The Santa Barbara County Fair is expanding for the first time in years, adding a second weekend of rides, food and entertainment at the Santa Maria Fairpark.
The fair will run July 3 through July 5, then again July 8 through July 12. Ticket prices are also expected to go down.
Fairpark Interim CEO Todd Ventura said the additional days are meant to celebrate America's 250th birthday while giving more families an affordable way to celebrate.
"I've actually lowered prices to drive attendance to the fair to give everybody an opportunity to come out to the Fairpark," he said.
Ventura said the general one-day admission price dropped from $17 to $14, with senior and children's tickets dropping to approximately $10.
Visitors can also expect a different experience across the fairgrounds.
"Some of the grandstand acts will be free, the bleachers will always be free, and then there are paid sort of VIP places if you want to get a better seat, you want to sit in the pit, there's certainly opportunities to do that as well on our website for ticketing once we announce, so there's going to be a lot of changes really all over the property," Ventura said.
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce is also working to market the fair beyond the Central Coast, targeting visitors from the San Joaquin Valley, the Bay Area and Southern California.
"Bringing people from our region, not just our city, to the fairgrounds creates economic activity at all the restaurants, all the hotels, you know, the gas stations, all of the amenities around the Fairpark, so we have a really good opportunity to expand our reach into the region," said Michael Boyer, President and CEO of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Santa Maria resident Mar Pines said she has fond memories of attending the fair and welcomes the expanded access.
"We used to take our kids there and yeah, they really liked it. I liked it. It was fun," Pines said. "People have difficulty affording everything nowadays, so I'm really glad that more people will be able to go."
Details about this year's entertainment, special events and new fair layout will be announced in the coming weeks. Information on ticketing will be available on the Fairpark's website.
