A Tradition for Tomorrow

The theme of this year’s Ventura County Fair is “Visions of Tomorrow” but what draws the crowds are its sights, sounds, smells and--above all--tastes of yesterday.

No federal health advisory or diet-for-a-new-millennium book is going to tell you to pig out on corn dogs, cotton candy or funnel cakes. But somehow strolling down the midway or exploring the vast exhibit halls demands such fare every bit as insistently as a baseball game requires peanuts and a hot dog.

For more than four decades this annual event has celebrated Ventura County’s rural roots. Kids from local 4-H Clubs show off their prized projects. Quilters and jelly-makers and biscuit-bakers compete for coveted blue ribbons. Critters of every shape and size loll fragrantly in their pens to the delight of an ever-more-urban populace.

This year’s fair arrived in two phases. It officially opened Wednesday but because of tight scheduling on the fair circuit, most of the rides and midway games didn’t swing into action until Friday--the first time that has happened in 20 years. Nonetheless, fair officials expect at least 250,000 visitors before the final round of fireworks Aug. 13.

New attractions in the spirit of the “Visions of Tomorrow” theme include Mad Science’s “Taking the World by Storm,” a 30-minute live-action skit that teaches basic weather concepts amid virtual rain, snow and thunderstorms, in the Youth Expo; a space station greenhouse showcasing Beylick Family Farms’ hydroponics technology in the agriculture and natural resources expo; and an elaborate diorama of a future fair in the gems and minerals building.

But as always, the star of the show is tradition.

We urge everyone, particularly newcomers to Ventura County, to make time for a visit to the fair. Whatever your personal vision of tomorrow might be, may it have plenty of room for new experiences, lots of fun and--if only once a year--a guilt-free corn dog.