SFOT News

How to score discount tickets for the 2025 State Fair of Texas

Big Tex and State Fair of Texas at sunset

Big Tex is waiting for you at the State Fair of Texas.

Photo courtesy of the State Fair of Texas

The 2025 edition of State Fair of Texas makes its debut on September 26, starting a three-week run through October 19 that will bring the event's trademark assortment of rides, fried food, fancy cars, arts & crafts, music, and more.

Veteran fairgoers know that the amount of money they spend inside the gates can add up quickly, so it's best to take any opportunity to save money on admission to the Fair when possible.

Just as the State Fair of Texas is a tradition, so is CultureMap's list of all the various ways to get a discount on tickets for the 2025 event.

Here's what we've uncovered so far for 2025 (and we'll continue to add discounts as we find them):

Single day tickets
Single-day tickets go on sale on September 1, with pricing that varies by the day.

Weekdays: $19, or $14 for kids 3-12 and seniors
Weekends: $29, or $24 for kids

1-Day FLEX Tickets
With a regular single-day ticket, you must choose the date you want to go to the Fair. But 1-Day FLEX tickets allow fairgoers to use the ticket for any of the 24 days of the Fair without having to select the day in advance.

The FLEX ticket is $29, the same price as the highest adult ticket, but you can get a slight discount when you buy FLEX tickets in a two- or four-pack combo, which include $50 worth of food, ride, and game tickets. The two-pack will save you a whopping one dollar, while the four-pack offers a $5 ticket discount. (For larger FLEX ticket discounts, see below.)

FLEX tickets are now available at BigTex.com/Tickets.

Season Pass
If you're a State Fair fanatic, the Season Pass is definitely the way to go, as it allows you to go all 24 days if you so chose. With the lowest adult daily ticket costing $24, the $62 Season Pass price pays for itself after just three visits.

The Season Pass also has a few perks including one Bring-A-Friend ticket and free access to the Texas Discovery Gardens during the Fair. (Note: The Season Pass with VIP Guide which has more perks has already sold out.)

Digital Season Pass
New for 2025 is the Digital Season Pass, which lets you scan your ticket from your phone instead of having to show the hard card that comes with regular season passes. The good part? It's only $52 instead of $62. The bad part? That $10 savings means you don't get any of the perks listed above.

Season passes are now available at BigTex.com/Tickets.

CultureMap Discount
For 2025, CultureMap has two special discounts on Season Passes and FLEX tickets as follows:

$15 off a Season Pass or $30 off a Season Pass 2-Pack Combo when you use promo code “25culturemap” at bigtex.com/sp30.
$15 on a FLEX Ticket 2-Pack Combo or $30 on a FLEX Ticket 4-Pack Combo when you use promo code “25culturemap” at bigtex.com/flex30.

Other Discounts
There are numerous discounts available online as well as promotions for those who buy their tickets at the gate:

North Texas Food Bank donations: Each visitor who brings two jars of peanut butter on opening day (September 26) will receive $10 off admission on that day only. On Wednesdays throughout the Fair (October 1, 8, and 15), attendees who donate five full-size canned food items before 5 pm will receive a $7 admission voucher. All food will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank.
Senior discount: Every Thursday during the Fair (October 2, 9, and 16), senior citizens 60 years and better get into the Fair for only $7 at the gate or, if you prefer, $9 (including fees) online.
Military/first responders discount: All active military, retired military, and veterans, as well as all first responders (active and retired public law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, and other emergency services agencies), with a valid badge or ID can save $5 any day of the week. The deal is also good for spouses and children under 18.
Dr Pepper Value Days: Value Days are every Tuesday and Thursday during the Fair, when you can purchase your admission ticket online for a reduced price of $12. Only Big Tex Insiders receive the promotion code for this exclusive savings; sign up at bigtex.com/Insider.
McDonald's coupons: Discount coupons are available at participating McDonald’s locations throughout North Texas on tray liners and inside meal bags. With this coupon, any fairgoer can save $5 on any day. Every person must have their own coupon, and discounts may not be combined with any other offers.
Everyday discounts: On any night of the week, visitors receive reduced general admission after 5 pm. No matter your age, all guests pay the child price for that particular day (ranging from $14-$19). The deal is available at the gate and online.
Ride on DART and save: Not only does riding DART's Green Line help you save on parking and traffic headaches by taking you right to the entrance of Fair Park, DART also offers $5 off the daily ticket price when you use the promo code 25DART on BigTex.com.
Group tickets: If you're planning on bringing large groups of 25 or more, tickets can be purchased online for $25.50 each, giving a discount over the highest adult price.
4-Coupon Tuesdays: With ride/food coupons priced at $1 each, purchases can add up quickly once inside the Fair. To help out, on Tuesdays most rides on the Midway are four coupons, with kiddie rides discounted to three coupons (excludes the Thrillway and the Texas Star Ferris Wheel).
Thrifty Thursdays: Every Thursday, participating food vendors offer one of their signature menu items at a reduced price, ranging from mini versions to regular-size items.

With both Tuesdays and Thursdays being Dr Pepper Value Days, if you plan your visits just right, you can save on both admission, rides, and food.

openings state-fair

Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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