CALIFORNIA, USA — The largest attended county fair in California is the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona.
The LA County Fair has seen continuous growth since its first celebration of harvest more than 100 years ago but in 2022 it made of of the biggest changes in its history.
Before the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 and 2021, the fair was struggling with maintaining or growing attendance numbers while the September weather would often see hotter temperatures and extreme heat waves.
The area where the fair is held has seen lots of urban development over the years encroaching on its 500-acre property called Fairplex. In addition to the Urban Heat Island phenomena that sees hotter temperatures due to dense and often darker man-made materials and construction containing asphalt and concrete, they also have seen climate change warm the temperatures in September and October when the fair was held before the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the COVID lockdowns, they had to lay off 80% of their workforce and had the time and opportunity to reimagine the future of the fair when activities would open up again. At the top of their list was the idea of moving the dates of the fair to find a more comfortable time of year to hold the mostly outdoor event. Temperatures in late September and early October routinely would be in the 90s and often 100-degree range with much of the extreme heat falling during the middle of the day when many school trips were planned as well as agriculture education. A move to more temperate weather would give attendants a better chance to see the exhibits and attractions.
Moving the dates was a tall task, but after consulting with other local county fairs as well as their vendors, the change was made and in 2022 they celebrated their 100th year with the LA County Fair beginning in May.
The weather in May in Pomona sees average high temperatures in the upper 70s. Officials say the move was a success with more than 600,000 paid attendance (not total admission including staff and vendors) and saw that number grow to more than 700,000 in 2023. They also recorded record revenue in 2022 and then again in 2023.
They attribute much of the success to the better weather window as well as people staying much longer at the fair. They also made changes to ticket pricing to spread out attendance over the weeks the fair was held. Milder weather allowed them to hold the very popular pig races outdoors in the old horse racing infield and reported standing-room-only crowds rather than smaller numbers when they were held indoors with shade and air conditioning.
They expect the new spring fair dates in May to be held and are planning more outdoor events and activities to take advantage of their new climate for the fair. 2023 was the coolest fair on record, according to fair officials.
Watch more on ABC10: The last of triple-digit heat? And climate change and the warmer fall
