Our Second 24-Part Series On The Ills Of The State Fair Of Texas Kicks Off With Footage From Our Onstage Debate Against One Of The Fair’s Biggest Fans.

Unlike seemingly every other media outlet in Dallas and, to a degree, the whole goddamn state, we here at Central Track aren’t exactly enamored with the State Fair of Texas. Why? Because, for starters, we’re not kids any more, and we’re no longer oblivious to the ways of the world. But also for a litany of other reasons, which we’ll happily run down for you here, one per day, over the entire course of the fair’s 2019 run, adding to the list we ran throughout the fair’s 2017 run.

Even after rolling out a reasoned, 24-point argument about why the State Fair of Texas sucks in 2017, people still try to tell us where we’re wrong on this issue.

Like, all the goddamn time.

So here we are, two years later, kicking off an additional 24-part series on the subject. Y’know, just to really hammer the message home.

This second series’ first installment (and 25th overall now in the ongoing deal) is a nod to the fair’s most ardent supporters, the people who continue trying to debate us on this matter — like we could somehow be convinced to go against our own longstanding argument.

On Thursday night, on the eve the 133rd edition of the State Fair of Texas’s opening day and upon the stage of the venerable Deep Ellum destination the Double Wide, we finally accepted this challenge.

I, the founder of this site, took part in a 10-question debate about the State Fair of Texas with the noted Dallas entrepreneur and writer Melissa Tate. In addition to being the CEO of Photo Wagon (and also Day One contributor to Central Track!), Tate is arguably the world’s biggest State Fair of Texas superfan.

She came prepared with an argument. I came prepared with an argument.

Either way, this much was confirmed at the event: The State Fair of Texas’ merits are at least undeniably debatable.

Thanks to the below video of the proceedings, that much is now undeniable. Canon, if you will.

Hit play if you want to see how things played out.

Cover photo by Hampton Mills.

More Reasons Why The State Fair Of Texas Sucks:

  1. Its history is super racist!
  2. It’s a major drain on Dallas police!
  3. It’s bad for your health!
  4. It’s so damn expensive!
  5. It’s not the economic driver it says it is!
  6. It’s a super shitty neighbor!
  7. It’s an altar to false idols!
  8. It makes Fair Park useless!
  9. It wastes city funds on out-of-towners!
  10. It exploits cute animals!
  11. Its executives take home too much money!
  12. Everything on the midway is a ripoff.
  13. It has willfully ignored its obligations and allowed Fair Park to fall into disrepair!
  14. It refuses to be transparent about the way it spends public funds.
  15. It can’t handle Fair Park’s long-term needs.
  16. Its lauded scholarship program is a joke compared to those of other, similar events.
  17. It uses fear tactics in its negotiations with the city.
  18. It goes out of its way to shield its crowds from the poor black neighborhood that surrounds Fair Park.
  19. Its low-level employees get burned by its executives’ bad business decisions.
  20. Its ticket-based economy is designed to squeeze even more cash out of attendees.
  21. It cares way too much about parking lots that go unused most of the year.
  22. It’s petty as fuck.
  23. It celebrates humanity’s fucked up relationship with livestock.
  24. It refuses to change.
  25. It can be easily debated!
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