California State Fair — Attraction in Sacramento

It has been years since we've visited the California State Fair in Sacramento. Usually it is so hot and uncomfortable, but this summer 2025 has been mild. So we decided to venture out to the state fair. First admission was free on a Friday as part of Sacramento municipal utilities district donation special. We did the donation so we did not have to pay the admission price of 18.00 a piece. Parking was 15.00. There was plenty of parking in the morning when we attended. The first impression was the entrance was not packed. Security was great and you felt safe. Sacramento county sheriff's, probation, California Cal expo police and some CHP officers were present as well as private security. Screening was efficient at the entrance. As you entered at the xal exposition street entrance you were greeted by vendors and park personnel that gave you freebie items and maps. Our first exposition display were part of the farm animal diplays, this included the alpacas, sheep, and cows. There were some alpacas could take photos with and pet. A nice experience for many the cows and sheep were in their pens. The Texas longhorns were amazing. The highlight for us were the vendors booths and cooking demonstrations with samples for the audience. Our favorite was the Chinese dumplings. Wine tasting and other cooking demonstrations requiredba fee as little as 5.00 per person. Many sellers of homemade foods caramel corn, and chip/veggie dip mixes, which we bought. The caramel corn was delicious. They are local here in Sacramento county and the dips we did purchase (5) in all were from Kansas City. Prices were a little high, but hey this is the state fair. We did not participate in any of the carnival rides. I believe that is for the younger crowd. I don't like to be upside down. Lol The food and drinks that we did purchase, were very expensive, but you can find good deals. A can or bottle of beer was 15.00 -17.00 for a basic budget light. No thank you. The wine tasting pavilion was the same, outrageous prices. Again no thank you, we'll wait for free wine tasting at the wineries in Lodi, Napa county and Sonoma county. A wine bottle you could buy at bev mo for 12.00 was priced at 25.00. When hungry or thirsty we did buy a 16.00 refillable drink for lemonade, ice tea or soft drink. There were 3 of these shops located in strategic areas of the park, so if you wanted a refill they were always closed by. Just don't throw away your drink container. We did buy a ridiculous size sausage sandwich. It was 14.00 but well worth it. As far as entertainment, the new concert grandstand was in the middle of the fair grounds, close to the air tram ride. Seated admission does cost for tickets, but if you get a good spot from the railing you can see and hear the performance. Before this the entertainment was in a restricted area, where you watched from the stands or floor seats. That was a surprise to us as we had missed the group Tower of Power the night before. Damn. Another highlight that we loved was the display of rescued specialty animals. Our favorites were the capybara and the lemurs. The lemurs would actually come up to you to pet her. In all we spent 7 hours at the California State Fair. We saw exhibits, bought things, watched demonstrations, sampled cooking and food, and sat around the shaded wine pavilion enjoying our food drinks and music. In all a great time. We will visit again if the time and temperature will allow...

Based off my recent experience Yesterday 7/18/25 approx 4:30 pm I had an issue with the security prior to entering the fair grounds I was with my husband who is disabled in a wheelchair and the security team who were working at the security check point stations were extremely rude to me like I was inconveniencing them 1st off they told me to put my clear bag on the table second they told me to go under the metal detector but failing to tell me the 1st time everything my glasses, phone and wallet needed to be on the table 1st and they coped an attitude with me about it for them failing to give directions when it was already chaotic up there, there needs to be better organization and approach I actually felt targeted ,but by far their attitude was unacceptable. I understand the importance of safety but they turned what was supposed to be a great evening to see the Tesla concert into a hostile start to the fair day, to the point I almost left and went home because of this ordeal and I paid for 2 season passes, When we went to the Bret Michael’s concert on Saturday July 12 we had a better experience it was organized and got through with no problems but yesterdays visit was not that way. Hopefully you talk to your security team about professionalism.have a good day!! Ps they have some cool exhibits especially the one with the back to the future car and the antique car exhibit, as well as the concerts and they did make accommodations for my husband to go to the platform to see the concert and we had a great view, the concessions are pricey we paid 30.00 for 2 corn dogs and 2 drinks..😬 And a couple of fair goers have no respect for handicapped people in wheelchairs in fact one person laughed at my husband when he was in the food court and I was getting drinks.. good thing I wasn’t there, I have no tolerance for bullying and the fact my husband has a back injury due to a car accident last year. Not his fault, so people being ignorant toward handicapped people don’t judge people this could very well happen to anyone and you wouldn’t like it if you were the one in the...

I love the state fair. And I have been going forever. But my recent experience July 20 25 definitely made me consider whether or not I will ever go back.

First of all the cost to get in is affordable. But $50 each for unlimited ride wristbands is a complete and total joke and waste of money. If you have more than one kid, it’s frustrating because some rides they’re too tall some rides. They’re too short some rides don’t allow you to wear slides. So buying the pass is kind of a hit or miss you spent $100 for eight and 10-year-old boys just to find out that they can’t even go on all the rides together. They have certain ones they can do and certain ones they can’t.

In addition to that When you ask for any help 99.9% of the people that are working on the rides, don’t speak English Which hey that’s not a problem we all need jobs. But when you’re pointing at people and telling them by pointing at signs that they can’t do stuff with no explanation it’s kind of ridiculous.

At one point, I stopped wearing a shirt that said customer service on the tag So I assumed I could ask him a question However, when I asked him the question, he looked at me And said no Habla English And pointed to the customer service trailer. So why are you wearing a customer service tag if you can’t answer a question because you don’t speak the language

Anyway, the state fair is no longer the state fair of the past. It is a new state fair that I believe is a complete waste of time and money. Rethink...