Fair Wins 10 Western Fairs Awards

The Contra Costa County Fair was recognized for its innovative ideas that drive the successful annual event.

The Contra Costa County Fair has received 10 awards from the Western Fairs Association (WFA) annual Achievement Awards. Lori Marshall, the Fair’s CEO, accepted the awards in January at the 88th annual Convention & Trade Show in Reno, NV. The WFA is a non-profit trade association serving the fair industry throughout the Western United States and Canada.

The Western Fairs Association Achievement Awards Program received 650 entries from 48 fairs throughout the West. Take a look at what awards the Contra Costa County Fair received:
1. Newspaper Advertising, Series: First Place
2. Our Best New Idea This Year , Marketing: First Place
3. Our Best New Idea This Year, Exhibits: Third Place
4. Outdoor Advertising: Third Place
5. Television Advertising, General Market: Third Place
6. Best Competition : Honorable Mention
7. New Fair Featured Event, Exhibit or Program: Honorable Mention
8. Newspaper Advertising, Single Ad: Honorable Mention
9. Non-Fair Event Sponsored by the Fairgrounds: Honorable Mention
10. Overall Children's Program Honorable Mention

The 2010 Contra Costa County Fair entries were judged among medium-sized fairs with an annual attendance of 50,000 to 150,000. Other fairs competing in the same category included: El Dorado County Fair, Madera District Fair, Marin County Fair, Merced County Fair, Monterey County Fair, Nevada County Fair, San Mateo County Fair, Santa Barbara County Fair and Sonoma-Marin County Fair.

The goal of the association’s awards program is to recognize excellence and to share innovative ideas and successful programs. “We work hard to put on a quality fair that offers something for everyone and are honored to receive these awards in recognition of that,” said Marshall.

Be sure to join us as “The Tradition Continues” at the 2011 Contra Costa County Fair. It's Your Ticket to Fun, so make sure to save the date, June 2-5, 2011 and bring the whole family out to enjoy the great tradition of the Contra Costa County Fair!

To learn more about what is happening all year long, visit us on our website at www.contracostafair.com.

The Lost Boys

We are so excited to announce that we have book the band, The Lost Boys, to play Friday June 3 at the Fair! The Lost Boys are an award winning teenage rock band from Northern CA, and have appeared with 3 Doors Down, Kelly Clarkson, All-American Rejects and so many more. Beau Bastian (18), Jordan Mills (18), Dustin Rudiger (18), Thomas Cano (18), and Jacob Gill (15), all hailing from Lake County, California, prepared for their musical career by winning a multitude of competitions. Their band has been featured in Nintendo national ad campaign with actor Seth Green, and named 2010 ROCK ARTIST of the YEAR at Los Angeles Music Awards! Learn more at http://www.2lostboys.com/.




The Lost Boys pictured with Fair staff and board at the Western Fairs Association convention early this month.

Be sure to join us as “The Tradition Continues” in 2011 at the Contra Costa County Fair. Save the Date: June 2-5, 2011 and bring the whole family out to enjoy the great tradition of the Contra Costa County Fair! Visit us on our website at www.contracostafair.com for more info.

We need you!

We need volunteers for various things before and during the Fair. Right now, we need lots of volunteers for Exhibit judging days on May 18th and May 25th. Volunteers are given breakfast and lunch and a ticket to the Fair for approximately 4 hours of help. You will also get a sneak peak at all the Fair exhibits.


You can find the volunteer application on our website, or you can always call our Exhibit Superintendent, Karen Howe, at the office for more info: (925)757-4400.

Mark your calendars:
Contra Costa County Fair
June 2nd - 5th, 2010
"The Tradition Continues!"

Top five blog posts of 2010

What do you imagine are the top reasons people visit the Contra Costa County Fair every summer? Concerts. Food. Rides. Thinking the top blog posts will be about those things too? Not exactly. Read below to see the favorite posts of 2010.

#1 Happy holidays from the Contra Costa County Fair Dec 1, 2010

#2 The Tradition of Raising Livestock Continues at the Fair Dec 20, 2010

#3 2010 Contra Costa Fair Queen Crowned Apr 5, 2010

#4 12 things about the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds Nov 3, 2010

#5 Fair Theme Announced Dec 9, 2010

What are you looking forward to reading about in 2011?

We Need Your Help!

We are trying to reach 800 fans by the beginning of the Fair, June 2, 2011. It will be here sooner than you think and we need your help getting there!

Best way to help us increase our fans:

Follow the link below or paste http://www.facebook.com/contracostacountyfair into your web browser - once you have landed on our fan page, click the 'Suggest to Friends' link under our profile photo, then click as many friends as you can. *A little goes a long way.*

Other ways you can help:

1. Attach our link to your status update and ask your friends to become a fan. Our link: http://www.facebook.com/contracostacountyfair.

2. Re-post our status updates and keep your followers educated on Fair happenings.

3. Keep being a great fan and interacting with our daily posts

4. Word of Mouth - simply tell your friends to look us up on Facebook.

We have a great Fair in the works and can't wait to see you there as “The Tradition Continues” at the Contra Costa County Fair in Antioch.

Thank you so much for your continued support and thank you for being a loyal fan of the Contra Costa County Fair.

Happy new year!

Host your next event at the Fairgrounds

Did you know there is an event venue that will accommodate all of your guests, includes tables and chairs, bathrooms, and plenty of parking for a reasonable price here in Contra Costa County? Did you also know that venue is the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds?

You can rent just one building or the whole fairgrounds and everything in between for your event. We have buildings that hold up to 500 for your birthday party, wedding reception, or crab feed. The beautiful front park can be used for your wedding or company picnic and we have smaller spaces for your club meetings. The facilities at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds are perfect for:

- Weddings/receptions
- Company Parties
- Quinceaneras
- Family Reunions
- Trade Shows
- Banquets
- Scouting Events
- Team Parties
- Car Shows
- Community Events
- Church Events
- And much more!

The staff at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds is well experienced and dedicated to helping make your event a success. For more information including our reasonable rates, please visit our website at http://contracostafair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=107.

The Tradition of Raising Livestock Continues at the Fair

Ever wonder who the students are that show the animals at the Fair? We'd like you to meet Sam M. She raised a market lamb for FFA and showed her horse at the Contra Costa County Fair this past summer. She even made it in to FFA master showmanship with her horse. She recently graduated from high school and plans to study agriculture business in fall of 2011. Read about her experiences with livestock, what she thinks about the Fair, and views on a wayward sea lion. Fair: How long have you been raising livestock? Sam: Last year was my first year raising livestock, but I’ve worked with them since I was 9 when I started 4-H. F: What is most challenging about raising animals and what is most rewarding? S: Challenging: was trying to gain weight on my lamb "Shotgun" Rewarding: really just showing and placing well in market. F: How about horses? How long have you been showing and/or riding? S: My family has always had horses and I started showing when I was about 8. Currently I've been barrel racing on both my horses which I also ride in gymkhana at fair and I am a member and Co-Caption of the Delta Darling Rodeo Drill team. F: What are your favorite events with horse? S: I love Showmanship and Barrels. F: How did you get involved with FFA? S: I transferred schools during my senior year to do FFA at Liberty as Freedom didn’t have it. F: Have you always lived in Knightsen? What did you think about the sea lion the other day? (read more about that story on the Contra Costa Times website.) S: Yes I have. I was pretty shocked that it made it here out of all places it could have gone! F: What is your favorite part about the Fair? S: EVERYTHING!! I love staying the night in 4-H camp and getting up to feed animals and being with all my friends it’s my favorite time of the year Pictured: Sam and her fair lamb "Shotgun" at the school farm Be sure to join us as “The Tradition Continues” in 2011 at the Contra Costa County Fair. Save the Date: June 2-5, 2011 and bring the whole family out to enjoy the great tradition of the Contra Costa County Fair! To learn more about what is happening all year long, visit us on our website at http://www.contracostafair.com/ and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.