Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Monterey County Fairgrounds

    3.7 (53 reviews)
    Closed Closed
    Updated 2 months ago

    Services - Monterey County Fairgrounds

    Venue rental

    Monterey County Fairgrounds Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Monterey County Fairgrounds

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Alina N.

    First time at Monterey Fairgrounds. Thought it'd be much bigger than it was but I liked that it was smaller. Parking is easy and easy to get in/out. Lines were also easy to get into the venue, bearable lines for food and no lines for restrooms! Wish all places were this seamless. It does look more old school and run down; I wish it was a nicer venue to enjoy but it was very easy to navigate all day without my feet hurting from walking too much. The Ferris wheel was fun but everyone complained about paying $10 for the mirror fun house.food selection was plentiful and good. The acts were amazing - Lauv, Tiesto and Chainsmokers. I'm surprised they picked this venue tbh because they seem too big to be doing such a small venue but it worked out for me because it was easy enough to get to the front stage. Overall, great experience. I may come back if there's a great artist.

    Always grumpy. I
    Xuan C.

    Over due post. Don't mind the picture, as it's from awhile back. This is the first year I've been getting into state fairs, and not the first time I've been to the fairgrounds. Lots of places to park, but there was a bit of a dead zone where no cell service came through.

    Sand art
    Evangelene G.

    This is a really nice fair! I haven't had a bad experience here and enjoy visiting when we're in the area. Staff is nice! Food: There's fried artichokes, beer garden, cinnamon rolls that rank high on my list. If you're looking for big name artists, you'll need to go to a larger Fair. The Fair offers cover bands that feature rock and country artists (i.e., Garth, Carrie, Journey). It's all good. We like parking at the golf course (we found it by accident). It supports the Veterans and there's a shuttle (i.e., golf cart) that takes you to the fairgrounds.

    David D.

    So much fun, so many things to do and see. I decorated the AG building for many n years with my balloon creations. And I used to enter my homemade breads and decorated cakes. There are such a variety o things here. They have great entertainers every year. And so many great food booths. And some of the kiddie rides used to be at Michael Jacksons Neverland Rsnch There are tons of art displays. And so much more. A truly first class event.

    Open area next to gate 6
    Melody Anne V.

    I can honestly say I have NEVER had a bad time at the fair grounds! Everything from the Jazz festival, to the fair, Cali roots, kids day... it's all been amazing. I'd like to claim this place as one of my "stomping grounds" since I've been coming for the past 20 something years lol. The layout of the fairgrounds is really easy to navigate and they have bathrooms in all the right places. Like a ton of bathrooms which is amazing to me! They have an attendant in their on stand by during events. So you know you're not going to walk into anything yucky! The food court is one of my favorite spots! It's such a serene little courtyard with big trees and picnic areas as well as table seating. Price for events here always varies. So I can't really help there lol. Parking seems to be an issue for some people. I just park off Casanova Ave and just walk down. A quarter mile walk for free of charge :) and beautiful scenery!

    C. A.

    pop up drive in at monterey county fairgrounds was awesome and a lot of fun! the snack bar had a huge variety while having the food reasonably priced!

    Cinnamon sugar apple funnel cake...yummy!!
    Jennifer W.

    Had a great time at the fair grounds!! We live in seaside so we know the parking is very limited even if we come a little early. So we parked in the CVS parking lot for $15....Nothing new. Food was good...had a tri tip sandwich, garlic fries, fresh squeezed lemonade so good my daughter loved it. Oh and the cinnamon sugar Apple funnel cake was amazing!! My daughter loved petting, looking at the animals and the pony ride was a plus. Just looking at my daughter's face so excited enjoying the rides and games was priceless. Will go again next year for sure!!

    Renee S.

    We enjoyed our 4 night stay here. We've been on the road for 5 weeks traveling with 2 rigs, we were very happy to be assigned an area where there was so much room. The manager told us to set up how ever we wanted. We had full hook ups and lots of room to run the dogs and not have to worry about being to loud.. the camp host and manager were very friendly! I would recommend this park and look forward to returning someday.

    Susan D.

    We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. The host tried to send us into a area that was nothing but dirt with a chain link fence around it. So horrible that we went back to the office. The camp host told us that he couldn't move us to the the paved spots because they were full. More than half the place was empty. I wouldn't take no for an answer so he gave us a paved spot. This place stayed half empty through Sunday. Not sure way he lied to us. If you like the smell of horses, being right next to the airport & weeds then this is a place you would enjoy.

    Cute lil happy goat at the Monterey County Fair 2013

    See all

    2 months ago

    Helpful 7
    Thanks 3
    Love this 4
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Darrin K.
    67
    491
    390

    9 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Alina N.
    4998
    782
    1412

    2 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 1
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    9 months ago

    Drove around for over an hour and no parking whatsoever that wasn't at least $30-$40. And no ticket refunds on top of all that.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Xuan C.
    2267
    951
    925

    4 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of David D.
    35
    2054
    20435

    6 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Marie O.
    1
    124
    10

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Stopped by here because we needed water. I asked for information and offered to pay. The manager was a real butthead!!! Rude rude rude!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of C. A.
    395
    100
    105

    6 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Our Conference every year is held here and the campground is pretty nice. Have t had any issues. Only issues are typically from the campers.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 14
    Thanks 0
    Love this 14
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kim H.
    798
    650
    16886

    11 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Cindy G.
    54
    65
    66

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Amanda W.
    49
    134
    5

    15 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Cathy K.
    95
    162
    98

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Sam M.
    0
    31
    0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Nicole J.
    12
    30
    23

    7 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 2

    Monterey County Fairgrounds Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Monterey County Fairgrounds

    Review Highlights - Monterey County Fairgrounds

    Wonderful venue for the Artichoke Festival and all the other activities that are held here.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Venues & Event Spaces 837 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Monterey Pines RV Park

    Monterey Pines RV Park

    (20 reviews)

    I love being a military veteran and I love staying at the Monterey Pines RV park, but…read more... As others have mentioned in the reviews, 0 stars for management, 4 stars for campground. I'm not writing this review to be intentionally mean or negative. I just want the management to take some responsibility and improve their system. We have stayed at the Monterey Pines RV Park numerous times over the years. It's a great place to stay, but making a reservation and checking in is the most inefficient and frustrating experience ever, and the whole process needs an upgrade. First you make a reservation through the DOD Lodging website, which only allows you to select either full hook-ups, or partial hook-ups. It doesn't allow you to select a spot number. Then you will receive an email from Navy Gateways, not Monterey Pines, indicating that you have made a reservation, but it doesn't provide you a spot number. The RV Park is located at the Monterey Pines Golf Course. If your a first time visitor, and you arrive after hours, there is a locked gate, so this will be an issue when you arrive. For us, we have visited many times over the years. We know the code, so it's not a problem. And actually the gate has been broken over the past year, or more, so it's still not a problem. Ah, but there's a code for the bathroom as well. In the past we used to receive an email from the Monterey Pines RV Park, providing all the check in information. This is no longer the case. We now have to call them directly. However, we have found that when we call the Monterey Pines RV Park, the call typically goes to voice mail, and then they never return the call. Your best option is to arrive during normal business hours, and hope that somebody is in the office. The last time we visited, the office was empty, so we just picked a spot and hoped for the best. There used to be a campground host to help people check-in, but that position has been vacated. My message to management. Please make efforts to fix/improve the Monterey Pines RV Park Reservation/Check-in process. Create a database so that returning customers don't have to initial and sign 5 pages of redundant paperwork every time they visit. E-mail the customer the important check-in information, such as their spot number, gate codes, bathrooms codes, etc. This should be a common procedure and would greatly help those arriving after normal business hours. Please fix the broken access gate. Our military personnel and their families deserve the extra security. Please do away with the $1 pet fee per night. It's unnecessary and ridiculous! I would also suggest that the bathrooms not be cleaned from 9 - 10:30am every morning. Pick a later time of day to clean them. This is a big inconvenience for those without trailers, meaning the bathrooms are completely off limits until they are finished cleaning. Yes, I enjoy the clean bathrooms, but I also like to use them first thing in the morning. So to everyone out there planning on visiting the Monterey Pines RV Park, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay once you get there, but good luck with the reservation/check-in process. Prices have doubled over the last ten years, but the level of customer service has decreased by a proportional amount. I will gladly change this to a 5 star review, but not until I see some changes.

    Our favorite place to stay in Monterey. It's mostly quiet (minus airport activity), routinely…read morepatrolled by Navy Law Enforcement, easy access to golf and other activities within the area.

    Carmel by the River Rv Park

    Carmel by the River Rv Park

    (131 reviews)

    My site was in full sun and it was warm. My biggest concern was the last day/night of my stay there…read morewas a prolonged domestic dispute (noonish and again after midnight) between a couple in "campers inn". They were screaming obscenities at each other for a good hour. Then things calmed down. Went to bed and was woken up to blood curdling screaming about 12:10am. Then these two started screaming obscenities again for a few minutes hr raced up the hill in his truck, she jumped and they sped away. I did NOT sleep the rest of the night. I was terrified it was going to happen again. The next morning I went to the office to complain about the day before. She told me they were only here 6 days and were leaving today. I did not fall off a turnip truck. There's no way they were there only 6 days. They had decking, storage boxes is the front and sides of their huge fifth wheel. Do not stay here. They have long term workers living at the campground.

    The park is nice, we are staying 4 weeks and during the week it is quiet with a few RVs, mostly…read moreindividuals here temporarily for jobs nearby. It is well kept for the most part & the owner is doing his best (their outdoor maintenance guy fell ill with cancer recently). The weekends fill up. You're 10 min from the beach & the valley has beautiful views. There is wine tasting in Carmel Valley Village which is very close, and a great organic farmers market open daily. The showers are clean but push button, this is the only drawback (most rigs I've seen would have their own).

    Marina Dunes RV Park

    Marina Dunes RV Park

    (224 reviews)

    We stayed here in February and had a solid experience. Our fifth wheel is 43 feet and space number…read more38 fit our rig and dually well. The space had privacy hedges and fencing which was really nice. The campground has a great windbreak with all of the trees so even during a storm it was pretty peaceful until you left the property. It was raining so we didn't get to check out many of the amenities but overall it was a good stay and we will be back.

    Beautiful Yurt Stay with Great Location…read more Our family spent a week in Big Sur staying in cabins, but there was virtually no cell phone reception, which made it impossible for me to work. Since I had to work three days of the week, we chose to stay at Marina Dunes RV Park in a yurt -- and it was even nicer than expected! The yurt was very clean and comfortable, and the bed was great -- we slept so well. Staff were friendly, check-in was easy, and the bathrooms (a short walk away) were cleaned daily and well-maintained. Even though it's close to the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1), it was surprisingly quiet. The location is perfect for exploring Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur. There's a beautiful trail over the dunes that takes you right to the ocean, and just down the street is a state beach entrance and parking lot -- we even rode our bikes there! ‍ The drive from here to Big Sur is absolutely breathtaking and so worth it. Cell reception was excellent for T-Mobile (four bars most of the time), and if you need full 5G, just head up the street to Walmart. We loved it so much we booked another two-week stay later this year, and this time we'll be bringing our RV. Highly recommend!

    Point Lobos State Natural Reserve - Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

    Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

    (1.1k reviews)

    The views were stunning! It's one of the prettiest spots along the coast. The Allan Memorial Grove…read moreand Sea Lion Point were easy to navigate. I also liked that the trails loop back around to the parking area, so it was easy to explore without worrying about getting lost. The trails can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending on how much you stop to take in the views. Parking is limited, so get there early. Also bring a jacket because it gets windy and cold. They have three portable bathrooms and permanent bathrooms on site.

    This is one of the most gorgeous state parks in California!! I've been wanting to visit for years…read moreand we finally made it here this past weekend. We were staying in Monterey, so it was about a 25 min drive to get there, we arrived before 11am. We parked before the park entrance along Highway 1 where there were NO signs saying "No parking at any time" THIS IS IMPORTANT because as we were walking towards the entrance, there was a parking enforcement officer giving tickets to all the other cars parked where the signs were clearly posted closer to the entrance. So make sure you pay attention! There is parking inside the park too for only $10. Once inside there were park rangers helping you with questions and guiding you on deciding which trails to go on, which was very nice and convenient! We took a picture of the map and choose to do the Cypress Grove, and the Sea Lion Point Trails. We only had about 3 hrs to hang out at the park, so those two were perfect easy hikes and roughly about 2.5 miles if you do both loops. We got spectacular views everywhere, you could hear the Sea Lions and see so many beautiful birds flying around. Wish we would've brought binoculars, so bring some with you if you remember. We can't wait to come back another time and do a full day of hiking because there are so many other trails! The park and restrooms were clean and well kept too, it's definitely a must visit once in your lifetime at least!!

    Moss Landing KOA Express - Check In, General Store, Bathroom and Shower

    Moss Landing KOA Express

    (107 reviews)

    I am a big fan of KOA and have stayed at all of the three levels that I thought they had up till…read morenow. This one is a small KOA - the manager tells me it's the first KOAExpress. The other levels, journey, destination and resort are increasingly fancy, but generally have some kind of market, a cafe or restaurant, pools, jacuzzis and the like - more so at the higher levels. Well, this one was a fraction of the size of most of those. it was very well kept, nice level paved sites, excellent bathrooms - two full bathrooms, where you get your own toilet, sink and shower and door It's essentially located right in the harbor, there's a gate that will get you to the docks. Including all the whale watching boats . A bunch of sea lions were my neighbors on a rock on the other side of the fence. There are a couple of restaurants within walking distance as well, so that makes up for not having one on site

    I really love KOA campgrounds. This one is a hidden little spot between Monterey and Santa Cruz,…read moreless than a 1/2 hour drive to each. Really nice staff, very clean and safe. The spots are very close to each other, but this is a small campground, maybe 50 spots. The KOA person guided us into our spot, made it easy because if it was just me and the wife... well you know! Moss landing is an old fishing town, very small, abut very historical and interesting to walk around. The ocean beach is walking distance from the campground. I will return to this place, very safe and very secluded. Nice clean laundry room, landscaping is beautiful, location is in a very secluded area in the farming community. Very tight spots, you are really close to your neighbor. But that's OK, this is a place you stay at, and go out during the day to see the sites around the area. There is no stores or restaurants in the area. Only one deli (which is really good but only open to 3pm). So you will need to have food and supply with you.

    Monterey County Fairgrounds - venues - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...