Indio February 14th – 23rd, 2020
When you walk into the Riverside County fair you get a sense of the Aladdin and the princesses of Scheherazade, the beautiful architecture and stages reflect the theme beautifully. Right away at the entrance you feel like you are walking through a jewel in a desert. If you look carefully you will find camels and llamas and palm trees decorated throughout the fairgrounds.
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The first few displays you will find include the garden settings brought in by several participants, and are judged on their layout and gardening. There were several to look at down the walk way. This is one that struck me as really pretty.Some of the participants chose a movie theme while others made gardening spaces just look inviting, if only I had a book with me to read!
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Inside the Junior Exhibit Building, you will find a huge, and I mean HUGE display of bugs, and animatronics. But you will also find a lot of real bugs and you can even go into a butterfly house and feed the butterflies nectar. I did that because they are so beautiful and it is fascinating to watch them flutter by and rest on your finger. There is a bug show where you can learn things about bugs I didn't even know was important.
Mind Works has so much for the entire family, they have taken STEM to a grand scale and you can play Chess, Operation, Simon Says, and Connect Four all life sized. They have puzzles to figure out and others to put together and you can learn about the world, at the fair! I loved watching the kids build with the Lincoln Logs and these little fuzzy balls that you can use to build 3D art.... and more. There are even benches for parents to sit and let the kids play where they can have a watchful eye and relax. There is no charge for these activities.
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One of the things I love most about attending fairs are the
demonstrations. They are always teaching us about the past and giving us
a glimpse into the way people lived and improved on our current technology. I love watching the train conductors with their different displays, and they will tell you about each rail or train they have running on the tracks. My grandpa was a brakeman on the caboose so I really love to hear their stories.
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I love that this fair has a lot of art to visit in the Fine Arts Building and in the Junior Exhibit building. They have student art from all the local schools and ages from K-12. I think it is a lot of fun to see the kids ideas for each piece they submit, they are painted, printed, colored, and created. This year there were a lot of dioramas and puzzle type artwork. The adults in the Fine Arts building had demonstrations and painters on site working as well.
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This is another fascinating building to visit, if you love Gems and Wooden projects. They have rock demonstrations here, and they will cut a geode for you in half to see the surprise inside. They have grab bags full of different rocks for budding rock hounds, I get one every year. And they have displays of the beautiful pieces of work they have created out of the rocks, gems and even the wood projects.
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Over on the Genie Stage they have three acts performing throughout the day. Godfrey the Magician has a candy show this year and he brought multiplying jawbreakers, lollipop magic, a magical tootsie roll, and magical coins and cards. After the show he even taught the kids a magic wand trick. His show is funny and family friendly from start to finish.
Nancy has a bird show that is hysterical. She brought Koalabi the cockatoo, Squeak a Catalina Macaw, this gorgeous Toucan, and Lola the funniest bird at the fairgrounds, she sings, sort of, it is the funniest thing you hear!
Jack Spareribs, not Jack Sparrow, that's Johnny Depp, has a fun show for the younger audience with dancing monkey puppets, a talking monkey, some pirate magic and really bad pirate jokes. His gorgeous ship is a terrific backdrop for a family photo, and his kid volunteers make the show a fun stop for everyone.
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This is the Main Stage and on it they have a lot of Baile folklórico, Spanish Folk Dancing. And they have cheer squads come and show off their cheers, some times they have local bands come and play their music. You would be able to see Suzy Haner comedic hypnotist, and other like shows. They are also different throughout the day.
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I love that this fair has a lot of strolling acts, you can be just about anywhere on the grounds and find a show that just picks up right there and plays from 15-30 minutes at a time. We love getting photos with the BC Characters and Lanky the Clown. Isn't his bike the best!! Hilby is performing with his unicycle, and juggles knives and fire! And Jules combines his classical mime skills with his shadowing technique to make the crowds laugh and have a fun time.
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This is the Taj Mahal building and they have many different booths, flower booths to show local flowers that will bring back bee and butterfly populations. A date expert with information on all of the dates grown in California, with edible samples. The Salton Sea, Gourd artwork, and even cooking with a Chef and Dates. There is also a date festival gift shop with some delicious irresistible goodies.
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This is the Main Pageant Stage and this is where the BIG Show is performed in the evening, singing, dancing and a full play. I will try and get photos next weekend to give you a better picture of this fantastic event.
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This is the Rawhide Express and it will take you around the fair if your tired feet want to go shopping or over to the rides from the stage shows. It is free and Brandon the Conductor will point out a bunch of fair highlights as you travel along, there are two stops, one in the center of the fairgrounds and the other near the exit.
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There is a Petting Zoo over by the livestock area and you can feed little baby goats, and baby cows and there is a cute donkey.
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As the evening approached, the sun set was gorgeous, this photo was taken from the center of the fairground looking to the south, and the crowd were growing with the cooler temperatures. The lights began to glow and the familiar sounds of the rides really filled the air.
Other thing that are at the fair this year include Bull riding, demolition derby, lawn mower racing, motor-cross and monster trucks. Of course there were concerts, tons of food with a lot more food vendors offering DATES this year (that made me very happy) and rides Galore brought to you by Butler Amusement.
