by Amy M. Boyle
Staff Writer
Buttered popcorn, cotton candy, freshly squeezed lemonade, children screaming. These are just some of the signs that tell us that it is fair time once again.
The Los Angeles County Fair, which opened yesterday, is celebrating its 75 years in existence.
This diamond jubilee will be marked with an exhibit set up in Giant Fairplex 4 that will be a nostalgic stroll down memory lane. Daily celebrations are planned in Celebration Plaza, and a parade is scheduled for Sept. 13 to commemorate the Fair’s beginning in 1922.
Fairgoers can sign up to win a diamond and diamond vision television that will be given away during the Fair and a grand prize winner will be picked at the end of the Fair to go on a trip to Diamond Head, Hawaii.
There will be events for every age beginning with the America’s Kids exhibit which will feature a 24-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex and a 14-foot Stegosaurus. The kids will even be able to excavate dinosaur bones and cast fossils.
Education Expo, located in the Fairplex Park grandstand is also a place dedicated to kids. It is themed the “Age of Discovery,” where students from around Southern California have the opportunity to display their arts, crafts, technology, creative writing, photography and science projects.
Some big name entertainment line-ups include Huey Lewis and the News, Pat Benatar, the Righteous Brothers, the Neville Brothers, the Isley Brothers, Marco Antonio Solis, Jars of Clay and Dishwalla are all scheduled to perform in the Fairplex Park grandstand.
Sid Robinson, director of communications at the Fair, is anticipating a good turnout.
“We have put a lot of hard work into this year, and we think that people will say, Wow they (the Fair) have really changed,” said Robinson.
This year, a new exhibit called the “UFO Encounter” has many displays of aliens, as well as pictures and information of UFO sightings.
The L.A. County Fair will be open each Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sun. 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Admission is $9 for adults and general parking is $5.
Amy M. Boyle
