Ventura County Fair

For a small county fair, the Ventura Fair is one of the best around. It goes for over a week and has lots of different activities and performers each day. The fair food is really good and is one of the reasons to go. They have the usual tents of gadgets to browse and also different animals and shows as well.

I had no plans to visit this year, but when I heard Huey Lewis & The News would be playing I was sold. $ 12 for a great concert, he & the boys rocked and rolled and so did Ventura County residents singing along with old classics and hearing a few new ones along the way.
Over the years I’ve gotten to see Sugar Ray, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Journey, & En Vogue.
I’ll never forget being 17 & going to see the Gap Band & Kid Frost, there I was standing on a chair dancing and getting my groove on only to have a friend pull me off and away from an oncoming chair going overhead as a gang fight broke out behind me.
My days of finding the fair «fun» have waned with age.
The fair is a child’s playground, rides & cotton candy.
For Teens it becomes another place to
Socialize, flirt, and be the «grown up» you think you are.
And for most Adult’s it’s the commercial buildings, concerts, rodeos, & beer.
I’m happy I went to see Huey, I missed seeing him as a teen when he was at the peak of his career. He & the News were nice enough to give us an encore performance and gave Ventura what they wanted, «The Power of Love».

Good clean fun in a stunning setting. This is my first fair in California and it was a lot of fun in a laid back way. Enough for all ages to see and do but not so large or crazy or crowded. Safe enough for families with younger children. Police and security were out in abundance, which gave the festivities a sense of security so we could relax and enjoy ourselves.

Favorite experiences:
Going during opening day, $ 1 admission and feeling the excitement of 1^st day!
Staff and crowd were friendly — liked mingling with locals.
Ferris wheel during sunset was magical
FREE big name concerts
Listening to the family that told me to buy the presale tix.
Worst experiences:
1. Rides and games were $ 4.50 (6 tix) minimum. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything under that.
2. Timeshare vendor sales person tactics. It has to do with what they don’t tell and what’s NOT in the fine print on the back of the paper you signed. There are blackout dates, a 60 day waiting period before you can use the freebies AND you will be charge for a no show! They didn’t tell me any of this until I called the 800 to book my free trip to san diego. No can do until 60 days after I find time to drive to san diego and then bother to come back. Not cool that they don’t tell you this before they take your credit card info.
2. Driving to the fair lot and waiting in traffic for 30 minutes… only to be the turned away because the lot was full.
3. Rides/​games were expensive! $ 4.50 of tix needed to throw 1 dart! You must be kidding me! Next year I’m buying 10 of those presale tix (10 bonus tix per sheet).
Food vendors, in order of most to least favorite that I tried:
The good.
1. Old West cinnamon rolls (must get the frosting!) — longest line Friday night among any vendor including rides!
2. Roasted corn booth adjacent to rock climbing wall takes the prize for the most unusual item, mexican corn (chile, cheese, lime, mayo, cilantro). Had to come back for another.
3. Dip ‘n dots are still good!
4. sweet potato fries
The bad.
5. Turkey leg vendor in front of stage near rides. Meat was dried out.
6. Funnel cake vendor next to turkey leg vendor in front of stage. Way undercooked dough is yuck!
7. Churros by the fish and chips/​chowder place. Churros were hard as a rock.
8. Fried hotdog… not as novel as it sounds and tasted worst than regular hot dog.

Wonderful county fair. Right next to the beach, this fair has animals, games, rides, displays and exhibitions, concerts, and of course the requisite fair food (corn dogs, turkey legs, cotton candy)…what more could you ask for? They have lots of specials for admission and rides, including dollar day! Lots of fun.

Someone paid my entrance fee, so I can’t complain there. This was my first year attending the fair. The best for me was the bottomless soda; you buy the large metal cup and a wrist band and you can go back all day long.
The worst was the overpriced Tri-​tip from one non-​local vendor. $ 10.00 for a hot dog bun with one thin strip of dry meat with no flavor. Basically it was a vegetarian Tri-​tip sandwich. To be fair (no pun intended) there were other vendors who gave MUCH better value for the money.
I always love fireworks, even though there was a pause in the fireworks show (they had to go find some more matches?) the finale was very fun.
Plenty of on site parking, but we couldn’t find the access routes (maybe that’s why there was so much on site parking), so we parked a couple of blocks away and had a nice walk. They also have off site parking with shuttle busses.
I’d go earlier in the day next time and spend more time.

We went to see Ramon Ayala had a blast no issues getting around — some good ol fun ! food we had a gynormo corn dog/​beer /​wine and a lovely lady to walk around with.(wife)

First time VCF attendee… Cute. Small. Fun. Great vendor variety. Easy parking. Love that it’s near ocean!!!

i like the fair. granted i believe it was better before but it is still nice. many years back they always had the gigantic ferris wheel. i remember going on it with my boys and it would be cold when you got to the top. you had this incredible view of the coastline. you could see the ferris wheel from miles away practically when you drove up to the grounds. but now they have a much smaller ferris wheel. prices have gone up. the food. well of course. festival food is not a gourmet deal. that is a given. and it is also a given that the food may not be the best for you. lots of deep fried this and that. there are some relatively healthier alternatives. we like to go to see the arts and crafts, the paintings and the commercial tent. and yeah the same vendors are there year after year. i have been coming most every year for the past 20 years maybe. now the kids are grown and they dont care for it. and it has lost some of its flavor in my mind. but it still is fun. just plan for high costs if you plan on eating there or going on rides. once again. that is the way festivals/​fairs are. not saying it’s right but it is the way they work. might go this year again with bf’s girls if they want to. it is worth going to, at least once. if you get sick of it. you leave and go to one of the awesome restaurants that are around the area.

I really like the fair. I don’t go on the rides anymore because I think I am a little paranoid about loss of limb, but I still love everything else about the fair. My favorite thing is the table setting competition. Why? I have no idea, but I am pretty sure I am going to finally enter it next year.

Does anyone else notice that they charge more $$$ every year but the entertainment seems to be dwindling??? and really. they should at least change up where they put the booths… i mean seriously i could go through that place blindfolded and still end up with a) beer b) roasted corn c) donuts d) curly fries with a cholesterol fest of melted cheese smothered all over them and still manage to never find a clean bathroom when i need one… I guess for the first time in my life i was kind of «over it» this year.
Maybe next year I’ll try Mid State.

I truly love this fair! I’ve grown up going to it every summer and never realized how lucky we are to have the Grandstand shows included in the fair entrance which is, for now, still under $ 10. I’m not happy that carnival rides and the entrance fee has gone up so much but it’s still not horrible if you plan right. I enjoyed getting in free on Senior Day because I went with my mom and grandma. It was especially nice because that was the day Trace Adkins was at the fair. Love a country concert, especially at the Fair. I also enjoyed the Wednesday $ 1 day where if you came in before 3pm you only paid $ 1 for the entrance fee. Awesome idea! That day I enjoyed checking out all the Photography entries, the always beautiful Horticulture building, the animals, a $ 2 mini cupcake, $ 2.50 half dozen of mini donuts in the commercial building, and a $ 3.50 Hotdog on a Stick. It was a great cheap fun day. And yesterday I enjoyed the rodeo (love the rodeo) and a couple carnival rides (finally got on the Ferris wheel during the fireworks show!).
I’m always sad to see the fair go because it’s just a fun place to walk around and people watch. There are so many memories here for me.

The Ventura County Fair is back in town July 30^th — August 10^th.
Check out the official web address for scheduling details, pricing, transportation options, including shuttles & Amtrak.
Grandstand Entertainment Series (free with Fair admission):
— Motor sports
— Doobie Brothers
— Sara Evans with Carlene Carter
— Los Tigres del Norte
— The Beach Boys
— Suzanne Somers
— Trace Adkins
— Raven Symone
— Plain White T’s
— Tower of Power with WAR
— PRCA Rodeo
It’s a great time!