423,418 People Visited The 2018 Alameda County Fair

PLEASANTON, CA — Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the state visited the Alameda County Fair, which wrapped up its 2018 season last weekend. The fair, which celebrated its 106th opening day with a cattle drive down Main Street in Pleasanton, operated for 18 days this year.

"The 2018 Fair was indeed the perfect way to welcome in summer," Fair CEO Jerome Hoban said in a statement. "With the debut of the new Sky Ride, great concerts & action sports shows, 15 full days of live horse racing and the return of the Opening Day Cattle Drive, every day offered something fun and special. We appreciate everyone who came out and made the Fair a part of their summer celebration."

More than 423,418 attended the fair this year. They parked 118,754 cars and 22,064 of them tried out the new Sky Ride. More than 52,000 people enjoyed horse racing. One bunny was stolen and later returned to its owners.

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The fair collected 27,760 pounds of non-perishable food and 5,473 items of clothing for those in need and they offered free admission to military personnel and to first responders on Father’s Day.

What about fair food? Here’s what fairgoers ate this year.

• Corn Dogs – 31,688
• BBQ Turkey Legs – 11,998
• Burgers – 6,183
• Funnel Cake – 29,997
• Cotton Candy – 4,235
• Candy Apples – 708
• Deep Fried Twinkies - 658

Although the fair did not host fireworks on Fourth of July this year, they did bring in popular concert performers including 38 Special, LeAnn Rimes, War, Smash Mouth, En Vogue, Blue Oyster Cult, Sean Kingston, Clay Walker, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Morris Day & the Time, Con Funk Shun and The Tubes.

More than 600 people volunteered to help make the fair possible.

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Photo courtesy Autumn Johnson