San Joaquin County Fair Set To Return In June
STOCKTON (CBS13) — The San Joaquin County Fair is making a return this year after a two-year hiatus.
Mayor Anthony Silva toured the fairgrounds on a wet and windy Friday.
"My whole goal is to make Stockton a tourist destination for folks outside of the city to see Stockton as a great place to have a good time," he said.
Part of that plan is bringing back the fair after it went away due to declining attendance and money lost from a state grant. Only the annual asparagus festival put on by a private organizer was held at the fairgrounds.
This year, you'll find fairgrounds CEO Kelly Olds scheduling music acts. The event costs more than a half-million dollars to put on, and the fairgrounds raised just over $2 million.
"Every other day of the year something was going on at the fairgrounds," she said.
The fairgrounds opened itself to events every day except for Christmas last year for everything from bingo, to weddings to horse betting.
Paz Negrette has run a taco stand at the county fair for 45 years and is happy to hear it's coming back.
"People save their money to come out and enjoy the fair," he said.
He's grateful people are coming out to spend money throughout the year to make the June fair a reality.
Organizers tentatively have a June 15 start for the fair and hope to stretch it to five days.