Kimberley Christina-Wilson

Review of Del Mar Fairgrounds

Concerts during SD County Fair - Grandstand. The v...

Concerts during SD County Fair - Grandstand. The view from level 2 seats is horrible! The seating chart is not to scale and the seats are much further off to the side than the seating chart indicates. I paid $45 but the $20 General Admission had a much better view - even at the furthest end of the stadium. Something they don't tell you, even when you enter and they take your tickets: even though you have purchased more than one ticket, once you decide who is sitting in which seat, you cannot change which one of you sits there. Example: I purchased 4 tickets but the concert was almost sold out so all 4 seats were in separate locations (single seats) 2 in level 2 and 2 in level 5. I gave the two teenagers the "reserved, expense seats" (level 2) assuming the view was better while the two adults sat in the "cheat, unreserved seats". It's important to know that we didn't arrive early to get front & center general admission - we ended up sitting at the very top, at the farthest end of the arena and we still had a better view than the reserved seats we paid almost double for. Therefore, we decided to switch seats - have the teenagers come to our seats and we would sit in theirs. Unfortunately, the staff at the Del Mar Fairgrounds would not allow us to trade seats even though I paid for all 4 seats and it was only who was sitting in them that changed. We were not trying to get better seats or take seats away from anyone. We had our tickets proving we purchased the seats; however, once you are inside the arena & have entered the level with your assigned seats, they hand-stamp you with that level. If you exit and come back in, you need both the ticket and the hand-stamp and they must match. If they don't, you don't get in. I expect that if I pay for seats, I can decide which of my party sits in them and re-arrange them if I need to. One saving grace, if you can call it that, is that the staff are not consistent with the rules. I was able to get the teenagers into the better seats but when I went to sit in the bad-view seats, they wouldn't allow me to enter because my hand-stamp didn't match the level I was entering even though I had the ticket with the seat assignment. I ended up standing outside in the lobby for the entire show. I would not recommend seeing any show or performance at this venue.