Monterey County Fair is back and starts today

MONTEREY, CALIF. (KION-TV)- The Monterey County Fair is back. Fair organizers put on the finishing touches in preparation for the kickoff event Thursday afternoon.

Not only does it bring in money, but organizers say it also brings in more jobs.

Monterey County Fair CEO Kelly Violini says the event brings in about 75 to 80 thousand people a year which is positive not just for the city, but also the county.

“We're looking at, you know, over a $13 million in economic impact from all of the people that come into the peninsula just to put on this event from all the jobs created,” Violini said.

The fair also brings foot traffic to surrounding businesses. Violini says it's beneficial to everyone.

Organizers also add the event generates about a million dollars of revenue for the fair itself. 

As far as what people will see inside the fairgrounds…

Crews were out early Wednesday morning making sure the rides are safe & ready to go. Some attractions are even coming back with some tweaks to them.

For Christopher Gonzalez, it's his second time at the fair. He explained why he's back again.

“We had people lining up to be on the game show,” Gonzalez said. “There's certain cities where you kind of have to try to convince people to get on the game show Here in Monterey, everybody's so willing to come up and play and do dance battles and stuff like that. So that's definitely something that I was excited for.”

People can also expect some new rides at the fair this year like the new roller coaster. There will also be some new games around the fairgrounds workers say to keep an eye out for.

If you’re bringing younger ones, no need to worry. Officials say There’ll be some new rides for them too so they can be a part of the new fun.

The fair runs from Thursday through Sunday from noon to 11pm. The final day will be on Labor Day from noon to 10pm.