Sonoma-Marin Fair returns with new exhibits, old favorites

Concerts, carnival rides, corn dogs and ugly dogs - plus a chance to pet a hairy tarantula - will be featured at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, opening a five-day run Wednesday morning in Petaluma.

“As you can see, we’re bustling,” said Sarah Cummings, chief executive officer of the fair that started in 1936 and now draws about 60,000 people a year. On the midway, workers were assembling booths and carnival rides while fair office workers were fielding a steady stream of inquiries.

Best known for the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, set for 6 p.m. Friday, the fair stays true to its agricultural roots with 316 youths exhibiting chickens, swine, goats, sheep, rabbits, dairy cows and beef cattle. Animal features include pig races and a new exhibit, Wildlife Safari, offering fairgoers a chance to hold a giant python or that tarantula, which Cummings promised is harmless.

For mechanical thrills, the fair offers the usual flashing, whirling carnival rides, free with the price of admission; no wristbands needed, sharing the midway with food booths offering cotton candy, curly fries, “mini donuts,” steak sandwiches, teriyaki chicken bowls and more mostly high-calorie repasts.

Also free are the five concerts, kicking off with Oakland soul band Tower of Power at 8 p.m. Wednesday, followed by The Beach Boys on Thursday, Rodney Atkins on Friday and Tanya Tucker on Saturday, all at 8 p.m., with the Fiesta Latina from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

“It’s a pay one price fair,” Cummings said. The lone extra charge is $5 for the Destruction Derby at 1 p.m. Sunday.

A Petaluma native, Cummings is presiding over her second local fair after five years running the Salinas Valley Fair at King City. An exhibitor at the Sonoma-Marin Fair for nine years, she won best of show for a dress she made at age 10 and showed dairy replacement heifers as a student at St. Vincent High School, where she graduated in 2002.

For those attuned to finer tastes, local chefs - including Loren Ho of Bellyfull Dinners and Francesco Torre of Canneti Roadhouse Italiana - will be offering tips and techniques at the Culinary Pavilion, complemented by tasting of North of the Gate Wine Competition medal winners in the Wine Garden. Gold medal winners will be poured from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Exhibits buildings are packed with community projects, including quilts, preserves, floral arrangements, fine arts and photography, crafts, baked goods and more.

On Tuesday, 22 homely hounds were registered for the ugliest dog contest, and online entries will be accepted through midnight Thursday at www.sonoma-marinfair.org/worlds-ugliest-dog/. Joining veteran judge Brian Sobel this year will be Nick Watt of ABC News’ Good Morning America and dog trainer Camilla Gray Nelson.

The judges will pick the official winners, but the public can view photos, read short biographies and vote for their favorites on the website. Reader alert: Some of these canines are visual nightmares.

California’s drought has worked its way into the summer fair circuit, with a “no wash” rule applied to all livestock. Exhibitors may not hose off their animals, as before, and are limited to five-gallon buckets and spray bottles to prepare them for the show ring.

Back at the empty animal barns on Tuesday, Marissa Temple and her family were unloading 30 bales of straw as bedding for 10 stalls for dairy cows. Extra straw is needed to keep the animals as clean as possible, said her father, Matt Temple.

Marissa, a 12-year-old 4-H member in her fourth year at the fair, is showing four cows, named Bella, Latte, Expresso and Emily. Her sister Courtney is entering five.

The fair is a “social event,” Marissa said, and a chance to “educate the public” on how food is produced.

Cummings said she’s proud of a new partnership with Petaluma Transit, which will issue transfers good for $2 off the fair admission price to people who ride a bus to the fairgrounds.

On Wednesday everyone over age 3 gets in for $10 before 5 p.m. and on Thursday seniors 65 and up pay $5. Regular admission is $15 for ages 13 and up; $10 for juniors (4 to 12) and seniors, and free for ages 3 and under.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.