L.A. County Fair: More Popular Than Deep-Fried Guacamole

Milder summer temperatures and new promotions helped boost attendance at this summer’s Los Angeles County Fair by 6 percent, even though it lasted four days less than year, it was reported today.

The fair -- a mixture of rides, fried foods and musical acts -- drew 1,276,817 guests during its 19-day run at the Fairplex in Pomona, ending Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported. The fair ran for 23 days last year and drew 1,204,911 guests.

A total of 110,728 people attended the event at the Pomona Fairplex on Saturday, the highest single-day attendance since 2007, according to fair officials.

Although high heat baked the Southland during much of the event’s run, fair President/CEO Jim Henwood credited “enjoyable evening temperatures” for bringing out attendees.

“While thousands of guests enjoyed our grandstand concerts, others poured into the carnival and exhibitions and indulged in delicious fair food,” he said.

Among those performing at the fair this year were Chicago, Train, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In recent years, Charles Boghosian, who’s also known as Chicken Charlie, has been among the most popular of the more than 600 vendors at the fair. This year, he introduced deep-fried guacamole, selling 20,000 orders of the fried avocado-based dip, plus 20,000 bacon-wrapped pickles, 10,000 bacon- wrapped chicken legs and 7,000 Krispy Kreme triple-decker burgers, The Times reported. Vendors also reported selling 40,000 pounds of turkey legs and 10,000 pounds of potatoes.

Fair officials said attendees donated 174,909 cans of non-perishable food in exchange for free admission, the largest number since the promotion began in 2011. The food was donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Guests also donated more than 2,700 pints of blood.

The 2016 fair is scheduled for Sept. 2-25.

City News Service