Southeast Texas Fair By: Jameelah Hogan

Fun…… "All aboard for food and fun!" is a tip of the hat to hospitality, good eats and non-stop good times, Texas style. It's also a nifty tie-in to a new route to Fair Park, along DART's Green Line. Stay tuned for more news about the 2009 State Fair, its more than 70 rides, 200 food locations, unique shopping opportunities, college football, livestock shows, cooking competitions and the 2010 State Fair Auto Show.

All about the Fair!!! The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas, Texas (USA). The fair season usually begins the last Friday in September and ends 24 days later. The fair is held at the historic Fair Park where it has been held since 1886. The 2009 fair will be from September 25 to October 18. Big Tex, a 52 ft (16 m) tall cowboy, has been the symbol of the fair since his introduction in 1952; in 1953, Big Tex jaw was hinged, so that he appears to "speak" the announcements that promote fair events.

The annual…….. The South Texas State Fair is an annual regional state fair held in Beaumont, Texas in October. The fair features a livestock show, a commercial exhibition, and a carnival Midway. Food concessions are a major attraction of the fair. Reflecting Beaumont's location in Southeast Texas, normal carnival foods can be found alongside barbecue, Tex-Mex, and Cajun foods (often including fried alligator). The South Texas State Fair traces its roots to the first confirmable fair in Beaumont, held in 1907, and has continued every year since. It was first known as the Beaumont Fair, then the Southeast Texas State Fair, and in 1921 just the South Texas State Fair. In 1942, operation of the fair was transferred to the YMBL (Young Men's Business League), a local non-profit civic improvement organization. While other state fairs, including the larger State Fair of Texas, were closed for the duration of World War II, the South Texas State Fair continued as the "YMBL Victory Fair". The YMBL states that this was in part on request from the US military as an attempt to improve morale of soldiers stationed in and near the Beaumont area.

They had cancelled it but it is back!!!!!! The 2005 fair was cancelled due to the extensive damage that Hurricane Rita inflicted on the region; It returned in 2006. Due to Hurricane Ike and the hurricane relief staging centered in Ford Park the 2008 fair was canceled and is scheduled to return in 2009.