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GOOD QUESTION
GQ: How did Paso Robles become the host city of the Mid-State Fair?
Posted: Jul 25, 2012 8:44 PM by John Reger
Updated: Aug 7, 2012 8:06 PM
With a few more days left in the Mid-state Fair I got a question about it's early days. Ren Ellison from Paso Robles wants to know: How did Paso Robles get chosen as the site of the fair? Good Question.
In 1941, the San Luis Obispo County Fair Association was formed. Right away, a group of Paso Robles leaders went to Sacramento and petitioned to become the host city, each promising a thousand dollars towards a fair operating budget.
Paso got approval but World War Two intervened and the first fair was delayed until 1946, when it debuted as the San Luis Obispo County Fair. 20,000 people paid $3.60 to get into the three day event.
Early fairs were basically ag and livestock shows, but there was entertainment. The 1948 program lists it's second act as a blind xylophonist. The fair was renamed the SLO County Mid-State Fair in 1981 and changed to California Mid-State Fair in 1986.
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