Mooing, squealing and bleating once again filled the Santa Maria Fairpark’s barns on Monday in anticipation of the Santa Barbara County Fair’s return to normalcy.
After two years of pandemic-related turmoil, the fair returns to serve up a five-day salute to agriculture at the fairpark, with gates opening Wednesday and closing Sunday.
For Junior Livestock Auction exhibitors, the action began on Sunday—arrival day for hundreds of pigs, sheep, goats, steers, rabbits and turkeys.
Near the barns, several youths and their humongous projects took a few laps around a practice ring to hone showmanship skills as others led sometimes cooperative steers.
Among those was Righetti High School FFA Chapter member Anthony Medina, an incoming junior leading Bubbs for a few laps.
“How’s he look?” Medina asked at one point.
This marks his first year showing a steer after raising a pig previously.
“It’s going awesome,” Medina said. “He’s a good boy. He’s like a puppy.”
That’s if that puppy weighed 1,194 pounds, as Bubbs did at the Monday morning weigh-in.
Nearby, Playa Del Sur 4-H steers rested in their bedding as the Carpinteria club returned to the fair with two steers, two sheep and one goat, community leader Ron Vieira said.
A third steer didn’t make weight and had to remain home.
Caleb Roseborough and Alejandra Cruz remained nearby as their steers settled in after the trip north on Sunday.
Due to his age, this will be Roseborough’s final entry in the Junior Livestock Auction, and he welcomed the chance of have a normal year with in-person events.
“It sucked trying to do it virtually,” he said.
“It’s really good to be back,” he added while sitting near his steer name Cash.
This week’s showmanship and the auction will be followed by a difficult part of raising a 4-H project.
“It’s always hard to say goodbye,” he said.
Cruz’s project, dubbed Duke, weighed in at 1,342 pounds.
‘He’s big guy,” the ninth-grader said as she peered over Duke’s humongous body.
Among the junior livestock projects, those raising steers spend the longest amount of time raising their animals, approximately nine months.
Raising an animal for the fair brings many lessons, their leader said, noting his members help each other out with various chores.
“We have no individuals,” Vieira said. “It’s a team. I think it really teaches them teamwork and independence.”
Playa Del Sur sat dormant in 2020-21 and has a smaller-than usual showing for 2022.
“We’re pretty excited for next year,” Vieira said. “It’s just nice to be back.”
Showmanship events will lead up to the Supreme Grand Champion Drive for beef, swine, sheep and goats on Thursday evening, with the auction starting Friday and continuing Saturday.
Gates for the county fair will be open to the public from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Admission is $15 for people ages 12-61 and $12 for seniors 62 and older plus youths ages 6-11. Parking at the site is $10.
However, admission is $5 for all ages if purchased before 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday, children ages 6-11 will be admitted for free all day. Admission is free on Saturday for military and law enforcement members with valid identification.
Unlimited carnvial ride wristbands for the Helms & Sons Amusements cost $40.
Main Stage concert performances will be a series of tribute acts with Kings of Queen on Wednesday, The Garth Guy and Shades of Shania on Thursday, Journey Revisited and Leppard Revisited on Friday, and Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney tribute acts on Saturday.
All tribute concerts will start at 7:30 p.m. and are free with paid fair admission.
A freestyle motocross show also is planned Friday and Saturday, but will require a separate paid ticket in addition to paid fair admission.
Sunday will include a Fiesta Day concert that also will require a separate ticket.
A full schedule, online ticket purchases, and other information can be found at the Santa Barbara County Fair website by clicking here.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 testing site at the fairgrounds has temporarily closed.
For more information on options, click here. The testing bus will return to the Fairpark on July 23.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
