Big Tex 2.0 can still rope them in.
Despite a storm that temporarily brought the midway to a halt and public fears about Ebola, the State Fair of Texas set a record in coupon sales, making it the most successful run in the fair’s 128-year history, according to final figures released Monday.
This year’s take of $42 million easily bests the event’s previous record of $37.3 million, set in 2010.
And hold on to those leftover coupons: You’ll be able to use them toward food or rides at the 2015 fair. “Coupons are good from year to year,” said fair spokeswoman Karissa Schuler.
The Oct. 2 storm toppled a vendor tent and a ticket booth, shut down midway rides and required medical attention for at least one fair employee, but the fair was back up and running at full speed by the next morning. And concerns about Ebola in Dallas prompted fair officials to have the new and improved Big Tex — with his 11 movements, compared to his usual three — to more frequently call on fairgoers to remember to wash their hands.
The 2014 Fair, which concluded its 24-day run on Sunday, aimed to be the most Texas-y rendition ever. This year’s “Deep in the Heart of Texans” theme featured numerous Lone Star nods throughout, including a 30-foot-by-50-foot Texas flag and a Hall of State exhibit showcasing Texas sports legends.
Big crowds were drawn to the daily concerts at the fair’s Chevy Main Stage, notably Fantasia, the Casey Donahew Band and La Maquinaria Norteña.
The fair also set new marks for charity, with a record 242,001 pounds of food given through several campaigns — a Coca-Cola opening day promotion, a canned food drive held on Ag Awareness Day and Wednesday specials offering $3 admission to fairgoers who contributed three canned-food items.
The food donations — an 18 percent increase over last year amount — will go toward the North Texas Food Bank.
An additional 159,213 cans of food were collected through the fair’s partnership with Canstruction, a charity that hosts competitions showcasing structures made entirely of food cans. Those cans will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank.
“The success of this year’s State Fair of Texas is a testament to the entire State Fair team, full-time and seasonal employees, as well as all of our partners who work so hard to make this the best State Fair in the country,” Mitchell Glieber, president of the fair, said in a news release.
For the first time ever, a Big Tex Choice Award winner completely sold out before the fair’s end: Justin Martinez’s Funnel Cake Ale, winner of the Most Creative Award.
And this year’s Youth Livestock Auction also roped a record $112,000 for its prize steer: a 1,330-pound British shorthorn named Buzz raised by 13-year-old Payton Herzog of McLennan County.
Those funds benefit the State Fair of Texas’ youth scholarship program, which this year collected more than $622,000 in donations, nearly double last year’s total.
