Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Financial Woes Bring Cutbacks to Fair : Entertainment: There will be four concerts this year at the Antelope Valley event instead of the customary five.

Popular country singer Trisha Yearwood will highlight the concert series at the 1995 Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival, which is being scaled back this year because of financial woes.

The concert series will feature just four performances instead of the five of prior years. To date, only two of the four concerts have been booked.

The 57th annual fair, with the theme “Fun with Friends and Family,” runs Aug. 25 through Sept. 4.

The concerts open Aug. 29 with Tracy Lawrence, who has two hit CDs that have each sold over 1 million copies. Charlene Carter, a third generation of the country singing family, will open for Lawrence.

Yearwood, whose current hit album and single of the same name is “Thinkin’ About You,” will play Aug. 30 at the Redman Grandstand with Rick Trevino.

Concert ticket prices, which include admission to the fair, are $21, $18 and $15. The ticket office at the fairgrounds will open in mid-June.

Two additional concerts will be held Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

Ralph Bozigian, a fair director and chairman of the board’s entertainment committee, said final contract negotiations are under way and an announcement of the entertainers’ identities will be made in the coming week.

A third country performer will take the stage Aug. 31, he said. The only clue he offered was that the artist, like Yearwood and Lawrence, was at last week’s Country Music Awards and has hit singles on the charts.

The Sept. 1 performance will not be country music, he said.

Bozigian said that the committee had nearly $100,000 less to spend on concerts this year than last and that rather than offering second-rate performers for five nights, decided to have headliners for four.

“This year we have $326,000 to work with,” he said, noting it has yet to be decided how many concerts will be held next year.

Other scheduled grandstand events for this year’s fair include five/eighths-scale classic car racing Aug. 25, figure 8 races Aug. 26, and a Demolition Derby on Aug. 27. World championship wrestling, which will include championship bouts, will be held Aug. 28.

The Rural Olympics is set for Sept. 2, the same day as the free Rodeo Queens contest. Professional Rodeo Cowboy Assn. rodeos are planned for Sept. 3 and 4 and a free Little Britches Rodeo will also be on Sept. 4.

Wrestling tickets run $15 to $23, with the other grandstand events costing $4 to $10.