Angry_Gumball Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I've been on the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds numerous times throughout my life whether if it were for dance competitions my sister participated in (and I'd run around on the grounds, climbing trees, playing catch, throwing frisbees...doing kid things!), or when we'd go play paintball on the onsite fields. But I have never actually been on the grounds in "county fair mode." Today was my first time visiting the SCCF and I had always heard that it has gone downhill...so keeping that in mind, I went in with low expectations. I knew something wasn't right when the fair runs for only 4 days, and opens at noon. I didn't even bother doing any rides as there were only a few noteworthy rides...being Ring of Fire, Zipper, Ghetto Flyers, Round Up, and the $10/10-ticket Zamperla Turbo Force...cycle seemed a bit short for the cost so I skipped. The rest of the carnival consisted of kiddie rides. Everything else excluding livestock felt like as though I was at a local festival and overpriced flea market. Food options were extremely limited...thankfully we ate before even going to the fair. This makes the 3rd fair I've done this year, the other two being the San Mateo County Fair and the California State Fair (which both were pretty awesome!). Without further ado, here's some photos I got from the day. Welcome to St. Louis...I mean, the Santa Clara County Fair! As a kid, this arch was painted multi colored and I called this the "rainbow." Let's start with some animals...(which there is a lot of!) poof-bird! Ooh, a Maine Coon! He was huge and very friendly! Marmalised Kitteh Come November, you guys better hide! Locker Bunny strutting its...man boobs? Yup, another cat! Friendly Scottish Fold cat ... Time to do some dog races (which were actually better than at the CSF...more to it and was a main attraction) Racing Wieners! Now let's look in their halls...Ok, not much to see sadly... Overpriced RC helicopters... Snakey! Wait, what? (At the SMCF, I was a goat...now I'm a snake...yes I'm a shape shifter!) More snakes...and lots of snakes in the Reptile Rescue area. Tortoise...huge! Om nom nom... And a red iguana..sweet! Ghetto water zorbing...seen at just about every fair View from down the "main" road where all the food and vendors were... The carnival...I'm glad I didn't waste any money, nothing to write home about other than.... This (which I was not wanting to spend any cash to ride) Or these two rides... Yes, the Zipper made very scary Zipper-ish sounds. I conclude the carnival portion with a pint-sized Ghetto Wheel. And here's some more animal porn for you! (Large animals this round) Pigs...Little do they know that... ...they will become something consumed by us humans... Translation: Free trip to the Slaughter House... But wait, there's more! They aren't just used for meat... This little guy was cute Last on our visit (within 2 hours time) was the home art exhibits...you can see clearly that it's swarming with fairgoers! Duct tape artwork I probably spent most of my time doing this...*plays Alton Towers Smiler theme...Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!* Legos! You know you're a video game nerd when... And one last look at the bulk of the fair...which felt like it was on par with a local street festival and flea market...in the end, it left much to be desired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 What a sad, sad, little fair. Uh - Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 What a sad, sad, little fair. Uh - Thanks for sharing. Yea, definitely left much to be desired...seeing that the small San Mateo County Fair packed a lot into their fair, I expected more from a fair in Silicon Valley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fire Guy Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 This fair looks like it focused much more on the animals than on the rides. Still, I'm jealous that they had a Zipper running there. San Mateo County Fair (Butler was also in charge of the rides there) both this year and last year didn't get it up and running 'till a few days after my visits (both times I went on opening day, Saturday). One of these days... For now, I'm looking forward to my first outing at SFDK since July 2012. Thanks for sharing the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Basically, the animals were the 'meat' of my visit...no pun intended The exhibits were minimal, vendors were minimal...the buildings felt like a ghost town and yea...pretty much everyone was all checking out the animals. About the fairgrounds, the buildings themselves have not changed the slightest bit since I was little...antiquated, no revamps...even the restrooms looked a bit rustic Shoot, I may have even spotted the tree that ate my frisbee What was missing was the grandstands...I remember my dad taking me over (during my sister's dance competitions) to watch the sprint cars from behind the fence. Sitting there now is the midway sat, and the track itself has been taken over by dirt, motocross track, and possibly the paintball fields. At least there was some other entertainment offerings (bands performing) and an upcharge 'get kissed by a sea lion' attraction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XYZ Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 (edited) I've been to the Santa Clara County Fair back in the day when it was great and last year. The fair was ruined when they moved the date from August to May with a more limited time open which really lowered the attendance. Also, Angry Gumball, have you been to the Alameda County Fair? (Plus, that arch is also a symbol I remember from my childhood. For some reason, when I was young, I thought a fireball ride was on the arch.) Edited August 5, 2013 by XYZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 I've been to the Santa Clara County Fair back in the day when it was great and last year. The fair was ruined when they moved the date from August to May with a more limited time open which really lowered the attendance. Also, Angry Gumball, have you been to the Alameda County Fair? (Plus, that arch is also a symbol I remember from my childhood. For some reason, I thought a fireball ride was on the arch.) I haven't done the ACF in years...like last time I went was probably 1996-ish. From what I hear, it's still pretty good. I used to go all the time. My sister performed there (singing, dancing). While never really doing the rides, I have fond memories running through the 4 buildings that formed a central plaza. I always remembered lots to do at that fair, even if you weren't going for rides. I think next year I'll make it a point to hit up the ACF. They have a Zipper there too and they have a pretty large midway...Blue Fire Guy (who has yet to experience Zipper due to SMCF's tendency to not run it on opening weekend), take note! I agree about the arch...trying to remember its exact color scheme but I think it was in shades of red, stripped much like a rainbow...why I called it a rainbow when I was younger. It does have a ride-like appearance to it from a distance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
805Andrew Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Wow, that's a sad little fair for such a well populated area. It makes me thankful that really close to me I have a decent fair (which just ended a week ago). I have the California Mid State Fair near me in Paso Robles which is 10 days long and is packed with people, food booths, vendors, concerts, farm animals, and carnival rides. I went four separate days this year and heard Van Halen playing in the background, saw free concerts by Berlin and Brit Floyd, saw a Monster Truck show on the closing night, went on a few rides including a Reverchon spinning Crazy Mouse (the only adult coaster here), ate a BBQ Beef Sandwich, Dodger Corn Dog, Thai BBQ Chicken Skewer, half a Turkey Leg, Sweet Potato Fries, Deep Fried Twinkie (they came back two days before our fair started), Old West Cinnamon Roll, Lemon Sugar Crepe, and Cinnamon Sugar Funnel Cake (I ate all of this over four days), played some games, and walked around with friends with lots of crowds about. The first day I was there, people were bumping into me like Disneyland on a crowded day. I wish I would have taken pictures to show here on TPR. Our fair is the second largest one in Central California after the Fresno Fair I believe and brings in a lot of people from other parts of California due to the big name concerts (though this year's lineup was lackluster compared to other years). The California Mid State Fair is a big deal for people that live in my area and is like a big family reunion for people that live here as you run into people you haven't seen in years. A lot of people that live here don't get out of the area much so the CMSF is like their big entertainment for the year, meanwhile in places like the Bay Area, there are many places competing for ones entertainment dollars. Thanks for sharing btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 So I got to this report by googling "animal porn" ... the less said about that, the better. Anyway, you made lemonade out of lemons. This is a fairly unimpressive-looking fair, but this was a very enjoyable report; thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Great report! Although I admit, the fair needs more rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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