Countywide : Fair Opens With a Flair for Tradition

The Ventura County Fair opens today, boasting both big-name entertainment and traditional events such as pie-baking and calf-roping contests.

About 306,000 people visited the fair last year, and more are expected to visit the seaside County Fairgrounds in Ventura during this year’s 12-day stand. Gates will open at 11 a.m. and close at midnight daily through Aug. 26.

Fair officials said this year’s theme, “A Timeless Tradition,” reflects an effort to return to the rural roots of the 115-year-old event.

Some critics of Jeremy Ferris, who resigned as general manager last October, said he had overemphasized the fair’s commercial side by moving the fair’s dates from October to August to attract more visitors.

The new general manager, Michael Paluszak, former head of the highly publicized Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee in Northern California, has not called for returning to the autumn dates. But he has vowed to preserve the fair’s old-time flavor.

For the first time, he said, fair tickets--$5 for most adults, $2 for adults over 55 and children under 12, and free for children under 5--will include admission to some of the big-name concerts in the Grandstand Arena.

These include the Smothers Brothers tonight, John Kay & Steppenwolf on Monday, Johnny Cash on Tuesday, Ronnie Milsap on Aug. 23, a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Assn. rodeo Aug. 24 and 25, and Lorenzo Antonio on Aug. 26.

Tickets--ranging from $6 to $18--are required for other Grandstand Arena shows, including the Pointer Sisters on Thursday, a “monster truck pull” Friday, midget auto racing Saturday, stock-car racing and destruction derby Sunday, and the Gap Band on Aug. 22.

Along with grandstand entertainment and the usual carnival rides, visitors will be able to look in on many smaller shows, an aquarium that includes $1,000 koi fish and a three-building Home Arts complex.

Nearly $100,000 will be awarded to winning entries under headings such as home arts, agriculture, horse shows, floriculture, livestock, aquariums, gems and minerals, youth activities, models and hobbies, and photography.

There will also be fewer traditional contests, such as banana-eating, pie-eating, mustache and look-alike competitions. The winning team in a chili cook-off Aug. 25 will receive $300 and qualify for the state championship.

The fairgrounds is on Harbor Boulevard west of Figueroa Street. Parking costs $3 at the fairgrounds and $4 at San Buenaventura State Beach. Free parking and shuttle service are available at Ventura High School, the County Government Center and the Buenaventura Plaza shopping center.