Why Does Stanislaus County Hold Fair At Same Time As California State Fair?
TURLOCK (CBS13) — It has carnival rides, food tents and livestock shows, but they aren't meant for crowds at the California State Fair.
Instead, it's the Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock that runs at the same time as the state event. They have even honored season passes for the state fair.
Organizers say they do not believe they're in competition with the state fair, but the county fair does have one thing that's much bigger than what the state fair has to offer.
While the State Fair has a few dozen animals showing in a single show, Stanislaus County has hundreds of them.
"We got to the point we had to expand the show days so we could rotate animals in and out," said fair livestock superintendent John Mendes.
While only the winning animals are auctioned at the State Fair, all of them are up for auction in Stanislaus County.
"We'll have about 2,500 exhibitors at one time on the grounds," said CEO Chris Borovansky. "Our junior livestock auction generates $1.5 million."
The two fairs weren't always in competition, he said.
"The State Fair changed its dates five or six years ago and moved on top of us," he said. "We thought we had a strong enough fair that it didn't make any sense to try to move at that point. It takes a couple of years for people to get used to date changes."
The fair is offering something new this year with the butterfly room. The release of monarch and painted lady butterflies lead to a long line on opening day.
The carnival portion of the county fair opens at 5 p.m., and on the weekends, it's free admission before 3 p.m.
