The 2024 Santa Cruz County Fair opened Wednesday with a theme of “Pioneer Days to Modern Ways,” a packed schedule of entertainment and competitions, and a Watsonville fairgrounds packed with food, rides, agricultural displays and vendors.
Santa Cruz County Fair
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Santa Cruz County Fair 2024: What you need to know
The 2024 Santa Cruz County Fair will open Wednesday for five days of food, rides, agricultural exhibition and competition and entertainment including a monster truck show, a Taylor Swift tribute band and colorful nightly drone shows.
Posted inLatest News
Metro offers free rides, ticket discounts to Santa Cruz County Fair
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District will offer free Metro fares and discounted tickets to the Santa Cruz County Fair at the Watsonville Fairgrounds Sept. 11-15.
Posted inCoast Life
After a stormy offseason, Zeke Fraser is hustling to get the Santa Cruz County Fair up and running
Less than three months into his tenure as Santa Cruz County Fair CEO, the pressure is on for Zeke Fraser to pull off this year’s version, which runs Sept. 13-17. The longtime local talks about getting up to speed, what’s on tap for this year’s fair and bridging the North County-South County divide.
Posted inLatest News
Santa Cruz County Fair names Zeke Fraser new CEO
Longtime Santa Cruz local Zeke Fraser was named the county fair’s new manager Thursday, replacing Ken Alstott, who was hired in April on an interim basis. Fraser has a background in finance, property management and operations and has most recently been working for the Santa Cruz-based digital publishing company FileOpen Systems.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County Fair’s interim CEO seeking calmer waters after months of turmoil
Two weeks into his duties as interim CEO, Ken Alstott says things are on track for “a very good fair this year” even after last fall’s firing of longtime CEO Dave Kegebein and the resignation of both Alstott’s immediate predecessor and the chair of the fair’s board of directors. There’s no fixed timeline to name a permanent CEO, though having one in place for this year’s Santa Cruz County fair, set for Sept. 13-17, is a goal.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Amid management turmoil and acting as haven for Pajaro evacuees, county fair turns to another interim director
The debate over Santa Cruz County Fairs present and future continued vociferously Tuesday evening as the fair’s board of directors announced a new interim CEO.
Posted inLatest News
Amid more chaos, Santa Cruz County Fair board meets in closed session
Its leadership void growing and with five months to prepare for the fairgrounds’ big annual event, the Santa Cruz County Fair’s board was set to meet Tuesday evening to consider appointing still more interim leadership.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Stop the inflammatory comments at county fair board meetings; let’s ‘right the fairgrounds ship’
Misinformation is causing “the recent, inflammatory public behavior at the fair board meetings,” says longtime Santa Cruz County Fair volunteer Becky Steinbruner, who has attended meetings regularly since 2020. She insists new president Don Dietrich is doing a good job and has tough work to clean up years of neglect and lack of oversight. The fairgrounds has to follow state regulations, she writes — something she believes Dave Kegebein, the ousted fair manager and CEO, never did.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz County Fair board to meet Tuesday amid ongoing Dave Kegebein firing controversy
Dave Kegebein, fired abruptly in October as CEO of the Santa Cruz County Fair, says he hopes to “provide entertainment” at Tuesday’s meeting, at which he and his supporters aim to confront the fair’s board about the upheaval that also included the replacement of two board members.
