Ventura County Fair Returns
August 07, 2015
By Noe Garcia
Santa Paula News
Step right up! The Ventura County Fair is back in 2015 and has something for everyone.
The famous fair opened Wednesday at 11 a.m. with “Dollar Day” where admission was only one dollar until 3 p.m. From the opening, events were happening all day long.
The Small Livestock area, or the Elmer and Velma Paquette Rabbit and Poultry Barn, held rabbits, chickens, turkeys and other small animals for everyone to see. Many children were excited to see and pet the animals. There was an “Ask Me” table set up where people could ask children questions about their animals on the tables. Rabbit judging and showmanship were also held and the children who raised them received ribbons.
Later in the day, the tractor pull took place where children, nine and under, could pedal and pull a makeshift “tractor” with a tricycle. Parents cheered their children on as they pedaled with all their might and would then receive a green ribbon when done pulling the tractor. Live music was everywhere with four-man acapella groups to the Tune Bandits with congas. The music acts continuously change and are free with paid admission.
The Youth Expo had various projects from children of all ages. The “Glue A Shoe Contest” consisted of children gluing items to a shoe of their choosing and creating a piece of artwork. Judging was to take place later in the day. Art also included construction paper, color pencil, crayon, and pastel. Some children used Legos to create their art while others tried to recreate the famous Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. The 2015 Ventura County Fair Poster Contest entries were all placed on a wall with first, second and third getting their own wall. The winning entry this year was created by Annie Sun, 14, from Newbury Park. Her winning image of a merry-go-round, barn, chair swing ride, ocean, and Ferris wheel is featured on the front of the schedule of events, posters and banners all over. It pays homage to the fair’s motto, “A Country Fair with Ocean Air.”
The Junior Fair Board, which is a collection of young volunteers between the ages of 15-20, help year-round with the fair. They plan and hold many popular contests each year. This year they include the “Quick Six” slider eating contest, watermelon eating contest, talent show, and Karaoke. On Wednesday, they held the apple bobbing and cracker eating and whistle blowing contest. One of the winners for the apple bobbing contest was Andrew Munoz.
“I bob for apples a lot at parties,” Munoz said. “Most of the time it’s just going as hard as you can and just sink your teeth in. I’m just really fast at it.”
If none of that gets you excited, there’s still hope because there’s food, games, and rides! And they’re everything you can imagine a fair would have.
Visitors were eating hamburgers, corn dogs, kettle corn, roasted corn, pretzels, ice cream and that was just a fraction of all the food options. People were also buying tickets for the fair games such as basketball, darts, fishing, and the ring toss. Some rides were classic favorites like the Ferris wheel and roller coaster, while others are a little more modern such as the giant slide.
Looking forward, visitors can expect pie eating contests, Kevin Costner and Modern West, kite judging, talent shows, and of course fireworks every night. The Ventura County Fair is open every day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. until August 16.
