The Big Fresno Fair

I hate when people say The Fresno Fair is hood and they are afraid. I believe places are what you make of it. I grew up going to The Minnesota State Fair, the second biggest fair in the states besides Texas. When I moved back to Fresno as a teen and when I was a young adult, I yearned to be with someone who would bring me to the fair. Now, I have my husband and happy I got to enter my pups in the dog derby this year. I was very blessed this year of 2023 to receive a few free tickets from work. I also received free tickets for entering my dogs into the dog derby so I got to bless others. Thank goodness for free entry because fair food is expensive! I was not very blessed with my physical health because I've been dealing with a bad sprained ankle since July and since the electric scooters were $70, I walked around with my cam boot. I mainly stayed near the grand stand and Chance entrance. I loved that we were able to bring our dogs on this day and wish I would have been able to walk more, especially to the carnival rides area or to cuter places for pics, but we made due and did what we could. We had high expectations for my dog, Saint in the derby and low expectations for my dog, Dude. This was our first year and when asking around, no one knew where the registration is. It is at the far end of the stadium. During our first heat with my dog, Dude who came in second, they allowed my husband to have our Chihuahua, Saint.
During Saint's heat, the judge did not allow my husband to have Dude. However, the judge did not allow my husband to have Dude and a fair worker took Dude. While Saint was running towards my husband until he noticed his brother was with a stranger and got distracted and ran to his brother instead which we felt cheated Saint a little. My husband who is actually an introvert and does not say much, lets them know that the rule states "You may use snacks, squeaky toys, etc. to coax your dogs. Loud noisemakers, live animals other than dogs, and anything deemed to be disruptive to other dogs will not be permitted. LIVE ANIMALS OTHER THAN DOGS will not be permitted." I've added a photo with a highlight of the bylaws. Other than that, Dude's winning of $10 did pay for half of his turkey leg and Saint's overalls were a hit. My husband and I ended with cinnamon rolls and headed on home. Overall, we had a fun time with the dogs. We will go again next year and hopefully, I will be able to walk the dogs more around the fair. The boys are knocked out tonight.

The only thing that made this fair worth attending was the freeze dried candy.

I remember the fair having a variety of vendors but all I saw this time around was the same stuff offered at every booth.

I give the fair a four , more for nostalgia than anything. I've been going since I was a kid and now I get to take my kids. I do feel like it's a bit over priced for what it is but we love the livestock area with all the 4H kids.
I am bummed they don't do the quilting and baking area but my older kids love that it's now a gaming and anime area.
There is always lots of food! Always get a cinnamon roll (the best). Corn dog wasn't bad but it will set you back $8 just for a corn dog.
Love the art building another favorite. Plus the museum's you can check out .
The rides are iffy and not something we really part take in anymore, plus it can just be so expensive around $35 for a wrist band.
Also if you are parking in any of the official fair parking it's about $10.

It's a large fair, the fourth largest in California.

Lots of parking and it's well monitored, in and out. Same with restrooms. The crew takes very good care of the facilities.

The 2022 fair is very commercialized. The National Guard Armory is no longer home economics but now pop culture with anime and half of the building dedicated to gaming stations. It will appeal to a younger generation, which I'm sure is the whole idea.

We did not get down to the midway as the rides do not open until 3 pm on weekdays, and our group was tired and ready to head home, having arrived as gates opened at 10 am. There is lots to see and do.

Attending a fair, anywhere, costs lots of money, so be prepared.

Never did a BIG Fair before. Had a blast. Went with family. My kiddo couldn't get enough of the rides. So much fun. Great food and vendors. A must.

trashy fair game vendors lied about
prizes one lady tried to make us spend over $30 for a trashy dollar store prize and the manager said that she doesn't speak english when she was talking fluent english to other people overall
My opinion is please do not go to the big Fresno fair

This is a small town fair that was fun to visit. Workers and guests were friendly. Food as good. One shopping building, on home craft building, one big barn of animals, a few stages with down home entertainment. We had fun and will go back if we are ever in Fresno again.

We have fun every year we go and every event they host. Visiting the fair this year was no different than every other time as far as experience except I feel it only gets better every time with the cool new things that come in. This year though, things were WAY more expensive than previous years. The fast passes, tickets for carnival games, and QR code that gets faded/wet/faulty over the hours of the fair were absolute TERRIBLE ideas. If that's how the fair will be from this year going forward, we won't be riding rides anymore or playing carnival games. It's financially not worth it when you can go to a theme park with way better rides and prizes. Lines for the rides were literally getting hours long, I couldn't bare to stand in them anymore and we were all getting dehydrated. They don't have water fountains at the very least. The cheapest waters are $3, not big, and aren't ice cold. So why aren't there water fountains? Food is still as amazing as ever, the feet massagers are still a quarter, the exhibits/activities are still fun, and the playground hasn't changed. Cool but crazy expensive now.

The Fair itself is fine. There is literally more to see in many buildings now, than at the State Fair. This update is about the Vendors. They are out of control!!

It was $36.00 for ONE WALLET!

The picture I posted shows how there was not much Caramel on the Caramel Apple that cost $8.00 EACH! Yes EIGHT DOLLARS for this tiny thing with Caramel falling off.

The Fish & Chips was ALL Fries and cost $20.00!!
A small plate of Sweet & Sour Chicken with rice was $18.00!!
A combo platter with Zucchini and Mushrooms was $20.00 and had NO Onion Rings!! You cannot get a Combo Platter with Onion Rings at the Fresno Fair!!

Original Review Updated:

Surprisingly better than the California State Fair has been the last 10 years... They don't have a Monorail or a Forest, but the buildings have more art, and there are a lot of areas that are more interesting than anything at the State Fair any more.

Much larger, better Concert Arena than anything at the California State Fair.

Many exhibit halls - all of them interesting, none of them empty. And none of them cheaply done (like the "Disco experience" with goggles at the California State Fair, which is just embarrassingly bad).

Plus, the Concert Arena is surrounded by real neon signs from decades of area history in perfect condition.

The Livestock Building has giant animal statues in front of it. They are adorable.

And maybe best of all are the many themed areas and walk through attractions for kids and adults (I'm tall and didn't bump my head on anything). Like an entire sailing ship, some tunnels behind waterfalls... And speaking of waterfalls... There are so many at the Fresno Fair I lost count and some of them are 30 feet tall.

The attractions at the Fresno Fair are so good they remind me of Disneyland, even though the State Fair has an actual monorail. But the State Fair WAS very much like a Disney Theme Park, and it is 10% of what it used to be.

It took three days to see it all, and now takes part of one day. So we make sure to go to the Fresno Fair every year (even though it's farther), and skip the State Fair sometimes.

Great place great food.. nice horse racing.. a lots of free shows.. I wish they'll bring the educational expo instead of the lunch trucks..