PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA – The El Dorado County Fair opens Thursday, June 18, at the El Dorado County Fair & Event Center, 100 Placerville Drive in Placerville, for a four-day run through Sunday, June 21.
This year’s fair theme is Good Ol’ Fashioned Fun, according to Visit El Dorado, with the official schedule built around carnival rides, junior livestock events, contests, pageants, music, exhibits and grandstand entertainment.
Fair hours are noon to midnight Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Carnival hours are noon to midnight Thursday through Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Readers planning ahead have until Wednesday, June 17, to buy pre-sale admission. Pre-sale general admission for ages 13 and older is $11.39, while junior admission for ages 7-12 and senior admission for ages 60 and older are $9.11.
Once the fair begins, daily admission increases to $14.80 for general admission and $12.53 for junior or senior admission. Children 6 and under are admitted free.
Parking is listed at $10 cash per car, with limited spaces available while they last. Active-duty military attendees receive free admission with active-duty military ID.
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Opening day is also Kids’ Day and Seniors’ Day. Children 12 and under and adults 60 and older can enter free until 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Thursday schedule starts just before the gates open, with an 11:50 a.m. opening celebration at the Placerville Drive Gate. The first day also includes free train rides from noon to 6 p.m., a 2 p.m. funnel cake eating contest, a 4 p.m. bubble gum blowing contest, the Miss El Dorado Pageant at 5:30 p.m. and the El Dorado Rose Pageant at 7 p.m.
Thursday entertainment listed on the fair schedule includes roaming performers, Clown College on the Main Lawn, racing pigs, Circus Imagination and live music on several stages through the evening. Exhibit building hours Thursday are noon to 9 p.m., with the carnival running until midnight.
Friday, June 19, is Teen Day, with free admission until 4 p.m. for ages 13-19. The Pee Wee Rodeo is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Henningsen Arena, with Mutton Bustin’ following.
The Friday night grandstand event is the Truck & Tractor Pulls, scheduled for 6 p.m. An additional ticket is required; pre-sale grandstand admission is $11.39 through Wednesday, then rises to $17.08 during the fair.
Saturday, June 20, starts earlier, with fair gates open at 10 a.m. The Junior Livestock Auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Auction Show Ring, with buyer registration from 8 to 10 a.m.
The John M. Studebaker Wheelbarrow Races are scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday in the grandstands and are included with fair admission. The Saturday daily schedule also lists free train rides from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., a 6 p.m. hay bucking contest and music into the night.
Sunday closes the fair with gates open from noon to 10 p.m. The Experience the Rubicon Challenge is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the grandstand and is included with fair admission, according to the fair ticket page.
Sunday’s daily schedule also lists free train rides from noon to 6 p.m., a 2:30 p.m. El Dorado County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit meet-and-greet and bite demonstration, a 3 p.m. family look-alike contest and multiple live music sets through the afternoon and evening.
Fair organizers note that times and stages are subject to change, so attendees should check the official daily schedules before heading to the fairgrounds.
More info and tickets are here: https://edcfair.org/fair/
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