‘Perfect fair weather’ expected to draw large crowds as Merced County Fair gets underway

With the Merced County Fair operating in June each year it is often accompanied with triple-digit temperatures.

The scorching heat could persuade potential fairgoers to stay home, choosing their air-conditioned living rooms over a day in the sun.

So Merced County Fair CEO Terese Burrola was thrilled to see temperatures are expected to be in the 80s during the 2023 fair dates.

“We’re expecting perfect fair weather,” Burrola said.

The Merced County Fair will open on Wednesday and run through Sunday at the Merced County Fairgrounds, which is located at 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Merced.

The fair will be open from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday through Friday and will run 3 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on the weekend.

Tickets are $15 at the gate and parking is $5. Children 12-and-under are free.

“People coming can expect amazing concerts, great grandstand shows, great exhibits, including our livestock sales, carnival rides and delicious fair food,” Burrola said.

The Merced County Fair returned last year after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic with close to 70,000 people attending.

This year fair organizers have worked with local stores to sell ticket packages.

“We had very strong attendance (last year),” Burrola said. “When it got hot — and it got very hot — we dipped a bit. But overall we still had strong numbers and people were excited to be back.”

“Ticket sales have been phenomenal, particularly because we teamed up with SaveMart and Foodmaxx for ticket sales. We expect large crowds, especially with the cooler weather.”

Free concerts: Smashmouth, Lonestar, Banda Machos and tribute groups

The free Outdoor Concert Series during the fair is highlighted by Smashmouth on Thursday with their collection of hit songs like “Walking on the Sun,” “All-Star,” “Then the Morning Comes” and “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby.”

The concerts will kickoff on Wednesday night with George Michael Reborn, which is tribute to the late George Michael and WHAM! Country band Lonestar will take the stage on Friday; The Purple Madness, a tribute to Prince, will be Saturday’s concert and Banda Machos will provide the entertainment on Sunday.

All concerts will begin at 8:30 p.m. and are free with admission to the fair.

The grandstand events include auto racing (Wednesday), go-kart racing (Thursday), tractor pull (Friday), destruction derby (Saturday) and Humpz & Hornz Jaripeo (Sunday).

The grandstand events start at 7 p.m. each night and are $5 admission with a paid fair admission.

The fair will also feature carnival rides for older and younger kids, arts and craft exhibits, livestock and other entertainment.

There is also the popular fair food, which includes corn dogs, cinnamon rolls, kettle corn, burgers, linguica sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, tri-tip, chicken, cotton candy, funnel cake, ice cream, lemonade and carmel apples.

Burrola says after seeing the fairgrounds used during emergencies during this past year, it’ll be nice to see people walking around and enjoying themselves.

“We were used as an evacuation center during the floods and a fire camp during the wildfires,” Burrola said. “It’s nice we can be something celebrated now for people to come together and have fun.”

“We just want the community to come and celebrate with us at the Merced County Fair,” she added.