San Fernando Valley Fair All Set at Los Angeles Equestrian Center : Burbank: The annual agricultural exposition will open Thursday after moving from the Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

Despite a warm reception in recent years by neighbors at its Hansen Dam Recreation Area site, this year’s San Fernando Valley Fair will open Thursday at a new location, in Burbank--a move designed to save thousands of dollars for the annual event.

The switch to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center is expected to save the cash-strapped 51st District Agricultural Assn., which sponsors the fair, about $100,000, including $30,000 in fees the association handed over to the city of Los Angeles each of the past three years for use of the Hansen Dam site. With the change of venue, organizers have also been able to avoid the high cost of setting up tents, trailers and other facilities required for the four-day event.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” said Dale Coons, manager of the fair. “It does have its drawbacks, but the air-conditioned buildings--you know how hot it is in July . . . It’s much more conducive to what we want to do without putting up the tents.”

The fair, now in its 46th year, has been something of an orphan in recent years.

In 1988, it was evicted from its longtime home at Devonshire Downs and nearly went the same path of the rural, ranch-filled past it commemorates when a development-minded Cal State Northridge decided to build a string of restaurants, commercial facilities, a hotel and student housing on the property.

The event then moved to the grounds of Pierce College, but was expelled at the last minute after protests from irate homeowners, forcing organizers to chop a day from the schedule and relocate to the Hansen Dam location.

Although Lake View Terrace residents welcomed the fair, attendance declined by half from 60,000 in 1988 to 30,000 the following year. Last year, the number of fair-goers climbed back up to 50,000, but the agricultural association still found itself facing a $265,000 shortfall.

Coons said this year’s fair will cost about $750,000 to put on. Although she had no estimate of the number of attendees required for the event to break even, she said organizers are expecting attendance to equal last year’s.

Coons also did not rule out the possibility of returning to the Hansen Dam site, despite an increase in the fees charged by the city. “I’m trying to get the 1992 fair over with. I’ll think about the 1993 fair as soon as we finish 1992,” she said.

In addition to the usual offering of livestock exhibits, pig races and arts and crafts, the fair will feature a country-music concert by singer Freddy Fender and a medieval jousting show. A rodeo and an all-day horse show--events curtailed when the fair moved to Hansen Dam--are also scheduled.