Fair to Run 12 Days, Reversing Fall Ruling

The 2000 Ventura County Fair will be held for 12 days in August, reversing a decision made last fall to give vendors time to travel between events by cutting short the annual event at Seaside Park.

The fair is now scheduled for Aug. 2-13, providing vendors just two days to leave the Orange County Fair for Ventura and five days to leave Ventura to set up in Sacramento for Cal Expo.

Despite the short travel periods, vendors expressed a willingness to set up in time, according to the Seaside Park Board of Directors, who approved the revised schedule last month.

The fair staff found that a 10-day schedule would mean increased maintenance, security and utilities costs for several exhibitors, including operators of horse shows and livestock and floriculture exhibits.

In October, the board voted to reduce the fair by two days to give vendors five days to move from the Orange County Fair, scheduled July 14-30, and five days to get to Cal Expo in Sacramento, scheduled Aug. 18-Sept. 4. The Ventura County Fair is held at Seaside Park, 10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura.

Board members believed many concessionaires would opt to skip the Ventura County Fair altogether, because it draws an average of 300,000 visitors, while the 17-day Orange County Fair averages more than 700,000 and Cal Expo attracts as many as 1.6 million.