''A Fair to Remember'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the

State Fair of Texas The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas at historic Fair Park. The fair has taken place every year since 1886 except for varying periods during World War I and World War II as well as 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ...

that debuted in February 2007 at the

Hall of State The Hall of State (originally the State of Texas Building) is a building in Dallas's Fair Park that commemorates the history of the U.S. state of Texas and is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in the state. It was desig ...

on the grounds of

Fair Park Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for th ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Synopsis

The film chronicles the history of the State Fair of Texas beginning in 1886. It covers the banning of gambling at the fair, early Midway rides and some of Dallas' firsts such as electric lights, power stations and air planes. Old stock footage of the State Fair shows why it attracted people from all over the country. It includes scenes from the bake-offs and

cook-off A cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes, su ...

s held annually, plus a comical scene that has women singing a song about

SPAM Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

. ''A Fair to Remember'' also shows foods that have been included at the fair. Interviews of attendees provide a look into historical Dallas.

Production

The film was written, directed and produced by Allen Mondell, Cynthia Salzman Mondell and co-produced by Phillip Allen. Narration is provided by actor and Texas native

Barry Corbin Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award ...

. Original music provided by

Brave Combo Brave Combo is a polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their music, both o ...

Other films by the Mondells

* '' A Reason to Live'' * '' Sisters of '77''

References

p. 42-47. Retrieved on October 1, 2007. CBS Channel 11, Dallas, T

Retrieved October 2, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2007. Preservation Tree Services. Proud sponsor of A Fair to Remember television broadcast https://web.archive.org/web/20071013030047/http://preservationtree.com/content.asp?menuid=&contentid=news&content=Details&id=69 Retrieved October 1, 2007.

External links

Bigtex.com
* * * 2007 films Films set in Dallas Films shot in Dallas American documentary films Documentary films about United States history State Fair of Texas 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{hist-documentary-film-stub