Over the next several years, locals can expect to see some changes at the Santa Maria Fairpark. KSBY spoke with interim CEO Todd Ventura to learn more about these changes.
“We need interim events and people at the fair park holding different kinds of shows,” said Ventura. “So we want to make it very easy and very accessible to them to be able to do that.”
Ventura said he hope to turn the Fairpark into a place the community gathers, beyond their annual Strawberry Festival and Santa Barbara County Fair. The Fair Boards plan, is called Vision 2030.
Plans also include removing and upgrading aging infrastructure. Some buildings at the fairpark have not been updated since the 1950s.
Board member Aly Draper said this is not going to be an easy feat.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Draper. “We’re really trying to turn this place around and make a positive for this entire city, town, and county.”
Board President Kevin Merrill said the effort is grassroots and is not receiving state funding.
“So we are actively out recruiting, money from the community and our sponsors down here and in Santa Maria,” said Merrill.
Several changes were already rolled out at this year’s Strawberry Festival. The fairpark hired a graphic artist to update its branding with a new logo, changed the festival’s layout, and offered free admission. The results were notable.
“Attendance was outstanding,” said Ventura. “We had more than 32,000 people in just 20 hours of open time.” The Santa Barbara County Fair schedule will also look different this year. Instead of running for 5 consecutive days, it now taking place over two weeks. The first week will begin July 1st trough July 5th. The second week will be from July 8th to July 12th. For more information CLICK HERE.
Ventura said that despite the plan’s name, the work will not stop in 2030. There is no set timeline for when the work will end.