Pima County Fair returns Thursday with new food, rides, and more

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - The Pima County Fair returns Thursday. From Ferris wheels to funnel cakes, and everything in between, there’s something for everyone.

Even if you’re a regular at the Pima County Fair, you can still expect new rides, new games, and new food.

Leading up to Thursday, vendors and fair organizers are putting the finishing touches on the set up. They’re expecting a huge crowd for opening day.

″Coming off the pandemic last year, this is really our first chance to really do a full planning session to be ready for the fair,” said Jon Baker, executive director of the Pima County Fair.

It’s the second year the Pima County Fair will be back following the pandemic. This year, they expect everything to be back at full capacity, but it hasn’t happened without challenges.

Baker said, “Prices are high in the marketplace. So, it’s one of those things where we work to try and keep pricing down. We do a lot of special days. We do free admission days. We do some discount ride days.”

Opening day will have a wristband ride promotion, along with a concert by Lil Jon. The fair averages around 20,00 people a day. And there’s lots to do and see.

″57 rides this year. Three of those are new. One of the three, the slingshot, had taken about a three to four year hiatus. The other two are a new ride called the Sea Ray and one called the Joker 360,” said Chris Lopez, vice president of RCS.

There’s also 36 new games.

What would the fair be without the food? There’ll be sixteen food stands. There are some new foods to try, but there’s also some familiar faces like Piggly’s Barbecue, which has been with the Pima county fair for about 40 years.

Owner, Craig Sawyer said, ″Course the Piggly fries or the crash cut, they’re a big hit, a big winner. Then this year, we got the brand new smoked baked potato and it’s been a huge hit everywhere we’ve gone so far.”

The fair will be open from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.

Tickets are on sale. You can find more details here.

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