Central Texas State Fair kicks off 31st annual event

It's that time of year again, for the 31st consecutive year the Central Texas State Fair is being held at the Bell County Expo Center.

"It's a quality of life event for our area of the things we bring to town, sometimes it's the only thing that's in town on labor day weekend," Fair Manager Keith Smith said.

"We have so much going on, of course we have our concerts with Josh Ward, Koe Wetzel, Casey Donahew and Wade Bowen and then we have our Professional Bull Riding on Saturday and Sunday and our Friday night event is Twisted Metal Mayhem," Smith said.

Smith said he expects this year's fair to be the best yet. 

"It makes me so happy to put on this event and it's not just the City of Belton, it's our five country areas that we are doing this in,"
Smith said.

Smith has been in charge of the fair for the last 18 years and said his favorite part is seeing kids smile from ear to ear.

"My favorite part is seeing kids smile out on the fair grounds or in the arena when they saw a good bull ride and look at their parents and say 'I want to do that one of these days,'" Smith said. 

This fair is expected to be the largest on record in Central Texas, at least 25,000 people are expected to attend the event.

The four-day Labor Day weekend event kicks off Thursday at 5 p.m. Ticket prices for all the events in the Garth Arena range from $12 - $21.

Tickets to get on the fair grounds are $10, except Thursday, fair entry is free.

If you'd like to go to all the concerts that are being offered, you can also purchase a $20 music pass that will get you into every concert.

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