Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas
Ola my friend! Are you ready for the 2023 State Fair of Texas? It starts Friday, September 29th! The schedule of events is packed with exciting activities, shows, free live music, exhibits, new attractions, and so much more. From the infamous pig races, DPD K9 Unit demonstrations, and African American Museum to the creative cooking contests and State Fair of Texas Rodeos, there is something for everyone in the family and community regardless of your age.
The most important thing you may want to know about though is the food. Texas is known for it’s delicious food and there are so many foods to try at the fair. And that’s my goal for this post. What exciting foods can you anticipate at the State Fair of Texas 2023? Read more to find out!
First, A Little Housekeeping
What is the State Fair of Texas? The State Fair of Texas is a non-profit organization established in 1886 with the goal of providing quality and family friendly entertainment. It is a 24 consecutive day annual event and tradition celebrated by millions of Texan and non-texan visitors. It’s one of the largest and longest fairs in the United States. Read here to learn more.
Where is the State Fair of Texas located? Fair Park Dallas – 3809 Grand Ave, Dallas TX 75210
When is the State Fair of Texas? Friday, September 29, 2023 – Sunday, October 22, 2023 (Gates open daily at 9 a.m.)
Super Helpful Quick Links
- Link to FAQ (Know before you go, inside the fairgrounds, amenities and more)
- Link to buy your tickets
- Link to the fairground maps so you can easily navigate
- Link to the free music at the fair
- Link to the daily state fair schedule including the dates and times for all the attractions
- Link to review all of the great fair food you can start planning to enjoy now
- Link to all the family fun & shows (including new ones this year)
- Link to Plan Your Visit today!
2023 Big Tex Choice Award Winners
Now for the food. First let me say that I think everyone is some level of a “foodie”. You cannot name one event or function where food isn’t included. If you can, then please post a comment below. Ok the Big Tex Choice Award is a great introduction to the amazing food and food creations you will find at the State Fair of Texas.
The Big Tex Choice Award is a contest where food vendors make a yummy, unique, and fried food creation and compete to win the Big Tex Choice award. I think the keyword here is “fried”. This contest began in 2005 and is yet going strong. The food creations are more and more creative each year. The competition started out with two categories: Best Taste and Most Creative. In 2017, the categories expanded to be three categories, Best Taste::Savory, Best Taste::Sweet, and Most Creative.
The 2023 Big Tex Choice Award Winners are announced and their food creations will be at the fair this year!
The Best Taste::Savory Winner is …. Deep Fried Pho by Michelle Le
Best Taste::Sweet Winner is …. Biscoff Delight by Stephen El Gidi
Most Creative Winner …. Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas by Cody and Lauren Hays
Check out this link for more details on the winners, finalists and past winners.
New Fair Foods 2023
There is going to be over 30 new foods for you to try at the State Fair this year. Here’s a link to the food descriptions for each new and exciting dish. I am blown away with all of the creative food ideas this year. Even some of the food names are intriguing like ‘Rest in Heavenly Peach’ and ‘Not’cho Average Nachos’. As I stated earlier, everyone is some level of a ‘Foodie’. There is guranteed to be a new food creation that you love at the state fair this year. There is something for everyone!
Here’s the 2023 State Fair of Texas New Food map for your convenience. Download to help you quickly locate the new foods on the fairgrounds.
Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas
New Food Vendors 2023
So who is behind all of the amazing new foods at the fair? The credit goes to the new food vendors. They are bringing the new foods I have highlighted in this post and so much more. For example, fried Snickers or third-pound cheeseburgers didn’t make my list of foods to highlight but they’ll be at the fair. Read the brief and entertaining introductions for each new food vendor here.
Also here’s a copy of the 2023 New Vendors map to help you better locate them during your next visit:
Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas
Celebrity Chef Kitchen
If you are looking for a way to try and enjoy free food then check out the Celebrity Chef Kitchen located in the Creative Arts building. This is where all of the popular Texan chefs will be showcasing their culinary skills, sharing tips, and giving samples of their special dishes. Did I say it was free? This is one way to get free amazing tasting food at the fair. The only prerequiste is that you stay for the whole show until the end. Sounds like a great deal to me!
The Celebrity Texan chefs, their restaurant and the date and time of their shows are added to the Adaezeeats Calendar. This way you can add the event to your calendar so you have a reminder for the shows you do not want to miss. There are 4 showings each day of the fair from September 29th-October 22nd at 11 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM, and 4:30PM. There will be a new and different Celebrity chef every single showing. This is one way to get familiar with the beloved restaurants in Dallas so you can have your list of top dining spots for future reference.
Fair Food Favorites
You can anticipate the staple foods you can find at almost every single fair. You know the turkey legs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, etc. The 2023 Fair Fav Foods have not been posted yet but the uupdates are coming soon! For now, here’s a good idea of Fair Favoriate Foods you can expect to see every day of the fair this year.
For details visit the 2023 Fair Food Favs here.
Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas
Healthiest Fair Foods 😉
Using my food guiding principles, I created a simple scorecard of all the foods at the 2023 State Fair of Texas. Based on my assumptions and inference from the food descriptions and pictures, I scored each one to see which would be closest to the healthiest foods at the fair. I am pretty excited to have discovered some drinks and food ideas that I can indulge and know that they are healthy (for the most part) at the same time.
Another quick note, the scoring also included my bias towards what foods I would love to try regardless of how unhealthy they sounded or looked. I gave that scoring a range of 1-10. I observed how much of my eating habits have changed over the years where I do not desire certain foods I used to crave. Wow!
Ok, here’s the top 4 foods I would love to try at the fair this year (these all recieved a ‘I would love to try score’ of 10):
- Trail-ade
- Pineapple Dole Soft Serve
- Deep Fried Birria Bomb
- Turkey Ribs
Ok, here’s the top 4 foods with the highest final score in my rating:
- Trail-ade
- Pineapple Dole Soft Serve
- Deep Fried Pho
- Monster Burrito
Check out my complete 2023 Fair Food scoring here:
Until Next Time
Well, what do you think? Are you excited to treat yourself to the amazing foods, drinks, and cooking shows at the 2023 State Fair of Texas? I hope you are thrilled and inspired by all of the creative and passion infused fair foods this year. I know I am! Please drop a comment below or email me. I would love to hear your feedback and/or stories. If you need a fun detox salad idea after all the indulging at the state fair this year then check out this powerful mango kale salad.
Well, I will take my leave for now. I look forward to our time together again soon. Be inspired to have an appetite to Live and Live well.
Adaeze
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