Alameda County Fairgrounds Review

Did a little betting on the horse with the family. Had a nice day & time.

It's a nice big place for events like the fair at the beginning of summer.

The Scottish games are worth 6 stars!! Go Clan Grant!

Beautiful well maintained fairgrounds. Rv camping A+

I made it a tradition to bring my kids ever year. I use to work here during my teenage and young adult years every year. Now that I'm older I like to bring my kids. Awesome food. Love the strawberry funnel cake it something I get every time we go.

Lot of vendors because of the 2 day closure are not there

Saturday event. Plenty of parking and help finding where I needed to go. Pleasant experience.

Everything was great except for parking... thank goodness we had the big car bcuz my little car wouldve never made it thru that lot. In the end, it RUINED our stroller and had to buy a new one... maybe i should give it 3 stars instead but i wanted a new one anyway.. so it kinda helped me make a desicion

Non-stop fun from day to night. Only disappointment was staying for the fireworks which was less than 10 displays and lasted about 5 minutes.

Very hot lots of food choices, plenty of shopping. Don't forget get to bring lots of money you will need it maybe Rob a bank before you go

Big fairgrounds. They have so many different events throughout the year. They have an email list to inform you of upcoming events at the fairgrounds.

Most happening place, parking ranges from $10 to $20 during events, check for street parking before you go for paid.

worker told me the park closes at 11pm so i go to get my family and i come back at 10:05pm and i was told we could not enter

7/17/13

After paying the $10 parking fee and walking in the HOT HOT sun for what seemed like an eternity, we came to the blue entrance of the Fair. Preferred parking (which had only been $5 more was pretty open and right near the entrance). Shouldn't have been worried about saving money for food/games - it would have been worth it. Especially since we spent the next 10 standing in line to get in. No shade here either. Security waved his xray wand over me. I asked for a pat-down search but only got a laugh.

We walked in and the first thing I saw was the Black Rock Roller Disco!!! FROM BURNING MAN!!! I started going to BM in 2002 and roller skating on the playa is one of my favorite art installations!

We did a little shopping and as we walked around I was shocked at all the designer-knockoffs we saw. I had literally seen a commercial about not supporting the industry of fake designer brands because it often supports child labor, etc. I passed on all the "Coach" purses but did buy a pair of "Chanel" earrings for $10.90 from Dream Land of West Covina (3458 E. Temple Way, #32). I also bought an anklet for $8.75 from Jewelry Trends, Inc. (Orlando Outlets, 8200 Vineland Ave.). I kid you not, my ankle had a green ring around it by the time we left the Fair a few hours later. I should have known. My favorite purchase was a pair of awesome dress sandals with pretty jewels on top for $27 (from Joann 21 Health Prod, 28370 Championship Drive, Moreno Valley). They're comfy and perfect for work. I actually loaned them to Mom for a cruise she's leaving on this week.

We were very successful at buying food and made sure to buy plenty! We had a hand-dipped corndog that was amazing. Fresh popcorn ($3) that was as good as the popcorn Target sells (which is awesome!) West Coast Concessions sold us a turkey leg ($9.75) and a large soda ($4). The turkey was good but not nearly as good as the one from Willie Birds BBQ we had at the Cajun Festival in Isleton. I carried a reuseable water bottle with me all day and a couple vendors were nice enough to refill my ice/water. Festival volunteers working information booths even gave me a refill once. I ate a pretzel covered in salt and mustard that I bought at the horse track.

We only stayed at the horses for one race (Race #6 of the day). Horse #9 came in last place so my $5 bet didn't work out so well. It's pretty amazing that you can go to the fair and watch horse racing. This place is huge.

All of the rides and midway games were in another area and it was too hot to go on most of them (plus, I hate roller coasters) so we found some shade and more water and headed toward the Safeway Amphitheater. Clay Walker was performing on the fair's final night and he put on a pretty good show. Minus all the brats running to the stage and interrupting the show to ask for his guitar picks.

Totally can't wait for next year's fair. Alameda County has to be the biggest and best County Fair in the State.

The fairgrounds have cha GED si ce I haven't been here for years but I enjoyed today with my kids and their kids I won at the races was my first time ever hope to return next year

BEST AND BIGGEST SCOTTISH FAIR AND HIGHLAND GAMES EVER!!!!

Same old thing every year! Hey fair people how about some fair food you see on TV? Tired of the same old food and same old stuff.

As usual vendor rental costs are sky high. That means what items the vendors sell are high if the vendors are to make profit , pay for their gas and time. Consequently I didnt buy much. Way too costly for me. The selection of food and non food items for sale was awesome. The best customer service and friendliness I found was in the small animal building. Next was the building where mattresses are sold. The workers in the info booth by the yellow gate couldn't answer questions or solve issues when patrons had trouble scanning the show ticket website. At least 4 patrons in 10 min had trouble getting the process completed. Guest services was able to help however. The firework show was quite good. The security check and admission areas were efficient and friendly and professional.
I was unhappy with the lack of energy from the musicians in tonight's show ( Jun 28, Fri guest group) I watched for 15 minutes and was bored the full time and so I left. On the other hand, I loved the Loverboy show on 6/21. The band and singing and presentation was really good. They made the crowd glad to be there at the show. I felt the unity between audience and performers
Way to go!!
I liked seeing roving security and felt safe while on the grounds at all times. Thank you, Susan Moss, Hayward resident.

Came here for the alameda county fair! Overall great experience but expect a lot of traffic in the parking lot, also the parking lot is HUGE so if you park far then your walk to the entrance will take a while!
It s easy to navigate around in the fairgrounds, there s a lot of vendors & food! The fairgrounds is fairly big so wear your comfy shoes since you will be walking a lot!
A lot of things to do here, so it s great for family or just with friends.

We go to the fair yearly and enjoy it. We spend way too much money, and its way too hot. But where else can you get fried watermelon??
And that candy apple stand is amazing. And they'll hold your purchase for you on ice until you're ready to leave and go back and pick up.

First time back in many years, we arrived about 1:15 pm Sunday afternoon and noticed many show cars were leaving, my uncle was with us and Alameda County Fairgrounds offers NO Senior Citizen discounts.
Food there was a bit high $$$, and having a beer was out of question for me. I'm not cheap, just wise, i'm enjoying a nice cold beer now at home.

I went during the Night Market. Clean given the amount of people that come in and out. The layout is nice and had a great time. Lots of merchandise vendors and food vendors.

It was lacking in the variety of food options though. Would like to try traditional foods instead of fair food.

It was fun there is extreme rides teenager section and kids section horse racing and a beautiful view from a sky ride and food places everywhere and prize winning games a whole mirror maze but you can t wear sandals but still fun and there is a exhibits that you can see chickens,snakes,tordises,bunnies,
And you can have a snake around your neck it s fine it doesn t bite but the best part was when I touched a bunny .

Fun place for both kids and adults. Live shows rarely see at other places.

Alot of delicious food but you pay for parking entrance ticket but the food is still very expensive.

A very uninviting RV park, only asphalt & gravel and crammed with rows of campers next to each other.

This place was a whole bunch of fun now it's changed so much. Always will be one of the better county fairs thou.

Great facilities and they always handle large crowds well.

Great place but if you're getting picked up at night it can be a bit confusing to find your ride.

Activities for all ages, and very clean. We enjoyed it with kids of varying ages.

Had so much fun at the fair this year!! Got to ride the monster truck kids had a ball all smiles

Rides took a lot of tickets, and 80 tickets were used in less than two hours so I wandered around for another two hours. That is why it goes down a star. Rides were good though.

I m a animal lover, and hate to see animals being hurt and abused. I visited the rabbitry or the P building with the small animals and I was disgusted to see the rabbits in small cages with wore bottoms. Adding on to my bad experience, this little girl took out a Dwarf Hotot bunny (it s dwarf bunny with eyeliner around its eyes) and she handled it so roughly, pulling and grabbing on its ears. I told her she was holding the rabbit incorrectly because the rabbit was in obvious pain. However the volunteers and her said it was correct, which surprised me. I want to know who trains these volunteers, because handling bunnies that way is incorrect and it hurts them. To make up trying to correct their handling, I tried starting a conversation with the girl. Turns out, she was extremely rude. I asked for her name because I was going to tell my friend who was with me that she kind of looks like another friend, but she smiled and said, Why should I tell you? At that point, I was baffled that this girl was allowed to sit here and give misinformation. Then, another volunteer brought another bunny, (a young Flemish Giant) it was really sweet, but when it got curious and sniffed the Dwarf Hotot, the girl pulled on her ears with noticeable force. I was pained just to watch this hidden abuse happen while other tourists just watched. Turns out, she doesn t even volunteer there but is able to take out, hold, and carry the bunnies, just because her sister volunteers there. She said that Oh I m not a volunteer here but my sister volunteers here. But for some reason the other tourists (including me) WASN T allowed to hold them. I held the Dwarf Hotot, because I wanted the other tourists to see this is how you are supposed to hold a bunny for a few seconds, and the bunny was annoyed from being held, not scared and in pain like how the other volunteers and the girl hold them. Technically, that girl was also a tourist, because she didn t volunteer here but was allowed to do what volunteers do with the bunnies. She tried to quote check the gender again of the poor little Dwarf Hotot. She flipped her on her back and that made the rabbit go into tonic immobility which means the bunny was too scared to move. Now, when you are sexing a bunny, you need to press gently around he genitals. This girl was pushing down. Again, I was baffled by how these volunteers and this girl was trained. I was also surprised by the girl s rude behavior. I read on the Code of Conduct on the Alameda County Fair s website page:

Generally respectful behavior is expected from all attendees. Littering, spitting, sitting/propping feet on table tops, abusing landscaping, property, etc. will not be tolerated.

This girl was being rude to me and my friend, and she was abusing the bunnies( who fall into the exhibits category)

It laters claims Violation of these Rules of Conduct will constitute cause for removal of the violator from the Fair grounds.

This girl should have been escorted from the fair, because she wasn t even a volunteer there and handling the bunnies as if she was, abused the bunnies, and was extremely rude to my friend and I.

The other volunteers carried the bunnies properly, and NEVER kept same-sex pairs of unspayed bunnies on the same table. When they carried them, they picked up the rabbits chest and torso area and scooped up their bottom, which is good because it provokes he bunny from jumping around.

Overall I made this two stars because the bunnies were being abused, the girl was rude and was supposed to be kicked off, and the volunteers broke the Code of Conduct when they let the girl handle the bunnies when she wasn t even a volunteer there. I have been studying bunnies and researching for more than two years, so I think I would know how to treat a rabbit correctly, making it happy and healthy.

If you ever see a rabbit being abused there, speak up.

The Alameda County Fair is fantastic. Don't go on a hot day or it will be less than fantastic.

After leaving the fair last night we go to the car, and found out that my lady had lost her car keys. We had to walk all the way back to the concert area, and it was already closed. three male, and two female park officers tried everything that they could to help us. the even had a guy open the gate for us and we all looked around the area, but no keys to be found. We did not know what we were going to do. My lady lives in Oakland and I live in Antioch - Remember - She didn't have her house keys - Then to top things off we got lost trying to find the right gate. we followed every line in the park except the right one. It was 2am by the time that we got to the right gate. Just before we got to the gate, the man would opened the gate for us came up to us and called his office to checkout if they found the key, he also went beyond the call of duty. Well nothing happened so we get to the gate and this security guard by the name of Steve asked us if we had lost some VW keys - our jaws hit the ground - I asked Steve if they could bring the keys to us, since we were dead tired. 5 minutes later we had the keys in our hands - We want to thank everybody that assisted us - You guys were truly a blessing - But Steve the Security Guard at the end of the green line - We love you - You came to us and asked - We probably would have walked right by you. You saved us so much money and time - HAPPY FATHERS DAY EVERYONE - I will never forget these fine young people - 1LOVE2ALL

Corn dogs and funnel cakes. Can t go wrong with that.

Had a blast. There werent signs telling how to find gate to enter n it was dark n im not familiar with layout but it worked out.

The county Fair is pretty standard, but the food was not that great. I always see on TV other fairs around the country and their food looks amazing, but the food here was mediocre. We had the corndogs (the hot dog was gross, but the batter was so good and crispy), horchata smoothie (had a weird after taste) latte freeze (tasted like powdered coffee), nachos (these were good cause we like liquid cheese, but they gave us a lot of small broken chips, which we couldn't even eat cause it kept falling apart), and bacon wrapped pork belly (I heard it was alright from my boyfriend, I was not about to eat that). The petting farm animal area was chaotic because of the children, but the animals were super cute, and that was the best part of the fair. It's a nice fair to walk around and hang out with friends, but don't expect much from the food.

Went to the County Fair in July. Go early to get parking closer to the entrance of the fair. Buildings are older and bathrooms need renovation, but it's a huge place and really enjoyed the outdoor seating under the trees.

Your basic county fairgrounds. Decent parking, and multiple gates, though better traffic management would make it excellent. Large areas with decent functional buildings.