What a fun annual tradition :) If you're looking for a classic end-of-summer weekend outing, this fair always delivers the perfect coast-meets-community vibe. Highlights: - Classic fair Eats: Giant turkey legs, funnel cakes, deep-fried treats, and local food stalls. - Rides & Shows: Carnival rides, live music stages, and fun livestock exhibits. - Perfect Weather: Much cooler walking around here than the hot inland fairs. My advice to other would be to Come early in the afternoon to beat the main evening crowds and secure easier parking! Fun but a little pricey & Parking was a SERIOUS pain so I'm giving it 4 stars read more

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This review is for the RV Park. 3 &1/2 stars. RV Park offers full hook-up but is basically a gravel parking lot. The sites aren't quite level so make sure you have leveling blocks. The spaces are also fairly tight. We could clearly hear our neighbors inside their RV's while we were in ours. If you intend to sleep in - you will experience some challenges as airplanes depart at around 5:ish in the AM, and continue throughout the day. The customer service was excellent and the location is perfect. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

Event: '25 Monterey County Fair, Opening Night Main Stage Act: Steel Pulse (reggae). I've been several times to the Fairgrounds, but this was my 1st attending the annual fair. It didn't disappoint. I mean walking thru these hallowed grounds, one is reminded of the remarkable history of this venue. The legendary 1967 International Monterey Pops Festival featuring Janis Joplin & Jimi Hendrix. All the great Jazz legends thru the years at the annual running Jazz fest. Not to leave out all the epic Reggae performances at the Cali Roots Festival each year. Jaw-dropping history in short. I came to see a favorite reggae group Steel Pulse. Celebrating their 50th Anniversary as a group, they were fresh off a gig in Spain at the ginormous Rototom Festival. Still sounded great, playing a crisp 90 min. set. And all for a very reasonable fair entrance fee of $16, a relative bargain. And they had a nice, large crowd show for opening night & Steel Pulse on a Thursday. I stopped smoking years ago, but felt like I got a nice contact high from all the...umm "leaf burning" during the concert. Are those clouds Martha? No Dear, not weather clouds, lol. And plenty of delicious if not healthy fair food and merchandise to appeal to a broad range of tastes; albeit pricey for the food, which is pretty standard for most fairs. And it's deceptively big inside, covering at least 2-3 longish blocks I'd guess end-to-end. Rides for the riders too. The main entertainment stage is set up to the right of the main entrance, but signage isn't good on this. If your familiar with the annual Cali Roots Fest held every year, you'll def. be familiar with the venue and the "Bowl" stage area. The weather is very pleasant in Monterey and much cooler than summer fairs in other inland cities, a big plus for this event. Slight drawbacks are parking ha$$les, low overhead jets frequently buzzing the area, not enough bathrooms, uneven footing in the grassy areas + limited lighting at night. So best to keep your alcohol consumption in check in this regard, so you don't end up faceplanting on your way out. This fair & venue are overall winners. Check it. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Concert free with fair admission, a welcome & relative bargain. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

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Good food good fun and good family time.. My family enjoyed the food and exhibits The ribs & jalapeño pops were fire!! Bbq buns and pork bells hums were so delicious!! read more

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First time at Monterey Fairgrounds. Thought it'd be much bigger than it was but I liked that it was smaller. Parking is easy and easy to get in/out. Lines were also easy to get into the venue, bearable lines for food and no lines for restrooms! Wish all places were this seamless. It does look more old school and run down; I wish it was a nicer venue to enjoy but it was very easy to navigate all day without my feet hurting from walking too much. The Ferris wheel was fun but everyone complained about paying $10 for the mirror fun house.food selection was plentiful and good. The acts were amazing - Lauv, Tiesto and Chainsmokers. I'm surprised they picked this venue tbh because they seem too big to be doing such a small venue but it worked out for me because it was easy enough to get to the front stage. Overall, great experience. I may come back if there's a great artist. read more

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Over due post. Don't mind the picture, as it's from awhile back. This is the first year I've been getting into state fairs, and not the first time I've been to the fairgrounds. Lots of places to park, but there was a bit of a dead zone where no cell service came through. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Always grumpy. I - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

Drove around for over an hour and no parking whatsoever that wasn't at least $30-$40. And no ticket refunds on top of all that.

This is a really nice fair! I haven't had a bad experience here and enjoy visiting when we're in the area. Staff is nice! Food: There's fried artichokes, beer garden, cinnamon rolls that rank high on my list. If you're looking for big name artists, you'll need to go to a larger Fair. The Fair offers cover bands that feature rock and country artists (i.e., Garth, Carrie, Journey). It's all good. We like parking at the golf course (we found it by accident). It supports the Veterans and there's a shuttle (i.e., golf cart) that takes you to the fairgrounds. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Sand art - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

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If it was just about the events here including the county fair, I would give this place a perfect score of 5. However the parking situation here is crazy! Free parking or even then close by parking is limited. You are not allowed to park in the nearby CVS parking lot either. But then there are the scummy people who take advantage of this issue with charging about $20 to park on a patch of land nearby. The city encourages people to usually park in places like MPC and take a shuttle. Well, that is one alternative but then you can not just walk back to your car to go get some lunch and come back or anything. it forces you to stick around and pay the high event food prices. And, I have found generally, the majority of the event foods are high in fat, cholesterol and sugar. I personally prefer the Almaden County fairgrounds in Pleasanten as there is plenty of free parking areas nearby even though the staff still get weird there when people simply walk through the entrance. read more

My family and I booked an overnight stay and were planning to arrive around 6 PM. The person called us saying we couldn't arrive after that time (which we've never seen before since all RV parks usually allow late arrivals). We ended up without a place to sleep and had to spend the night in a Walmart parking lot. Honestly, I never want to go back to this place again. read more

So much fun, so many things to do and see. I decorated the AG building for many n years with my balloon creations. And I used to enter my homemade breads and decorated cakes. There are such a variety o things here. They have great entertainers every year. And so many great food booths. And some of the kiddie rides used to be at Michael Jacksons Neverland Rsnch There are tons of art displays. And so much more. A truly first class event. read more

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I can honestly say I have NEVER had a bad time at the fair grounds! Everything from the Jazz festival, to the fair, Cali roots, kids day... it's all been amazing. I'd like to claim this place as one of my "stomping grounds" since I've been coming for the past 20 something years lol. The layout of the fairgrounds is really easy to navigate and they have bathrooms in all the right places. Like a ton of bathrooms which is amazing to me! They have an attendant in their on stand by during events. So you know you're not going to walk into anything yucky! The food court is one of my favorite spots! It's such a serene little courtyard with big trees and picnic areas as well as table seating. Price for events here always varies. So I can't really help there lol. Parking seems to be an issue for some people. I just park off Casanova Ave and just walk down. A quarter mile walk for free of charge :) and beautiful scenery! read more

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GET a real Parking lot blown in there. Whoever thought of building this with 0 parking need a reality check! Being price gouged for parking is insane 60$!!!!! Other than the parking nightmare, the venue itself is awesome! read more

Stopped by here because we needed water. I asked for information and offered to pay. The manager was a real butthead!!! Rude rude rude!

pop up drive in at monterey county fairgrounds was awesome and a lot of fun! the snack bar had a huge variety while having the food reasonably priced! read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

I came here for the First City Festival, a new music festival this year, and was happily surprised by the facilities. We found parking to be kind of difficult the first day, but that's because we came later in the day. Parking tips: the closest neighborhood has parking only for residents, so skip that. If you get there early you can snag a spot right outside the gates, otherwise be prepared to wak a bit. Day 2 we had no trouble finding a spot in the morning and parked on the major street right near by the fest. If you cross the major parallel street from the fairgrounds, you can find parking in the neighborhood. There's plenty of bathrooms which was a nice surprise for a music festival. They were clean with ample toilet paper, soap, and paper towels; it was amazing! The bathrooms are elaborately painted with lots of giant clowns; my friend even snapped a pic inside. It's creepy if you're not into clowns, like the teenager in front of me in line. It was kinda dark in some areas at night, so the grounds could use some lighting, but it didn't bother us. There were a lot of nice grassy areas, some picnic tables, but I didnt care for the rodeo setup with a dirt floor for the major stage. It was cool there was some seating, and some covered space, but the dirt floor kicked up a lot of dust, and on a hot day, it just wasn't ideal. Came nighttime, when we realized the covered standing room/bleacher areas along the outside were better, it wasn't as much of a problem. I think this only matters since it was music festival; it's obviously an ideal spot in the fairground for a rodeo or livestock auction. read more

Had a great time at the fair grounds!! We live in seaside so we know the parking is very limited even if we come a little early. So we parked in the CVS parking lot for $15....Nothing new. Food was good...had a tri tip sandwich, garlic fries, fresh squeezed lemonade so good my daughter loved it. Oh and the cinnamon sugar Apple funnel cake was amazing!! My daughter loved petting, looking at the animals and the pony ride was a plus. Just looking at my daughter's face so excited enjoying the rides and games was priceless. Will go again next year for sure!! read more

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We enjoyed our 4 night stay here. We've been on the road for 5 weeks traveling with 2 rigs, we were very happy to be assigned an area where there was so much room. The manager told us to set up how ever we wanted. We had full hook ups and lots of room to run the dogs and not have to worry about being to loud.. the camp host and manager were very friendly! I would recommend this park and look forward to returning someday. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

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The best part of this campground is the campground host. His name is Ray. He was super friendly, accommodating, and even lent us a sewer hose extension. He has a fantastic personality for this kind of position. The campground has a lot of space to move around. It is easy to park and get out. The bathrooms were meticulously clean. During the Covid situation, this was a great place for a getaway. Give it a try read more

I try to always come to the Monterey County Fair every year because its the nicest fair ground area. They have plenty of restrooms and they are always nice and clean (a big plus for us ladies!!). There are plenty of areas to sit and lots of shade provided either by trees or umbrellas. Workers keep up and keep it clean during the fair so it always looks nice (no overflowing trash cans, stuff on the floor etc). I've been during the day and night and I've always had the impression of a safe environment. Parking is a bit of a pain but I always park on a side street of Fremont and walk so it's no biggie. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Cute lil happy goat at the Monterey County Fair 2013 - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

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We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. The host tried to send us into a area that was nothing but dirt with a chain link fence around it. So horrible that we went back to the office. The camp host told us that he couldn't move us to the the paved spots because they were full. More than half the place was empty. I wouldn't take no for an answer so he gave us a paved spot. This place stayed half empty through Sunday. Not sure way he lied to us. If you like the smell of horses, being right next to the airport & weeds then this is a place you would enjoy. read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

Just went to the fair last night and had a great time. We watched the Journey cover band in the evening and loved it and got the garlic fries sold near the entrance. $10 for a fairly large portion of garlic fries (my daughter and I shared it and I felt like we both got a good amount). One of our favorite things is looking at the photography, arts/crafts and garden entries. One complaint is I dont like the Express Lane option for some of the rides. In my opinion it makes it very unfair for people who have been waiting a long time to get on a ride. Kinda lame to be able to buy your way on rather than wait like everybody else. The express lane resulted in a deceivingly long regular line for the bumper cars. It looked like it would only take about 15 minutes but ended up taking more like 45 minutes because of that darn express lane. The kids still had fun overall and we look forward to next year read more

Our Conference every year is held here and the campground is pretty nice. Have t had any issues. Only issues are typically from the campers.

This isn't the fanciest place but it is very affordable with full hookups (electric/water/sewer). Centrally located, short drive from fisherman's warf, aquarium, Pacific Grove, Carmel, etc.. The hosts are FANTASTIC & Military discount is appreciated. Spots are moderately spaced compared to other parks we have been to, and the staff work with you to help find a comfortable location. Shower facilities are clean and well maintained. The experience we have had with customer service, and the ease of last-minute availability has made this one of our favorite spots in spite of any downfalls I am about to list. Downfalls... if you have pets be sure to use flea/tick treatment because the facility has ferril cats and cant spray legally for pests. Airport noise is present as other reviews mention, but is not an issue during the night. Stray golf ball hazard comes with nice view of course if you're on the paved lot nearby. Laundry facility is one washer & dryer which were not working during our last visit. Wifi is sketchy at best out in overflow or woodchip area (would be nice if owner could put in a repeater to boost the signal out there). read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds has been the home of California Roots Music & Arts Festival for 5 years and the reason for my visit here. This is a great venue with plenty of options for food and drinks. They also had many food trucks here. I tried a couple different things during the 3-day event including catfish with fries, carne asada quesadilla, hamburger with fries, and some cherry lemonade. The restrooms were surprisingly clean which is a plus. By the way they painted over those clowns in the restrooms (Clowns are scary)! Also, they had plenty of porta-potties for use, with hand washing stations. Parking was a pain, but if you get there early enough you could find a street parking. My advice is get there early. If not there are plenty of places that will charge you an arm and a leg for parking, I saw one small lot directly across the street from the fairgrounds that was charging $50...OUCH! No thanks I would much rather walk. All in all this was a good venue and I had a great weekend of fun. read more

The RV park won't allow any fires, has no firepits, no picnic tables or chairs and Ray the manager is the most rude and obnoxious RV park manager I have ever encountered! He wanders the property like a little dictator bossing people around and interjecting himself into everyone's business. We will never stay here again...he is a total buzzkill! read more

Wonderful venue for the Artichoke Festival and all the other activities that are held here. Thank you for the produce! read more

Monterey County Fairgrounds - Artichoke Festival. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Monterey, California

The Fairgrounds is a great spot, at least depending on what event for which you are there. I've been there for the Jazz Festival, the County Fair, the (very new) tattoo expo, and much more. Sometimes the security is a pain, sometimes it's disorganized, but overall it's a perfect spot for events and concerts and the like. One big tip: the ATM inside charges at LEAST $5 to withdraw cash, so come prepared or be prepared to spend a lot. read more

Basically a parking lot that you park your rig on. Outside of that it is a small RV park and the folks that are currently managing it are friendly. It was a great location for the Monterey, Pebble Beach, Sea Side and Carmel points of interest. The park is gated at night and it is a cozy place on the fair ground property. read more

Go look at this place before booking. I made the mistake of reserving a site for four days. Went to look at it the day before arriving and was less that impressed. So much so i didn't use the reservation. Low trees, very tight, not organized. Much of the grounds are on redwood shavings or dirt. Probably the worst looking fairgrounds RV park i have ever seen. Don't let the pictures fool you. Go look first. read more

I give three stars because the man managing the park is very nice and it's located near everything and anything you would want to do in the Monterey Carmel area. It's a very basic concrete lot located in the back area of the fairgrounds. Go in gate 6. There is water/sewer and electric but no cable tv. Our antenna was able to get a few stations in English and a few in Spanish. It's quiet except when the planes occasionally fly over. There are a few grassy areas to take your dog potty. Lots of concrete and no amenities and no picnic tables that I saw. They do lock the gates at 6pm so no late check ins. You can go in and out with a gate code. I liked the fact that it is gated for security reasons. Some of the lots back up to a public golf course and wow do the crows love the golf course in the morning. I actually enjoyed the hundreds of crows squawking and eating on the golf course. This is a very very basic rv park. It's just a place to park in a parking lot with some connections but the good part is the location location location. It's definitely not a destination park. We did not need to use the bathrooms and showers but they were immaculate and you had to have a code to get in so not just anyone could walk in. The lots were very clean also and everyone has their own trash can which was convenient. The rates reflect the basic park and range from 45.00 to 50.00 a night. read more

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I like it here. There is only one washer/dryer but it's a really nice one. For $50, I can't complain! We are full timers and Ray, the host, is so nice! Larry and his wife are also wonderful to talk with on the weekends! The spots are close, but we don't have slides so it doesn't bother us at all. The only downfall is that some sites need sewer extensions and it's a challenge to get liquid to flow uphill... read more

I have been to the fairgrounds for several events now and have always had a pleasant experience. There is plenty of parking outside of the gates, they have multiple gates to enter from. The grounds are always clean and the staff I have encountered working for the grounds its self have been friendly. This is a great place to attend the fair, horse shows, home and garden events and many others that they host through out the year. read more

I love that this brings so many events to the area, but Parking is always horrible. Year after year there is no resolution. We should not have to be forced to pay $20 to park waaaayyyyy down the street, then have to walk so far to get in. read more

Pretty clean, lots of dirt in the rodeo section but the grassy areas are good for sitting with or without a blanket. Decent stages, decent food choices (but not the best food), plenty of bathrooms, water area, cell phone charging station, etc. Seemed family friendly and clean. read more

Parking stinks, so if you can carpool, walk, ride your bike or take the bus, you will be happier. Beyond that, the potties are clean and it is well kept. It is not like other fairgrounds I am used to going to and I like the place. I have been here for a couple events now and I have not been disappointed. There are lots of trees and nice grassy spots to park yourself. We went for the food truck festival, most recently, and it was a nice experience. I will definitely attend events here is the future. We went to a cash only event, but there are ATMs on property, so you are not high and dry if you need cash. read more

We stayed here for a few weeks and really enjoyed our time here. It's quiet, secure, and dog friendly. Great location, a quick drive to the coast and down to Carmel. Would happily stay here again. read more

I was skeptical, thought it would just be a parking lot. It was quiet, wooded, clean, and at dusk we were able to walk the whole fairgrounds with not another soul around. Would stay here again. read more

So this is an overall okay spot. We have stayed here every year for the last decade. The pluses are that it is inexpensive, gated-so we feel safe, and only a short distance from the biking trail we ride into Monterey. The down side is that the current camp host really needs to seek a mental health professional (Mr. Crump is a grump) or better yet- the fairgrounds needs to hire someone who cares more about the clientele than keeping an employee seeking his own power and control over you the client. Word to the wise....ignore Crump...he loves confrontation. Don't give him what he wants. read more

We love it here! The host ( Ray) is so helpful and kind. We came through on a road trip from paradise ca , in January, and enjoyed Monteray and this spot so much that we went out of our way to stop by again on our way back up north. We have a 35 ft greyhound bus and the spot we where assigned both times was plenty spacious. We will definitely be back! read more