San Diego County Fair prepares for fireworks and fun

Fireworks highlight the San Diego County Fair. (Courtesy photo)

The Fourth of July is all about the four F’s: Fireworks, food, fun and, of course, more fun.

For these reasons and more, the San Diego County Fair is one of the best local spots to enjoy the holiday with your friends and family.

Celebrating Independence Day is a daylong event at the Fair. The gates open at 10 a.m. to a variety of contests, exhibits, rides and shows. After hours of daytime enjoyment, Navy Band Southwest will kick off the evening’s entertainment with a performance on the Grandstand Stage at 7:30 p.m., a Fourth of July tradition at the Fair since 1993.

See related: San Diego 4th of July Fireworks Guide | Eight great ways to celebrate Independence Day

Yet the fireworks show is the Fair’s main Fourth of July attraction. The colorful display, which starts at 9 p.m., has also been a Fair tradition for many years. In fact, the last time fireworks weren’t used was in 1992, due to the construction of the Grandstand Stage.

Between 60,000 and 80,000 people usually watch the show. Last year, however, 87,176 people were in attendance.

Fireworks America, a contractor out of Lakeside, supplied more than 1,100 fireworks - worth $27,000 — for this year’s celebration. It really doesn’t matter where you sit or stand because the show will be seen from just about anywhere on the fairgrounds.

At most other Fourth of July events, the party is over after the last fireworks light up the sky. The fairgrounds, however, will stay open until midnight.

Shortly after the show, Smokey Robinson will perform on the Grandstand Stage. The concert is free with fair admission. If by the end of the night you still haven’t had enough fun, you can continue your Fourth of July celebration on July 5, the final day of the fair.

The Del Mar Fairgrounds is located at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. in Del Mar. For more information about the fair, check out SDNN’s San Diego County Fair guide or log onto www.sdfair.com

Kristina Blake is an SDNN intern.

Tags: Del Mar Fair, fireworks, Fireworks America, Grandstand Stage, Navy Band Southwest, San Diego County Fair, SDNN

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.