The Big Fresno Fair

The gates have closed on another Big Fresno Fair, the largest annual event in the Central Valley! This year’s 13 day event welcomed people throughout the Valley and beyond, featured hundreds of vendors and exhibitors, plus a variety of attractions and entertainment! The following information has been prepared as of Tuesday, October 15, and includes a snapshot of interesting and unique facts and statistics from the 2019 Big Fresno Fair.

The Big Fresno Fair hired more than 900 employees for the months of September and October. NOTE: This does not include the local employees hired by our carnival provider, Butler Amusements; or the individual food vendors.

Big Fresno Fair Social Media

50,427,575: The total reach from the Fair’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during the 13 days of the 2019 Big Fresno Fair
The Big Fresno Fair has 85,710 fans on Facebook
The Big Fresno Fair has 11,200 followers on Twitter
The Big Fresno Fair has 28,700 followers on Instagram
The Big Fresno Fair has 1,064 followers on Snapchat

Free Entertainment

More than 2,000 hours of FREE entertainment were provided during the 2019 Big Fresno Fair.

Kids’ Town – Sierra to the Sea Exhibit

48 animals were on exhibit
35 tons of sand were used by one artist over 8 days to create the giant 11 ft. tall sand sculpture
70 shows were performed with guest interaction and educational elements.
104,799 people visited this exhibit at the Fair; and 90% of them participated in the stingray touch pool.

Livestock Pavilion

1,500 animals were exhibited at The Big Fresno Fair
763 animals were put up for auction at the two 2019 Jr. Livestock Auctions (10/5 and 10/12) and raised $900,000 with more money still coming in.
50 animals won Champion Awards.

Ag Ventureland

41 pregnant sheep (ewes) were brought to the 2019 Big Fresno Fair
75 lambs were born on-site
910 gallons of milk were collected from 7 cows at the Cow Palace Milking Demonstrations
68 baby animals were on display.

The Fair Education Program

This annual program draws students, teachers and parents from Fresno County Elementary School classrooms who take part in educational tours of the Fair. Young participants visit each exhibit building and they are taught about the rich agricultural history of The Big Fresno Fair while using an interactive and educational guide and having fun all at the same time.

A total of 28,879 Fresno County parents, teachers and students toured the Fair on four different days this year as part of the Fair Education Program. This is the 27^th year of the Program.
Of that total, 20,605 were students who took part in an educational and fun field trip – 7,437 parents/chaperones and 837 teachers!

Wells Fargo Agriculture Building

649 lbs. is how much the biggest pumpkin on display weighed!
200 different varieties of grapes were judged.
11 judges were utilized in the Wells Fargo Agriculture Building this year.
25,000 boxes of Sun-Maid Raisins were handed out.
25 pumpkins were carved into masterpieces by Russ Leno.
30,000 bees were displayed as part of the R & S Ranch Honey exhibit.

Home Arts Building

30 woodcarvings were done during the Fair.
117 homemade quilts were entered.
25 demonstrations were given throughout the Fair.
7 food contests were held:
- Crocktober Contest – 12 entries
- Tamale Throwdown – 20 entries
- Gingerbread House Competition – 12 entries
- Pie Contest – 21 entries
- Cake Contest – 29 entries
- Salsa Contest – 20 entries

Gem and Mineral Exhibit

687 pounds of polished rocks were handed out to children during the Fair Education Program.
65 bags of polished rocks and pendants were taken to Valley Children’s Hospital during the Fair’s annual visit and were given to patients being treated there.
$5,000 in scholarships was awarded to Fresno State and Fresno City College geology students.
- Did you know that the Fresno Gem & Mineral Society has set up an endowment of $40,000 for Fresno City College students and a $50,000 endowment for California State University, Fresno students?
Fairgoers favorite thing in the building? Watching the geodes being cut!
$1,850 were raised for the Central Valley Honor Flight at week one of the silent auction; week two is still being calculated.

The Greenhouse

2,300 floriculture exhibits were on display.
2,150 Blue Ribbons were awarded.
315 different types of roses were on display; that’s double last year’s number!
1,000 different varieties of plants and flowers were on display.
11,000 people visited the Lorikeet Encounter.

SPCA

79 animals were adopted during the Fair.
34 cats
45 dogs
The most animals adopted was 15 on Saturday, October 12!

All-Animal Races

280 All-Animal Races were run.
In total they ran 5.1 miles!
Honey Bun was the fastest animal this year.
Most improved race time award was given to a lamb named Fleece Lightening!

Save Mart Wine Garden

2,645 bottles of wine were consumed at the Fair!

Old Tyme Kettle Corn

158 lbs. of boba was used.
The most popular boba flavors were Taro, Mango and Thai Ice Tea
Over 900 lbs. of kernals were popped for their kettle corn.
Most popular flavors of kettle corn were original and caramel.

Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls (3 stands)

32,000 lbs. of flour were used.
10,833 lbs. of cinnamon and sugar were used.
6,750 lbs. of cream cheese were used.
14,452,200 lbs. of butter were used.
41 year old family business!
500 cinnamon roll sundaes were sold.
4,200 cinnamon maple bacon bombs were sold.

Fat Franky’s Funnel Cake

650 lbs. of sugar used
4,600 lbs. of dough used
7,095 funnel cakes were sold at the Fair.
Strawberry was the most popular funnel cake topping.

Jerky Hut

Whiskey BBQ was the most popular flavor.
Carolina Reaper Extreme Hot was the 2^nd popular flavor.
80 bags of alligator jerky was sold.

Dutch Bros

129 lbs. of coffee were used during the Fair
670+ gallons of milk were used

Suck It Up

75 cheesecakes on a stick were sold.
450 gallons of ice cream were used.
883 frozen bananas were sold.

Kettlecorn (MKM Concessions)

15,000 lbs. of kettle corn was sold.
Pink popcorn was the most popular flavor.
200+ cotton candy burritos were sold.

NEW Acevedos’ Posteria Gourmet, LLC

The strawberry cream cheese croissant was the most popular item ordered.
500 large cake pops were sold.
300+ lbs. of chocolate was used.

NEW Dole Whip

1,119 Dole whip floats were sold.
285 frozen bananas were sold.
583 pineapples were used.

Pepe’s Mariscos

520 lbs. of shrimp used for the ceviche
790 lbs. of shrimp used for the shrimp cocktail
1,110 lbs. of carne asada was used
1,200 limes were used
175 lbs. of cheese was used
3,900 agua frescas were sold
210 lbs. of salsa was used (and consumed!)

Churro Zone

2,500 churros were sold during the Fair.
1,250 with filling; chocolate was the most popular filling flavor.
150 Oreo Churros were sold; a very popular Fair item.

Chicken Charlie’s

1,000 lbs. of bacon-wrapped chicken legs were sold.
1,240 cotton candy ice cream sandwiches were sold.
The most popular deep-fried item were the Oreo cookies; 12,000 were sold!
Over 6,000 lbs. of chicken tenders were used.
“Enough Buffalo Chicken Chimichangas were sold to reach the top of the Empire State Building” – straight out of the mouth of Tony Boghosian.

Wellmon Concessions

282 Angry Chicken Sandwiches were sold.
Hot Pastrami Sandwich was the most popular item; 1,237 were sold.
300 lbs. of sweet pork was used for the Dirty Fries and the Pork Sandwiches
1,310 Dirty Fries were sold.

Sharky’s Fish Fry

359 Lobster Corn Dogs were sold
197 coconut shrimp were sold.
2,887 Lobster fries were sold; it was the most popular Fair item!

Fabe’s Gelato

5,000 scoops of gelato were served.
2,150 churros were sold
Cinnamon was the most popular churro
4,521milkshakes were sold
Oreo was the most popular milkshake
898 milkshakes were sold on Sunday, October 13 – a record day!
1,510 puffle cone sundaes were sold.
901 specialty drinks were sold.

Corn Stars

16,560 ears of corn were purchased.
2,328 orders of corn in a cup were sold.
960 baked potatoes were sold.
220 hot cheeto baked potatoes were sold.

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