‘This is what we do best.’ Merced County Fair opens to big crowd after 2-year hiatus
The smell of fair food and the smiles, screams, laughs of happy children are back at the Merced County Fair, which opened its gates on Wednesday for the first time since 2019.
After being dark for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fair officials are expecting big crowds during the fair’s five-day run from Wednesday through Sunday..
“We are so excited to be back after two years,” said Merced County Fair CEO Teresa Burrola. “This is what we do best, which is get a fair up and running. Having been dark (for two years) it’s a great reward.”
Celebrations these last two years were largely limited to a modified livestock shows aimed at keeping some aspect of the annual tradition alive amid the pandemic, as well as supporting the efforts of 4-H and FFA students.
This is the 131st year of the Merced County Fair.
“I think our community is going to give us record-breaking crowds,” Burroloa added. “Everybody is excited, they want to come down, we’re known as the place to come to see your friends that you haven’t seen all year long.”
It didn’t take long for the fairgrounds to attract large crowds shortly after the fair opened at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
FFA programs were busy showing their livestock. Kids flocked to the rides and there were soon lines for corn dogs, pizza, barbecue sandwiches, ice cream, lemonade and all other kinds of fair food.
“We’re having so much fun,” said Laliya Carter of Merced. “We’ve went on several rides already. It’s a great time out.”
Lisa Correia of El Nido and her family went straight for the kettle corn. “We’re here to see all the animals,” Correia said.
Attendees have a variety of activities to choose from. A lineup of concert shows and entertainment events are scheduled for each night of the fair.
Nightly 8:30 p.m. music performances will range from country singer Coffey Anderson to tribute band Queen Nation on Thursday and Sheila E. on Friday. Each concert is free with paid fair admission.
Auto racing, destruction derby, a tractor pull and bull riding will also take place each night at 7 p.m. in the grand stand. Admission is $5 for the grandstand events for adults. Children age 5 or younger may enter free with a paid adult ticket.
Other free entertainment with paid fair admission includes the Discovering Science exhibit and petting zoo.
Also new to this year’s fair is the Pee Wee Stampede, where kids age 3 to 6-years-old will put on a show and participate in mock rodeo events.
For more information on the fair, visit the fair website.
Carter said it was nice to have the option to come out to the fair again after two years.
“It’s very nice actually,” she said. “You get to experience the ambiance, obviously the rides are great, the food is great. You can see a lot of people happy.”
The fair runs June 8 through June 12 at 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Event hours run 5:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Wednesday through Friday and 3:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 8:45 AM.
