The Santa Cruz County Fair welcomed the public through its gates Wednesday at noon for the traditional mix of food, entertainment, arts and crafts, livestock shows, floriculture exhibits, collections, colorful home arts, food, agricultural and historical displays.
Under cloudy skies and cool, breezy conditions, members of the Fair Board, the Fairgrounds Foundation and fair staff staged a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony to not only welcome the crowd but also to thank the swarms of volunteers, sponsors and fair participants who brought the whole thing together.
“We’ve had a great opening day and it’s only going to get better,” said Ron Haedicke, marketing director.
Live Mexican mariachi music by Javier Vargas and Mariachi California greeted folks as they made their way through the main gate as Jeremy the Juggler filtered through the crowd juggling three pins while riding his unicycle.
“I have felt nothing but an incredibly warm welcome,” Fair Manager Dori Rose Inda, said. “We are so excited to open the fair; it’s going to be fabulous. We have new and all the regular traditional things that people come every year for. I have never seen so many hard working staff, board, foundation, and hundreds of volunteers that make it possible to open the doors.”
Mary Henderson of Royal Oaks, who has been coming to the fair for more than five decades, entered two jams in the fair’s home arts competition “for the first time in 40 years.”
“I entered apricot jam and plum jam,” she said. “Not only did I have fun doing it, I also won two ribbons—second place and first place. I was so happy because it has been so long since I’ve done this. I’ve been making jams since I was 18 years old and I’m almost 70. I’m going to look at the baked goods, the fine arts, and the animals—there’s just so much here.”
Richard Orser of Santa Cruz said he’s been coming to the fair for about 20 years.
“I come here every year; I just look forward to it,” he said.” I like seeing the animals, the ducks, the chickens and the cows. And I always enjoy seeing the quilts, the home arts—what people make each year. And now I’m going to the magic show.”
The fair continues through Sunday. For schedule and information, visit santacruzcountyfair.com.
INFOBOX
To beat parking and traffic issues, Santa Cruz METRO is offering free bus rides to the fair, along with discounted fair tickets.
METRO has created a special daily route 79F, and weekend-only route 79 (Sept.13-14) as well as daily ParaCruz service.
Bus rides will depart from the Watsonville Transit Center 35 minutes past the hour from 10:35am–9:35pm on weekdays and 8:35am–9:35pm on weekends. Return trips from the fair will depart on the hour from 11am–10pm on weekdays and 9am–10pm on weekends.
METRO riders can request a discount voucher from the bus driver that can be presented at the fair ticket window for the discount.
For information, visit County Fair Tickets Page.
