Del Mar Fairgrounds releases additional details about this year’s fair: Homegrown Fun

Del Mar Fairgrounds officials provided additional details this week about Homegrown Fun, a scaled-down version of the annual county fair that the state-owned venue will hold to better comply with COVID-19 public health restrictions.

Katie Mueller, the chief business services officer at the fairgrounds, told the fairgrounds’ board of directors Tuesday that the event “will be following all county and state public health guidelines.” It runs from June 11 to July 4.

“It is limited capacity so all admission tickets and parking passes will be sold online only, not on site,” Mueller said.

Admission and parking ticket sales will begin online May 1. There will also be public transportation options in partnership with North County Transit District. According to a fairgrounds staff report, current budgetary projections are based on an estimated 13,000 admission tickets (65 percent capacity) and 5,200 parking tickets (with two to three people per car) will be sold per day. Capacity is currently 20,000 daily, based on accommodating 6-foot social-distancing requirements.

Following an announcement by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state is targeting a June 15 date for a full reopening of the economy, with face masks and other precautions to remain in place. Mueller said as public health guidelines change in the coming months, “we will change with them as much as possible.”

She added that the logo, which features a tractor leaving sunflowers in its wake, “captures the whimsy and the focus of the event, which is going to be agriculture.”

Entertainment at Homegrown Fun will include buskers, small stage shows, Swifty Swine Pig Races, Extreme Dock Dog Show, Wildlife on the Farm, Giant Bugs, Sunflower Saddle Ranch Pedal Tractor Activity for Kids, demonstrations, contests and fireworks, according to the staff report.

Fairgrounds board members canceled the 2020 fair after the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of all large events nationwide.

“As things continue to change, we will change with it to the extent that we can,” said Richard Valdez, president of the fair board.

He added that fairgrounds officials “hoped we would be able to do something” this year, after the fair and most other events that the venue relies on for most of its revenue were canceled.

As the year continues, the fairgrounds will also release additional details for Scream Zone, a fall festival, horse racing and other financial projections as the economy returns to normal.

For more information about this summer’s Homegrown Fun event, visit sdfair.com.

Harold writes for the U-T Community Press.