Name: ‘We are planning for a fair’ in 2021, says State Fair of Texas spokeswoman
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‘We are planning for a fair’ in 2021, says State Fair of Texas spokeswoman

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11:27 AM on Mar 2, 2021 CSTOrganizers of the State Fair of Texas are moving ahead with plans for this year’s event Sept. 24 through Oct. 17 despite a cloud of uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic.Karissa Condoianis, spokeswoman and senior vice president of public relations, says the team is taking “an optimistic and measured approach” and notes that planning is underway. Last year’s State Fair was canceled.Major Texas events scheduled for early 2021 have been canceled or dramatically changed. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which was initially moved to later in the spring, has been canceled altogether. SXSW in Austin will take place in mid-March as a digital-only event.The in Dallas has been canceled for the second consecutive year., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State Fair executives remain hopeful that as more people get immunizations, their event could still take place six months from now.Related:State Fair of Texas superfan Melissa Tate says she is “ecstatic” that the fair might happen in 2021. Her husband, Evan Tate, proposed to her at the foot of Big Tex on the last day of the State Fair in 2016, and they later had a “Tate Fair of Texas” themed wedding.“Evan and I just got our vaccinations yesterday,” Melissa Tate says, noting that the shot was administered on top of the Big Tex tattoo on her right arm. “We’re going to be ready.”The State Fair of Texas’ board and management team “will continue to monitor” the spread of COVID-19 and will make a decision by July, Condoianis says. The event attracts 2.5 million people each year from around the world.After last year’s fair was canceled, officials offered a , an event intended to “keep the State Fair spirit alive” during a tough time, Condoianis told The Dallas Morning News in 2020.But the cancellation was a major financial blow to the fair, a nonprofit that gives millions of dollars to Texas kids for higher-education scholarships. The fair had revenue of about $66 million in 2019; that number dipped to $4.4 million without the traditional three-week fair in 2020.The fair lost about $18.5 million in 2020, Condoianis says.State Fair executives talk “daily” about the potential of hosting the fair, Condoianis says.“If the fair opens, it may look different from every other year to ensure a safe environment. If the fair is granted approval to open, it will implement all preventive measures recommended by the CDC and other relevant health and government agencies,” she says.Moving forward, the fair and last week. The fair usually chooses about 80 concessionaires and 200 exhibitors. Many have returned to the fair for decades, like the Fletcher family, which started selling corny dogs at the State Fair in 1942, and the Bert family, which invented the snow cone machine and has been at the fair since 1936.Concessionaires and sisters Christi Erpillo and Johnna McKee grew up at the State Fair of Texas because their 95-year-old mother, Wanda “Fernie” Winter, is credited with bringing funnel cakes to the fair. Erpillo and McKee felt relieved that last year’s fair was canceled because they were worried about the health of their employees, they say.But on Tuesday, which was Winter’s birthday and the day Gov. Greg Abbott announced “,” Erpillo says she was feeling hopeful.“2019 was our biggest fair ever,” she says, in part because of high sales for the family’s latest creation, burnt end burritos. “If we do get to have a fair this year, I think 2021 is going to be amazing. I think Texas is going to be so ready to get back to normal.”Concessionaires join a fraternity of fried-food connoisseurs who make at a contest each year called the Big Tex Choice Awards. Some of the stranger creations over the past few years have been a , and a .Abel Gonzales, a State Fair veteran who has won five Big Tex Choice Awards, says he’s “cautiously excited” for what’s to come. Sales from the fair make up 80% of his business, which includes a restaurant named Cocina Italiano in Dallas and a catering company. Last year was tough.“In my business, everything has been affected by COVID,” he says. “I hope the fair happens so we can just get over that line.”Story updated at 3:15 p.m. March 2, 2021 with comments from State Fair of Texas concessionaires and regulars.Catch up on North Texas' vibrant arts and culture community, delivered every Monday.By signing up you agree to our

11:27 AM on Mar 2, 2021 CSTOrganizers of the State Fair of Texas are moving ahead with plans for this year’s event Sept. 24 through Oct. 17 despite a cloud of uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic.Karissa Condoianis, spokeswoman and senior vice president of public relations, says the team is taking “an optimistic and measured approach” and notes that planning is underway. Last year’s State Fair was canceled.Major Texas events scheduled for early 2021 have been canceled or dramatically changed. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which was initially moved to later in the spring, has...

‘We are planning for a fair’ in 2021, says State Fair of Texas spokeswoman

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