Santa Barbara County Fair resumes for five-day run through Sunday

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The Santa Barbara County Fair is reopening to the public Wednesday to begin the final five days its unprecedented split schedule this year.

Last Friday, the fair opened for a three-day run over the Fourth of July holiday weekend before closing to the public for the past two days on Monday and Tuesday.

Now, it's opening its gates once again to make the start of its traditional five-day run from Wednesday, July 8 through Sunday, July 12.

"Normally we are open just for one weekend for the Santa Barbara County Fair, but we wanted to bring double the fun, so we are here for two weekends," said Chloe Parks with Helm and Sons Entertainment. "After two days off, now we're back again for the final weekend, this Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday."

For more than 25 years, the fair has been held over a five-day period in mid-July, beginning on a Wednesday and finishing the following Sunday.

This year, Santa Maria Fairpark Board of Directors decided to expand the schedule, especially with the opening weekend falling on the special 250th Fourth of July celebration.

"I'm going to call it a soft launch, even though we were open and all the typical hours that we would be as if it were the regular fair," said Santa Maria Fairpark Interim CEO Todd Ventura. "It was solid crowds, very steady, I would say. I don't think they were overwhelming crowds, but it's the first year, and there was a lot of special circumstances, a lot going on around the 4th of July, family barbecues, fireworks, all those kinds of things. Nonetheless, we did have great crowds, particularly on Sunday, that was a really fantastic crowd for our our Fiesta day."

In addition to a its new longer schedule, Ventura pointed out the fair will also feature an array of format changes and other new concepts.

"I think the I think the feedback has been very, very positive," said Ventura. "The people have really enjoyed the new layout and the Fairpark being different, with different spots, different booths, different vendors, different commercial, there is a whole new a whole new Fairpark. The atmosphere is different. The vibe is different. The feeling is different."

The fair has also expanded its carnival with more rides that ever before. The overall amount of rides that are spread out across the Fairpark is said to exceed that of any other local fair.

"This is humongous," said. Parks. "We went from having just the major area and the kids area to having three different new areas. We have 60 rides, including three roller coasters. We have a brand new kiddy area. We had only two areas last year, but we expanded it, and we have five in total. We brought some fan favorites and then some brand new ones as well."

The Santa Barbara County Fair will open at noon during the weekends and at 2 p.m. on weekdays and close each night at 10 p.m.

"There's so much to do from the vendors, the food, the games, all the rides" said Parks. "There is just so much going on that it would be hard not to have fun here and enjoyment with the family."

The fair's concert series begins on Thursday with the first of three shows inside the Minetti Arena.

Alternative rock band Everclear takes the stage on Thursday, followed by country singers Dylan Scott on Friday and Rodney Adkins on Saturday.

Concerts are free to attend in the grandstand, with paid seating in the lower area closer to the stage.

For more information about the Santa Barbara County Fair, click here to visit the official website.