Rides light up the night at the East Texas State Fair in Tyler on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019.

Despite demolition at Harvey Convention Center beginning Wednesday, the East Texas State Fair will open its doors for the 105th time for all fair-goers to come and have fun this September.

The plan for this year’s fair is for it to operate very similarly to the way it did in 2019, John Sykes, president of the East Texas State Fair, said. There are some changes such as where the ticket booth will be and security, but it’s nothing to prevent the festivities from going on.

The state fair will take place from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3 and include attractions such as shows, food, rides, animals, live music and more.

Some major challenges organizers are having to adapt to include getting electricity everywhere that it needs to be, making sure everything fits in a limited space and using Houston Street to make more room, Sykes said.

About 40% of the parking lot where the carnival is typically held is still untouched, so that will still be utilized. The carnival could be pushed all the way back to the football and baseball stadium, he said.

“It’s difficult to put on the fair when we’ve already been squeezed for space and now we’re even more squeezed for space, but we have figured out a way to make it work,” Sykes said. “Certainly they are going to notice it’s different, but there’s still going to be plenty of space to make it work.”

The livestock show will proceed as usual, the only difference being how the animals are brought in, he said. The plan is to have livestock come in on Lyons Avenue, come through the stadium parking lot, then exit onto Lyons Avenue again.

A big change will be losing the extra space inside of Harvey Convention Center, he said. This space is typically used for commercial exhibits, which is known as the marketplace, and restrooms.

Sykes said the marketplace will be moved to the commercial building on the fairgrounds for this year.

Having to cancel the fair last year was a big financial loss, but organizers are all excited to hold this annual event again this year to help them financially and entertain all the fair-goers, Sykes said.