|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Fairgoers fly high in the swing ride during this year’s Alameda County Fair. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
The Big O Tires Concert Series featured many artists throughout the 2025 Alameda County Fair, which saw concert ticket sales go up 66% this year. (Photo courtesy of the Alameda County Fairgroudns) 
According to the fairgrounds, the fair’s carnival saw a surge in attendance with carnival wristband sales up 27% compared to last year. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Alameda County Fair attendees pack the Michelob Ultra Grandstand on July 5 to watch a monster truck show. (Photo courtesy of the Alameda County Fairgrounds) 
Fair attendees enjoy one of the many rides during this summer’s Alameda County Fair. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Families line up to view animals that were housed at the fairground’s new Safeway Barn. (Photo courtesy of the Alameda County Fairgrounds)
Favorable weather, unique food concoctions and brand-new attractions — including a new animal barn — were just some of many reasons why representatives from the Alameda County Fairgrounds called this year’s fair one of the best, despite the lack of horse racing.
The annual fair, which is a summertime staple for Pleasanton and residents of Alameda County, ended its 18-day run on July 6 and since then, the fair association has released data that shows just how successful this year’s fair was compared to last year.
“It was a really good fair,” Kristin LaPorte, director of marketing and business development for the fairgrounds, told the Weekly.
According to a July 16 press release from the fairgrounds, the Alameda County Fair ended this year with over 400,000 attendees, a significant increase from last year’s attendance which was just over 363,000.
“The Fair is such an important part of summer in Alameda County, and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the Fair and making memories,” Angel Moore, COO of the Alameda County Fairgrounds, stated in the press release.
The fair food was one of the top highlights in this year’s data as guests devoured a “whopping 102,490 corndogs and 27,423 funnel cakes — a staggering 155% increase from last year”.
Other novelty food items — such as the Cheeseburger Egg Roll, which was crowned as this year’s Foodie’s Choice Winner — attracted many fair attendees along with all the other entertainment, according to the press release.
“This was one of the best years yet for our food vendors,” Tiffany Loushin, director of entertainment, agriculture and programming for the fairgrounds, said in the press release. “The food is always the main attraction for guests, but entertainment kept them engaged longer and coming back.”
According to the fairgrounds, the fair’s carnival saw a surge in attendance with sales up 27% compared to last year.
“People were coming out for different reasons,” LaPorte said. “There were just a lot of new, fun things to see … it was just a really happy fair.”
Even though this year’s fair was significantly different from previous years due to the lack of horse racing, which saw nearly 61,000 attendees last year, LaPorte dismissed rumors she said she’s seen online about this year’s attendance being lower due to horse racing being canceled.
“It’s something that we all loved and miss,” LaPorte said. “I think people just accepted it (being gone this year) unfortunately.”
She said in terms of attendance, “the numbers speak for themselves,” and added that people had more than enough entertainment to make up for the lack of horse racing.
One of the new attractions people came out to see, LaPorte said, was the fairgrounds’ new Safeway Barn. The barn is just one component of the fairgrounds’ proposed, state-of-the-art educational farm which is slated to be finished once the fairgrounds fundraises enough money for the other phases of construction.
“It was packed every day,” she said.
LaPorte said the barn — which housed farm animals including sheep, goats, cows and piglets — was very well received and that two live births were even recorded at the barn during the duration of the fair.
There are other pieces of the barn that still need to be constructed as part of phase one construction for the overall farm and the fairgrounds will continue to fundraise for that work plus the rest of the phases to be completed, LaPorte said.
But the barn wasn’t the only new addition that welcomed fair attendees this year.
Tens of thousands of guests were able to enjoy new action sports shows at the Michelob Ultra Grandstand, which featured Tractor Pulls, Rodeos and Monster Trucks shows, as well as new hot air balloon rides, camel rides and FMX motocross shows.
The fair also highlighted agricultural aspects of the Tri-Valley through its “Fields of Gratitude, Thank a Farmer” displays throughout the fairgrounds, which paid homage to local farmers by spotlighting the businesses and individuals who made a difference in the county.
In addition to highlighting agriculture, the fair also spotlighted the success from this year’s annual blood drive in its press release. According to the fairgrounds, a total of 14,824 pints of blood was donated to the Red Cross.
The fair also celebrated the success of its other community drives including nearly 18,000 meals collected for the Alameda County Food Bank and 14,434 pounds of food collected for the Valley Humane Society to help care for rescue pets in need.
LaPorte also highlighted the Big O Tires Concert Series, which saw bigger names, fewer cover bands and a 66% increase in ticket sales.
“Our concerts were really packed every single night,” she said.
