People of all ages leave home, school and work behind to join their family and community to have fun on rides, enjoy live music and eat funnel cakes laden with fresh whipped cream, barbeque turkey legs or hand dipped corn dogs at the Alameda County Fair.

For the past 101 years, the Alameda Fairgrounds has kicked off the summer season with an annual county fair.  Fittingly, this year’s theme is, “The Summer Fun Starts Here,” and is running from June 19 to July 7.

“The kids have a lot of fun with all the rides and games but they also learn how to be in community and a large group,” said Ceci Fleming who has been face painting at the Alameda County Fair for over 25 years.  “There’s just a lot to learn when you are at a county fair.”

For families with young children the fair is a great place to be.  For only $1 per ticket, the Kids Zone provides a variety of rides for kids 10 and under.

“We come every year,” said Chris Sanchez, a mother from Alameda who brought her husband and two young boys.  “We come for them to enjoy the rides and just spend the day with the family.”

“My favorite ride is the bumble ride,” said Sanchez’s six-year-old son, Daniel.

After the rides, the kids get their face painted, play carnival games to win prizes and then end the day with a fried Twinkie at the “Sweet Spots” booth.

For the more mature attendee, the main part of the fair offers live entertainment, thrilling rides and games.  Among the rides, there is a traditional Ferris wheel next to an amped up version of the centrifugal swing called the A.R.M Vertigo, which goes up 100 feet high.

“It’s crazy, you sit in a swing and it goes high up into the air and starts to spin around. I loved it,” said Kammy Carr, a freshman at Chabot College who attended the event with friends.

Entertainment is plenty, with the traditional pig races, live country music, exhibitions and gardening shows.  One of the exhibitions was the Hobby Building where people showcased their hobbies and collections.   Standing out from the collections of PEZ dispensers, bottle caps, old lunchboxes, rocks and other paraphernalia, was a table where Rick Jenson and David Boles from the Tri-Valley Wood Carvers demonstrated woodcarving to spectators.

According to the Alameda

Fairgrounds director, Angel Moore, the county fair is a way to bring the community together to have fun, enjoy the rich traditions of the community and use it as an opportunity to inform and teach the public.

This year they partnered with Kaiser Permanente to promote health and wellness with a Fit Camp for children.  Also, offering healthier foods, vegetarian and gluten free options as well as the conventional fried fair foods.

Cindy White from Castro Valley and her four daughters have been coming since 1989.   Her daughters are now adults and hope to carry on the tradition of attending the fair with families of their own.

Besides, the rides, games and fair food, there is a nightly concert, fireworks every Friday and live horse races.  According to festival organizer, Angel Moore there should be enough to keep the estimated 537,000 patrons entertained.