Merced County Fair
- About
Our mission is to strive to maintain and promote our facilities in a manner that encourages year-round use and to annually produce a Fair that showcases the area’s agriculture and other talents of our culturally-diverse communities. The Merced County Fair, first founded in 1891, represents the 35th District Agricultural Association and is celebrating its 128th anniversary this year. More than 70,000 people from throughout Merced County and beyond attend the five-day Merced County Fair each June. Members of the Board of Directors include Emily Haden, President; Lori Gallo, First Vice President; Carol Sartori-Silva, Second Vice President; Vicky Banaga; Mark Erreca; Flip Hassett; Lee Lor and Kim Rogina. Teresa Burrola heads up the daily operations in her role as CEO.
Carnival rides from thrilling rides to family and kiddie rides, plus fair food, games, and prizes, the midway is brimming with action-packed fun from Butler Amusements.
- History
- The beginning of the Merced County Fair "as we know it today," according to the first Fair manager, W.C. Woxberg, was a two-day event on September 14 & 15, 1929, in the old Municipal Baseball Park, which is now called Applegate Park. The Merchants’ Association sponsored fairs there through 1931, which usually included a rodeo and small 4-H livestock shows. It wasn’t until 1931, that the Fair moved to its current location on 11th and G streets. Unfortunately, by 1936 the Fair was broke and was unable to hold that year’s Fair so the Fairgrounds went dark. However, local businesses pooled together funds to get the Fair up and running again by 1937. That year’s Merced-Mariposa Fair was a big deal! It included a parade, a three-day horse racing program, livestock show, farm exhibits, and a Hollywood Revue. The next year, in 1938, the Fair started charging 25 cents for general admission (kids 12 and under were free) to help make the Fair more fiscally sound. By 1941, the Fair was a financial success – the new Pavilion was build and the Fair not only got out of debt but ended up $2,000 in the black “with an unheard of the crowd of 18,000 people,” according to Mr. Woxberg. But that wouldn’t last.
- Places to Stay
- Event Maps
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