Heading to the Mid-State Fair? From food to rides, here’s how to make the most of your visit
The California Mid-State Fair returned to Paso Robles on Wednesday, kicking off 12 days of food, music, rides and fun.
In honor of the fair’s grand opening, Tribune reporters Mariana Duran and Chloe Jones headed to the Paso Robles Event Center to check out the festivities.
They sampled rides, food and music to help show you how to maximize your time at the annual event, and make sure to hit all of its best spots in a single day.
Here’s their guide to everything at the Mid-State Fair:
Plan ahead for parking
Our first tip? Parking and traffic can get complicated, so make sure to plan accordingly.
There is limited parking at the fair’s designated parking lot on Riverside Avenue; parking there costs $20 a vehicle.
Neighboring houses typically open up their lawns to offer parking for a price. Most of the parking sections near the fairgrounds only take cash, so it’s important to bring some with you.
The fair also offers a free shuttle service to and from downtown Paso Robles. The shuttle schedule and pickup locations can be found on the fair’s website.
Try fair food and check out contests
Once you get inside the gates, sampling the food is a great way to kick off the day.
Vendors around the fair offer plenty to eat — from snacks such as shaved ice and pretzels, or more filling meals such as hot dogs, tacos and barbecued tri-tip.
Our favorite treat was definitely the kettlecorn, which comes in giant bags big enough to share.
Enjoying a snack also offers the perfect opportunity for some people watching.
The fair brings all kinds of people together: music fans, farmers, adrenaline seekers, young families and stylish teenagers.
While sitting on one of the many benches scattered throughout the fairgrounds, you can enjoy a giant corn dog and watch the crowds before heading off to check out attractions including animal exhibits, crazy rides and silly contests.
Wednesday’s opening day featured the Miss California Mid-State Fair pageant, a small animal costume contest and stilt walkers, but every day has different fun planned.
For the competitive folks out there, there are contests open to members of the public, including Bingo, watermelon eating, pedal tractor racing and diaper derbies.
Kids will enjoy getting their faces painted, taking a ride in the Turtle Race and fishing for rubber duckies at Cub County — a new carnival area designed for younger fairgoers.
There, families can sit and enjoy their food on patches of grass away from the hustle and bustle of other parts of the fair.
We suggest checking out some of the different events featured on the fair’s online schedule each day to better time your visit.
Feel the wind rush through your hair at the carnival
Want a thrill? Head to the carnival for rides and games.
To enjoy these attractions, you’ll need to purchase a single-day carnival wristband, either online or at the fair. The wristbands cost $30 to $80 in advance for unlimited rides. The lines at some of the rides can get long, but by getting there early or staying late, we learned you can avoid most of the wait times.
The best place to see the sunset, in our opinion, is from the carnival’s Giant Yellow Ferris Wheel.
The lines are longer for this ride, but the bird’s-eye view of the fairgrounds is absolutely worth it. With a hazy pink and purple sky above and people running around holding giant stuffed animals below, you get to see the fair in all its glory.
The rest of the rides are not to be missed.
Some highlights for us were the Cliff Hanger, a paragliding simulator that will make you feel like you’re flying; the Shockwave, with sudden drops left us dizzy and slightly queasy, and the Rampage, which offers more great views of the fair with a bit more speed.
Those who dare can also try the infamous Zipper, which will shake you around until you’re nauseous.
End the night with beer, good music and dessert
In the evening, the fair has a variety of live music offerings to entertain the older crowds.
Some concerts are included with the price of admission, while tickets for shows by big-name acts at the Chumash Grandstand Arena are sold separately.
Among those performing on the main stage are Santana, Los Tigres del Norte and Darius Rucker. The Grandstand Arena will also host the Country Rodeo Finals on July 30.
For Wednesday’s mainstage concert by Journey, fans from across the West showed up wearing their best cowboy hats and boots.
There’s also live music at The Silo for those who just want to sit around friends and sip craft beer or wine, as well as dance parties at Headliner Stage and La Cantina.
We finished the night with a funnel cake — a delicious overload of whipped cream, fried dough and powdered sugar.
Several vendors across the fair sell the classic dish, which will give you an intense sugar rush that will last all the way home.
More information
The California Mid-State Fair runs daily through July 31 at the Paso Robles Event Center, 2198 Riverside Ave. in Paso Robles.
The fairgrounds are open 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, and noon to midnight Friday through Sunday.
Daily fair admission tickets are available for purchase via the fair website for $12, or $11 for seniors and $9 for youth ages 6 to 12. At the gate, tickets cost $14, or $12 for seniors and $10 for youth.
Children 5 and under get in free.
For more information, call 805-239-0655 or 800-909-FAIR (3247), or visit www.midstatefair.com.
Took a great picture or a fun video at the California Mid-State Fair you want to share? Tag @SLOTribune on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and it could show up in our coverage of this year’s fair!
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
