 50-50 at the 50-yard line. Oklahoma's crimson fills one side, Texas's burnt orange fills the other. Locked in at the fair through 2036. Half crimson, half orange, every October.