MADERA - Remember the days of the local community fair, where folks competed to be recognized for the best homemade jelly or the biggest home-grown pumpkin? Where you could watch the 4H and FFA kids collect ribbons for the animals and projects they had been working on all year? You could shop all the vendor booths for items you can only find at the fair, and there were always fun carnival rides and midway games to play. Not to mention treating yourself to all the corndogs and cotton candy you could eat. Well, the good news is it is that time again!
The Madera District Fair kicks off its four-day run on September 8th. All your favorite fair foods will be on sale from local service clubs and vendors. How long has it been since you have had a Jumbo Corndog or Frozen Banana? In addition, all your favorite fair acts will be roaming the grounds waiting to entertain you with magic, balloon animals, and music. The Midway of Fun will be back with all your favorite carnival rides and games, and let us not forget the hours of entertainment on all of the fair’s stages. This year the gate admissions during the fair will be $15 for adults over 13 years of age and $10 for seniors; kids 12 years old and younger are free when accompanied by an adult.
Here is your first ‘Fair Pro Tip’ - for a limited time, the Madera Fair offers significant savings for families purchasing their tickets and wristbands in advance. Up until the day before the start of the fair, advance gate admission tickets and carnival wristbands will be on sale at the Rancho San Miguel Market in Madera beginning August 25th, the Madera Fair’s office, and online on the fair’s website (www.MaderaFair.com) at reduced prices. Gate admission tickets will be on sale for $5 off the regular price for both General and Senior guests (available online). Advance carnival wristband coupons are available for $30, another five-dollar saving. For a family of four, this is a potential savings of over $40 on your evening’s entertainment at the fair. Your advance tickets are also good for any day of the fair. So, if you purchased them expecting to go on Friday night but could not make it until Saturday, your tickets will still be good.
The fair also offers special days to save families even more money, like Valley Children’s Healthcare Day on Thursday, September 8th, where everyone, despite their age, gets into the fair for the kid’s price (FREE). That is right, everyone is admitted for FREE for opening night only. That savings alone is enough to buy everyone in the family a Jumbo Corndog. In addition, (another ‘Fair Pro Tip’) on both Saturday and Sunday, the Early Bird Special from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm offers buy one get one free Carnival Wristbands (these savings cannot be combined with other offers, such as advance purchase wristbands).
The Madera Fair kicks off on Thursday, September 8th, and runs until Sunday, September 11th. Hours of free entertainment are scheduled for both the Headliners and the 20/30 Stage, plus all the ground acts that will be playing multiple times a night throughout the grounds. So do not miss it! While they are still available, grab your savings on advance tickets and carnival coupons and be taken back to the good old days of the community fair. There will be a corndog waiting with your name on it.
BTW… Here is a special ‘Fair Pro Tip’ not everyone knows. Listen to Big Valley Radio or read Big Valley News starting on August 15th for multiple chances to win free admission tickets or a chance to qualify for VIP concert tickets. Check out their website for more information.
