It turns out that attendance at the State Fair of Texas was not doing just fine this year.
After viral posts at the beginning of the month showed fewer crowds at the fair and many online commenters blamed higher prices, State Fair representatives downplayed concerns and assured Texans that fair attendance always picks up after the first week.
But after the fair closed up shop on Sunday, official attendance numbers show that at 2 million visitors, 2025 had the lowest fair attendance in seven years, excluding the drive-through fair of 2020. Attendance dropped by 400,000 people compared to last year.
“We always plan the fair for around somewhere in between 2 million and 2.5 million, so we’re within that range,” State Fair spokesperson Karissa Condoianis told Fox4. “You know, there’s a lot of things going on in the world right now and so we expect also that that is going to have an impact on the attendance at the fair.”
While Condoianis preferred to keep things vague, U.S. Senate nominee and current Texas state Rep. James Talarico got right to the point.
Yesterday, Talarico posted a video from the fair highlighting its rising costs and placing the blame squarely on the Trump administration’s tariffs. He compared current food prices with earlier years, holding up deep-fried Oreos that now cost $14 but used to be just $6.
“Tariffs drive up the price of ingredients so if small businesses like these vendors want to stay in business, they have to pass that cost along to us,” Talarico said. “I don’t blame the State Fair, I blame the D.C. politicians who are pushing tariffs and raising the cost of everything.”
Vendors have also bemoaned increases in the cost of food and labor this year, according to the Dallas Observer. Vendor Mark Zable told the Observer that his family has had a stand at the State Fair since 1964, and he’s seen costs increase in earnest in the last few years. Since last year’s State Fair, “shrimp went from $62 a case to $74,” Zabel told the Observer, and he felt he had no other option but to raise prices.
The cost of tickets (about $35, depending on day and deals) plus parking ($25) meant dropping $85 for two people before even purchasing coupons for food and rides. Turkey legs ran around $25, and Fletcher’s Corny Dogs were $8, reported our own The Barbed Wire staff. Water ran from $2 to $6.
Vendors set their own prices, but fair officials said they plan to discuss pricing with them during the off-season, according to Fox4.
One longtime State Fair vendor told Fox4 that the heat, not prices, was to blame for the low turnout. Dallas has experienced a hotter October than normal,
But many commenters online still say cost was the deterrent.
“Pfffff. The weather my arse. No freaking way I was paying those prices,” wolfhoundjack commented on r/Texas.
“Listen we could either have groceries for a week or two or spend a day at the fair,” another person commented. “It’s too expensive for a lot of people. I’d have love[d] to have gone but none of us could justify the cost of it this year.”
Other commenters agree with Talarico that the State Fair is just a symptom of bigger problems, pointing to nationwide affordability issues: “The funny thing [is] it’s always been that expensive, only a tiny price increase has happened, but we’re all suffering with less money and people are now realizing, Holy Shit I can’t afford this anymore!,” Reddit user Invisi-cat commented.
Whether the State Fair can turn things around next year remains to be seen, but Talarico hopes Texans hold on to one thing from this year.
“When you walk into the voting booth next November, remember this $25 turkey leg,” Talarico said.
Read more at Fox4.