Step Right Up! Time for the Fair : There’s More to Do Than Horsing Around

It’s part swap meet, part carnival, part concert venue and homemakers’ showcase, sprinkled liberally with cinnamon rolls and corn dogs and topped with flowers and horses--lots and lots and lots of horses.

The Del Mar Fair opens today for its annual 20-day run, San Diego County’s chance to stop and smell the roses or discover the latest in kitchen widgets, or toss cow chips, or wonder why your cakes and jellies and photographs and hand-crafted coffee tables don’t turn out as nice as the ones on display at the fairgrounds.

The theme of this year’s fair--the second most popular in California after the Los Angeles County Fair and the 12th most popular in the North America--is “Horsing Around--A 24-Carrot Love-A-Fair.”

That explains the contest to see who’s got the reddest, “carrot-top” hair, and, hey, the theme beats the purple pig that served as mascot a few years back.

Fair organizers say that, on top of all the other time-tested exhibits, displays, shows and rides that have brought the fair such success over the years, the display of horses will distinguish this year’s edition.

Today and Wednesday, for instance, the Texas White Horse Troupe will perform trick riding, gunfight stunts and chariot racing at the fair’s 4,000-seat arena.

There will be horse shows (Wednesday through next Tuesday), rodeo events June 24-27, arena polo matches July 3 with the same speed and proximity to spectators as indoor soccer, and continuing displays of just about every horse out there, from miniatures to large draft horses.

Admission gates will open each day of the 20-day run at 9 a.m. and close at 10 p.m., although grounds will remain open until the Fun Zone goes dark about 12:30 a.m.

Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for persons 62 and older, a buck for children 6 to 12 and free for youngsters 5 and under.

Parking is free, although fair-goers are advised on July 3 and on weekends to seek out auxiliary parking at Torrey Pines High School, UC San Diego and on Miramar Road near the Eastgate Mall, and shuttle free to the fairgrounds. Last year, about 70,000 persons used the shuttles.

Fair officials acknowledge that a day on the grounds can cost big bucks--but can be experienced only for the cost of admission if people can resist the temptation of food, gadgets and carnival rides and games. Most don’t.

With more than 600 commercial vendors, more than half of the fair’s visitors will buy something, statistics show. Virtually everyone--99%--buy something to eat or drink from one of the 100 or so food vendors. And 52% succumb to the hawkers in the Fun Zone, whose rides and games are hand-picked by the fair staff rather than selected wholesale-fashion from one carnival operator.

Still, visitors can watch their budget by bringing in their own food and drink--as long as it is non-alcoholic and not in glass--and picnic in several areas. After walking across the Avenue of the Palms main drag, visitors can mill about in the Flower and Garden Show (“Horsing Around in a European Garden” is this year’s theme) before browsing through the industrial arts exhibit, the homemaking displays, the arts-in-all-media and, out in the infield, the international photo exhibit.

More than 66,000 individual exhibits will be on display--including 6,000 alone in the youth art exhibit, double the amount last year. The youth art exhibit has no jury and all entries are displayed for the gratification of their young creators.

The nighttime concerts are free with admission, too, and this year will be staged in the infield of the Del Mar Racetrack because the existing grandstands are being rebuilt.

Enough bleachers have been installed to accommodate about 6,000 people for the concerts, and others can mill about and still hear the music as they visit other infield exhibits.

The Fair Facts

LOCATION: West of Interstate 5 at the Via de la Valle exit.

HOURS: Fair runs today through July 5. Visitors may enter the fairgrounds from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. Certain fair events stay open until 12:30 a.m. Exhibits are open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The midway Fun Zone is open from noon-12:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 11 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

ADMISSION: Adults (13 and older) $6; children (6-12) $1; seniors (62 and older) $3; children under 6 free.

PHONE: Call 259-1355 for recorded information.

PARKING: Free. 12,000 on-site spaces, open from 9:30 a.m. to midnight. Additional spaces available off-site on weekends and July 4 and 5 at Torrey Pines High School (Interstate 5 and Carmel Mountain Road), Eastgate Mall near I-805, and UC San Diego (I-5 and Genesee Avenue). Shuttles will carry fair-goers from off-site lots to the grounds.

CONTESTS/DEMONSTRATIONS:

11 a.m.: Bubble Gum Contest for kids--Pipsqueak Plaza.

1 p.m.: Best animal noise contest--O’Brien Plaza.

3 p.m.: Tug-of-War, egg toss, sack race and hula hoop contests. Pencil Collection--Hobby Show Tent.

4 p.m.: Used shoe kickoff for kids--Contest Court.

4:30 p.m.: Cow milking contest--Ring No. 1.

SHOWS:

7:30 p.m.: John Kay & Steppenwolf (rock)--Grandstand Stage.