DALLAS, Texas — When longtime DFW content creator Jared Guynes walked into the State Fair of Texas on opening weekend and week, something felt different, he told WFAA.

“I couldn’t help but notice how scant the crowds were,” Guynes told WFAA. “It was alarming to me as a visitor to see.”

The fifth-generation Texan has been to the fair every year for a long time now, he said. This year, he says, he was able to walk right up to Big Tex for photos without a crowd behind him — a rare sight in his decades of visiting.

Guynes shared those photos and videos with his roughly 166,000 Facebook followers, sparking a viral debate about the fair’s attendance and affordability. His posts drew thousands of reactions and thousands of comments, with a lot of people saying they simply can’t afford to go

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