The city and Benicia Main Street are collaborating on the city’s booth at the fair.
The Office of Economic Development is using the same display it used at the recent Sunset Celebration Weekend, including the 8-foot-by-10-foot waterfront scene banner with “VisitBenicia” logo and photographs that highlight the city’s history, shopping, dining, art scene and coastal views, Davena said.
The table will have a variety of brochures that will tell fair visitors about the many reasons they may want to plan a trip to Benicia, such as its historic downtown walk.
“It’s another reminder to fair visitors that we are interesting and fun,” Davena said.
Benicia Main Street is providing a group of volunteers who will be the booth’s staff, board member Bonnie Silveria said.
Among them will be members of Arts Benicia and the Benicia State Parks Association, who will describe the multiple types of art visitors can see and buy and the city’s two state parks, the Benicia Capital State Historic Park, 115 West G St., and the Benicia State Recreation Area that is on the city’s west side near Vallejo.
Silveria said Main Street also has recruited other Benicia residents who will talk to fairgoers about their city.
The fair has changed since Silveria was a girl. At that time, she said, it was a two-week event, and the horse racing was live. Now the fair is open from Wednesday through Sunday and the racing is televised. “(The fair is) important to have,” Silveria said, “especially for the kids in 4-H. And for those involved in arts and crafts, they can display what they do. It’s a nice thing.”
The fair’s theme this year is “Cruisin’ the County,” and each of the county’s cities will have displays alongside that of the county itself. The county’s diverse cultural population will be represented, too.
Livestock shows, racing pigs, reptile displays, an array of quilts, produce, gems and minerals, garden arrangements, collections and other arts and crafts are part of the things visitors can see, and the entertainment ranges from Polynesian music and dancers to circus performers, bands and individual vocalists.
The midway and carnival will give visitors a chance to spin and twirl on rides or test their skill in games for prizes, and each night the fair has a concert included in admission, starting with Con Funk Shun Wednesday; Little Anthony and the Imperials on Thursday; Los Lobos on Friday; the Guess Who on Saturday and a double-bill of Graciela Beltran and Banda La Movida playing on the closing day, Sunday.
Fair hours are 3-11 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Buildings close at 10 p.m.
Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for children 6 to 12 as well as those 60 and older, and free to those 5 and younger and to members of the military and their dependents as long as each has ID. Parking is $10. Those 60 and older will be admitted free Wednesday, and those 12 and younger will be admitted free Thursday. Carnival midway tickets are extra.
Those who want to download daily schedules or buy tickets in advance may visit the fair’s website, www.scfair.com/scfair.html.
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