![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SUT-L-LAST-DAY12.jpg\")
A tunnel from the Paddock area leads to the food area during the San Diego County Fair\u2019s final day in Del Mar on Sunday. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nThree weeks of bunking in the hustle and hype of the Del Mar Fairgrounds ended Sunday, the last day for hundreds of employees and exhibitors at this year\u2019s San Diego County Fair.<\/p>\n
Fair workers and presenters generally agreed the run that began June 5 was a success, although it will be a few days before fair officials release numbers showing whether attendance topped last summer, when 874,000 visitors passed through the turnstiles.<\/p>\n
Shawn Jackson of Phoenix, Ariz., like many temporary employees, spent his nights in the jockeys\u2019 quarters at the fairgrounds for the run of the fair. Each day he sold small bottles of Ghost Scream and Black Label hot sauce and other products from a booth\u00a0in Bing Crosby Hall. He\u2019s worked the county fair every summer for 12 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sales are good,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cOur chili garlic jam has a cult following. People will come to the fair, park, find us, buy this and leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson said the cool coastal climate has been fun, and a break from the desert heat of Arizona, but\u00a0by Sunday he was ready to head home and see his family again.<\/p>\n
Every fair worker is different. Some work events across the United States, some stick to California, some are just San Diego County teens who need a summer job.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little like a village,\u201d he said of life at the fairgrounds. \u201cBut it\u2019s dusty, noisy, and there\u2019s animals everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
A tunnel from the Paddock area leads to the food area during the San Diego County Fair\u2019s final day in Del Mar on Sunday. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Along the nearby midway, two young women were selling kettle corn at one of the fair\u2019s three kettle corn booths. The small bag was $9.99, a medium was $11.99 and the large was $13.99. They were looking forward to a night of deep cleaning before loading their equipment up for the next event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last few days were super busy, but not as busy as our opening day,\u201d said employee Kaila Byrum, 21. It was her sixth summer selling kettle corn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love working the fair,\u201d Byrum said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see all the new faces, the old faces and the smiles. It\u2019s the second-happiest place in California.\u201d<\/p>\n
(And yes, she said, the No. 1 happiest place is Disneyland.) Her partner in the kettle corn booth, Peyton Johnson, 19, also had worked the fair for several summers and said her mother first sold the sugary treat at the fair when she was 15.<\/p>\n
Farther down the midway, near some carnival rides, Tim Haines of Pueblo, Colo., was looking for people to play the \u201cbottle up\u201d game. It consists of trying to use a stick with a string tied to a hoop at the end to lift a long-necked beer bottle to the upright position. Success wins a stuffed animal or a sports jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all balance,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to keep it balanced and pull it up straight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another temporary tenant of the jockeys\u2019 quarters, Haines said he\u2019s been eating meals at the fairgrounds \u201ccook shack\u201d that\u2019s an option for employees, and a lot of dinners at a nearby Denny\u2019s Restaurant. He, too, was ready to head home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it, thank God,\u201d Haines said. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun \u2026 a good fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Pasha](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SUT-L-LAST-DAY04.jpg\")
Pasha Mor, 12, is allowed a rare chance to pet a bull, thanks to Rich Giuntoli of Cardey Ranches, during the San Diego County Fair\u2019s final day in Del Mar on Sunday. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Workers were taking down some of the fencing in the cavernous \u201cbeef barn,\u201d but plenty of animals remained lazing in pens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe brought 104 head of cattle,\u201d said Diana Cardey, whose family owns ranches near Oakdale and Turlock, an eight-hour drive from\u00a0San Diego. She and about eight friends and relatives have been sleeping on cots in a room off the barn during their one-week stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband already made one trip home today (with a truck carrying about half the livestock),\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be back tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of their shorthorn bulls was named \u201csupreme champion bull\u201d of the fair, a honor that comes with a premium prize that helps make it worth their trip. Her husband first participated in the fair in 1957, and they\u2019ve been back \u201coff and on\u201d for 50 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a wonderful week,\u201d Cardey said.<\/p>\n
Kids and their parents were still lining up for the petting farm and a chance to lay hands on some of the 40 or so animals on display, including goats, sheep, a small cow, a miniature donkey, a wallaby, a llama, a pot-bellied pig and more.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The animals) love it,\u201d said petting farm manager Sarah Roitsch of Texas, who takes the menagerie to fairs across the country. \u201cThey never get tired of the people. They love the people and the people love them.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Del Mar, the animals\u2019 next stop is the Orange County Fair that starts July 17.<\/p>\n
![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SUT-L-LAST-DAY10.jpg\")
As they head for the exit, Lori MacLeod carries what her son Marco, 12, won as he carries a basketball shirt he received after playing the Take the Shot basketball game during the San Diego County Fair\u2019s final day in Del Mar on Sunday. MacLeod, from Phoenix, Ariz., said they always come to the San Diego County Fair on the last day because the game operators give them more prizes. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Packing up at the end is \u201cthe most intense part of the fair\u201d at the popular Design in Wood Show, said exhibit coordinator Jim Strawn of Bonita.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have four days,\u201d Strawn said. \u201cWe pack it up and load it into a trailer. If we do it wrong, next year we pay.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Woodworking is growing in popularity and several new clubs have formed, he said. This year there were 364 exhibits in the show, up 67% from the 232 exhibits last year.<\/p>\n Flowers are also popular. New blooms and fresh arrangements are set out each Tuesday and Friday of the run.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the growers come in it\u2019s as serious as the Oscars,\u201d said Parker McPhinney of Vista, an attendant at the floral show.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can hear a pin drop,\u201d she said. \u201cThey bring buckets of cuttings, and they have three hours to choose what they display. Then they are judged before the fair opens.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s display included roughly 160 different dahlia blooms, 65 versions of roses, plenty of gladiolas and more.<\/p>\n Unlike some fair participants, McPhinney was in no hurry to see it end. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been great,\u201d she said. \u201cI have met so many people here. It gives me hope for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three weeks of bunking in the hustle and hype of the Del Mar Fairgrounds ended Sunday, the last…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":915515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,205868,369937,369936,3549,34834,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-915514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-america","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-del-mar-fairgrounds","tag-fair-employees","tag-fair-exhibits","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county-fair","tag-sandiego","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116870961445451372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}