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Uploaded: Friday, June 15, 2012, 12:14 PM
Updated: Saturday, June 23, 2012, 8:32 AM
Alameda County Fair parade at 9:30 a.m. today on Main Street
Parade, Farmers Market will make for a busy day in downtown Pleasanton
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| The Alameda County Fair parade will start at 9:30 a.m. today on Main Street, moving from the Amador Valley High School parking lot south to Angela Street where it will turn toward its Fairgrounds destination.
Large crowds are expected both for the parade and today's festivities as cooler temperatures promise to make the day more enjoyable following blistering heat earlier in the week.
Even with the heat, however, the fair reported record high attendance on opening day with 30,692 revelers pouring onto the fairgrounds to enjoy new rides, activities and special discounts.
It was the highest opening day head count since record-keeping began according to organizers of the 17-day fair that runs through Sunday July 8.
With a massive land base of 267 acres, making this one of the largest fairs in California, the 100th year celebration is by itself a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"Centennial celebrations of this magnitude are rare," said April Mitchell, the Fair's sales and marketing Manager." We know how special it is and we are thrilled that fair-goers feel the same way. We invite everyone to come out, share in the fun and make lasting memories here at the Fair."
This year's special fair festivities include $1 admission and $1 rides on the first day of the Fair, and a kissing contest on June 24 where couples must kiss for 100 consecutive seconds and then eat cotton candy placed between their mouths.
A new log ride, the White Water Flume, is being introduced to the Fair this summer, expected to be popular on hot days for those who don't mind a little splash.
Concerts this summer include, among others, Salt-N-Pepa on June 24; Jars of Clay, June 27; Hoobastank, July 6; and Kellie Pickler, July 8.
From horse races and baking contests, to Ferris wheels, fireworks and funnel cakes, Pleasanton residents are anticipating a great centennial celebration.
For more information, visit www.alamedacountyfair.com or call 426-7600Jamie Altman, Pleasanton Weekly staff contributed to this story. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Cindy, a resident of the Danbury Park neighborhood, on Jun 18, 2012 at 8:28 am Yipe! It's time for fair food..4H cake, corn dogs, frozen bananas, cotton candy, Big Bubba's BBQ...ribs, turkey legs, Slurpees, lemonade. This is the best time of year. Love it!
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Posted by Fair Supporter, a resident of the Mohr Park neighborhood, on Jun 19, 2012 at 8:15 am The people running our Fair are doing a FANTASTIC job! We now have one of the best Fairs in America. Great job on the fireworks shows all 3 Friday nights!
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Posted by Staycee D. Ragon, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jun 20, 2012 at 7:58 am What is the parade route on Saturday besides Main street--Anyone-Mike T from Streets can you fill us in?
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Posted by Mike T., a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 20, 2012 at 8:50 am Staycee -
The parade route starts at Amador Valley High School and travels south on Main Street. It will make a right on West Angela St and then a left into Fair parking.
Mike Tassano
Deputy Director of Community Development, Transportation
(925) 931-5670
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Posted by Bill, a resident of the Amberwood/Wood Meadows neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2012 at 12:26 pm Question to Mike - at what point should the Pleasanton traffic engineering department call the Pleasanton Police, Alameda County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol to ask for help in getting traffic from i680 to the fairground parking lots?
There are so many signal lights on Bernal, none of which are in sequence, that it makes it impossible to move fair going traffic down Bernal let alone make a clear passage for cars to get from i680 unto Bernal.
Obviously I am not going to take the Bernal exit to get home until the fair is over. But what about the people trying to get to the fair? In over 20 years of fairs, I have never seen the type of backup that existed on Bernal/Valley roads as it was on Wednesday.
I think the fair is great. But over the course of a year Bernal and Valley have been "improved?" to the extent that it does not take many cars to start causing back-ups.
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