Break Out Your Elastic Waistbands, The LA County Fair Has Begun

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Los Angeles County Fair is back, and celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The fair will be held at the Fairplex in Pomona, and its theme is "Back to Our Roots." Walter Marquez, Fairplex’s CEO, said there will be "all kinds of fair … favorites" including myriad fried foods and plenty of adorable animals.

"We're going to have livestock shows,” he said, and “there's going to be a dress-up-your-animal competition where you get to be kind of like, twinsies with your animal.”

What’s not to love?

The L.A. County Fair started in 1922 as a five-day fair at the Pomona Fairplex. Normal county fairs in normal places typically run for one or two days. In L.A., though, the county fair lasts almost a month. This year, it starts on May 5 and runs until May 30.

In addition to being twinsies with your animal and, of course, the opportunity for adorable photo opps of cute baby humans petting cute baby goats, the fair will host nightly concerts from acts including The Beach Boys, WAR & El Chicano, ZZ Top, Ramo Ayala and more.

We also know from experience that L.A. County Fair’s food selection is top-notch. LAist’s former visual journalist Chava Sanchez boldly tried as many fair foods as he could prior to the pandemic shut-down, and diligently reported on “Hot Cheetos everything,” including a Hot Cheetos-encrusted turkey leg; rainbow-colored grilled cheese and street corn; deep-fried peanut butter and jelly; beer-infused blueberry ice cream; one single vegan item, and much, much more.

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Chava Sanchez

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LAist

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Marquez said the fair will look different than in years past in order to keep things slightly less crowded, a nod to the fact that the coronavirus pandemic is, in fact, still happening. Fair organizers have cut down on vendor spaces and expanded the animal petting zoo area to allow for social distancing. That said, masks will not be required.