Preparations are officially underway at the Paso Robles Event Center for the California Mid-State Fair, and fair officials say this year is a little more special because the fair turns 80!
The groundwork for another great year at the fair is being laid, but Lachlan McKenzie in the California Mid-State Fair Marketing and Publicity Department said the real preparations for it started a long time ago.
“We prepare all year-round for it,” she said.
The fair is still about two weeks away, but workers could already be seen on Monday and Tuesday slurry sealing the pavement, washing off remnants of last year, and contestants were lining up to turn in their contest entries.
And, while we may be celebrating the California Mid-State Fair’s 80th birthday this year, there’s nothing old about it, except for the new retro theme.
“It's our 80th anniversary this year, so it's ‘Back to the '80s’ as our theme,” McKenzie said. “We're going to bring the roller rink in. It's going to be super fun!”
The '80s fun doesn’t stop there. New this year is a mullet contest on July 21 and many other exciting, fresh attractions, food, entertainment and more.
“There’s an arcade going in, and we're going to have a couple new horse show events, like a trail ride event and then the breakaway for women's roping,” McKenzie said. “There's also going to be a $5 happy hour going on this fair. There's so many things.”
The much-anticipated event won't kick off until July 15, but you’ll start seeing the setup for the carnival in the first week of July.
Entertainment lineup for each night of the fair:
- July 14 (pre-fair concert) - Chris Stapleton w/Molly Tuttle (sold out)
- July 15 - Old Dominion w/Dasha and Annie Bosko
- July 16 - Ice Cube w/Warren G
- July 17 - Lainey Wilson w/Colton Dawson (sold out)
- July 18 - Eric Church w/ERNEST
- July 19 - Phil Wickham w/bodie
- July 20 - MEGADETH
- July 21 - Howard Jones: Things Can Only Get Better Tour
- July 22 - Willie Nelson & Family w/Ian Munsick
- July 23 - Treaty Oak Revival w/William Clark Greene
- July 24 - An Evening of Music and Wine with Three Dog Night
- July 25 - Country Rodeo Finals
- July 26 - Tractor Pull
