Amador County Fair has all the basics of a small town, good ole local rural fair. The down side is that it's held annually in late July. So it's super hot that time of year. Sizzling summer temps. This year it ran from 7/27-7/30. They had... 4H livestock auction Rodeo Carnival rides Midway games Carnival food Animal petting farm Pony rides Hey but that ain't all the events. They have some that are particular to Amador County and sets them apart from its neighboring counties fairs. They are the Demolition Derby, steam powered old time sawmill, working old time gold mine trommel, Miwok Village exhibit hosted by Sierra Native American Tribal Council, tractor parade of late 1800s and early 1900s tractors, and live demo of 19th century blacksmith. The fair grounds is mostly on packed dirt including the parking lot. I attended on the last day of the fair. I did not know until I got there that it was was Demolition Derby night. I didn't stay to watch that but definitely bookmarked for next time. I'm a history nerd, so I did go to all the live demos and displays even though I was nearly going to pass out from heat exhaustion. I had to duck into the various air conditioned buildings to cool down. They had several buildings for vendors selling their wares, children's arts n play area, potted flora and plant fair entries, and arts and crafts fair entries. read more

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We have wanted to go to this fair for a few years now. The Spazmatics have performed here a few times in the past. This was finally the year we were able to go. Since the Spazmatics played on a Friday night, we had to go after work. Omg this event is huge in such a small town and small space. Of course the fair parking lots were full. Just like everyone else we had to drive around and try to find a parking spot some where in town. No clear signs letting us know parking was full until arriving at the lot a person standing near the entrance told us it was full. Then walking back to the fair after we found parking. There were no signs letting everyone walking back up know where an entrance was. Everyone working the fair at the gates and different food vendors were very nice. Seemed like a very welcoming fair. We saw people bringing in their own ice chests. Didn't see anyone getting bag checked. We tried corn dog, steak sandwich, soda cream, deep fried Oreo's! Yummy fair food! Had enough restrooms and easy to find. I saw many drink booths. The Spazmatics of course brought the crowd like they usually do. Just wish more Security was around the stage area. At one point someone jumped up on stage. Security finally showed up about 15 minutes later. By then the man finally got off of the stage. But almost fell trying to get off. The little fencing they had around the base of the stage lighting. Was so dangerous it was plastic and bendable metal rods holding it up on the four corners. We watched a lady fall right onto the metal rods and bend them back. Someone helped her up. I checked to see if she was OK. I was able to bend the rod back into place. But the crowd came back and everyone was holding onto the flimsy rods and knocking over the plastic fencing. No one cut anyone off when ordering alcoholic beverages it showed at the end of the night..this was only around 9:30 pm. We had to cut the night sort to walk back to our car a little after 10 pm. About a 20 minutes walk through a neighborhood. If we go back to this fair I guess we need to arrive very early and make a day of it. read more

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Being an artist of various mediums, I was particularly interested in all of the hanging artwork in Pokerville Hall. I did not enter anything myself. I saw some beautiful, creative, exceptional styles with 3rd place or honorable mention ribbons, or no ribbons at all. I saw some mundane, uninteresting work showing little talent, with blue ribbons. Who in heaven's name judged the hanging art this year. read more

Other than the ridiculous heat, I loved it! First timer and I'm all about this county fair. Rides? Oiy vey! Open the grounds at 9am but don't start the rides till 12pm? Ummm......what?! Please give a mother some tips on how to explain that to my kid. That's my only beef with the fair. Small hometown feel. Most excellent tractors. I mean seriously cool stuff to see. Historically amazing pieces of machinery. My 4 year old son thought it was the coolest thing since he discovered Mac & Cheese. I've lived in sac all my life and I have to admit that the State Fair is just not the place to be anymore for a lot of locals. Over priced....EVERYTHING! Concrete and asphalt raging it's heat into you all day? No thanks. I'll go over here where I get to walk on grass. Let me tell you what.....what a difference it makes when it's raging hot and you are on the grass, not asphalt. Its bearable and actually makes your trip to the fair enjoyable regardless of the heat. The FFA displays of their pigs? Amazing. So impressive. Didn't go to any shows. The choices for vendors could be better, but for the most part the quantity was adequate. I was really impressed by The amount of food and beverage vendors. Your basic thorough fair of food. Hot dogs, corn dogs, Turkey legs and so on. The best place was a Little Cafeteria style BBQ joint. The name escapes me now, but I can assure you it's worth a look see. Shaded seating out the back door with upwards of 6 bench tables to accommodate large parties. Thank you Amador County for a fun day. We will be back. To the organizers, well done! From a professional event organizer standpoint this event is well thought out and executed. It was very well advertised. read more

Amador County Fair - Upon entering the fair grounds. - Festivals Near Me

Included a Republican booth selling "NoBama" stickers placed right next to a booth selling African and Jamaican fashions, a local gal "Miss Amador" contest, a showing of a 1921 movie starring Will Rogers filmed right there in Plymouth, a "Johnnie Cash" tribute band, a fair-to-middlin' cajun band...and a ferris wheel that put us back $6 per person to ride. Oh, and Nick Cave's song, "The Carny," blasting in my head the whole time. read more

Amador County Fair - Festivals Near Me

Actually, it's a great little country fair with but a few potential drawbacks. Chiquita mentioned one of them, which is that the Repugs. tend to get a little carried away at times and there have been some embarrassing sexist and racist moments that I won't go into as we always hope they are things of the past (hope springs eternal, does it not?). On the other hand there are nice historic and miwuk displays, and the crafts can be pretty great, as well as the local photography in the exhibition hall. Animal lovers will find a lot to love here and there's usually a good horse show, and rodeo. The ridiculous Destruction Derby is very popular with the D. U. T. (driving under the influence of testosterone) crowd and there's a small fairway, overpriced and sleazy as they always are and the typical fair food is abundant and hard on your health, but equally hard to resist. There's a beauty contest too, though I've never watched it. The music is sometimes really good, when not too twangy, and this year they have a great swing band that will appear Saturday night called "Mr. Pinstrip". I highly recommend that you check that out for sure, and bring your dancing shoes and not the sh*t kicking ones, if you know what I mean. See you at the fair, the last weekend in July! read more

Couldn't be more happy for a county fair. It is quaint and fun. It is one of the few places on earth that I can let my kids roam and I don't worry about where they are or what they are doing. It isn't upscale or trendy but it is perfect for what we were looking for. We liked it so much that we have been back each of the past three years. We always feel like we had a good time and got plenty of value for our dollar. And for some reason the funnel cakes just taste better here! read more

This year (2015) is the first year that there were no baked potatoes! The food is the usual corn dogs, hamburgers, fries, sandwiches. Not too much for gluten-free, vegan, low-carb, or low fat diets. read more

Amador County Fair - The fair isn't open yet, but fair goers are trickling in. - Festivals Near Me

Always a good time at the Amador County Fair. I go every year!

What a great slice of America. From a working sawmill, old engines, a stamp mill, a Miwok Indian Village, great Jr. exhibits (Spur Emporium), industrial art projects and silent auction for high school vocational education students, wonderful displays by local communities and a wide variety of vendors in the Mercantile building, a great horticulture/gemology building, covered bridges with Koi ponds, one of the most beautiful and well maintained midways and gardens (tended by volunteers), a wonderful wine tasting event, an old west town with re-enactments, a Tractor Rodeo (Wolin Arena) for kids that teaches them how to operate equipment, great horse and rodeo events and a destruction derby (Benny Brown Arena), a scholarship pageant and rodeo queen contest, great fair food that are mostly fundraisers for local non-profit groups and wonderful livestock barns with lots of different species of livestock and shows Tuesday - Saturday with a livestock beauty pageant and a fantastic livestock auction and replacement heifer sale. Who could ask for more?! read more

This fair is incredible! Rather than your typical carnival atmosphere, it focuses instead on local history and economy, placing specific importance on the role of agriculture. Along with a host of live music stages, they feature a rodeo, wine tasting w/ 40+ wineries, demolition derby and one of the best Livestock auctions you will ever encounter (which happens to supports local youth agriculture programs). Lastly, the exhibit halls and grounds are safe, clean and well groomed. read more

I am from out of town and attended the fair this year due to my niece being in the beauty pageant. I truly felt sorry for the pageant participants and sponsors as it was hot and the speaker just went on and on and on talking about nothing and who sponsored the pageant etc. Most of the things the main speaker spoke of didn't even relate to pageant whatsoever! Maybe the next pageant the main speaker can be limited to talking 30 mins and not 2 hrs. Oh and the fair food prices are out of this world...pricing was ridiculous!! read more

We love our county Fair because it's a safe place to let the kids be kids. The horse events are my family's favorite and there's plenty to see! It's a great country atmosphere in Smalltown, USA! read more

Great county fair. Has a wonderful small town feel. They have a rodeo, tractor pull and a destruction derby (all on different nights). Most of the food is done by local non-profit groups. The Mexican booth has the best food with tacos, taco salads and super nachos. Always a stop for our family! read more

this is a small county fair which is the best! shorter in length but great weekend to enjoy driving up early in the day and spending the night is inexpensive for entire family when reservations make in advance at a local bed and breakfast was a great treat for the family. read more