As the San Diego County Fair winds to a close, fair officials are warning residents to plan ahead if they want to attend the fair for the Fourth of July celebration.
The on-site parking has been sold-out in recent days and officials expect a sell-out crowd for the remaining days.
“Plan, plan, plan. Otherwise you'll get 'FOMO' — fear of missing out. We don't want you to experience that this year," said Tristan Hallman, spokesperson for the fair. "We want people out here at the fair. It's a terrible condition to suffer for a whole year until next June when we open again.”
Attendance has been on pace with last year's. Hallman recommends buying tickets online early, including parking for those who want to park on-site. Otherwise, fairgoers will be directed to one of the off-site parking lots at the Del Mar Horse Park or Torrey Pines High School.
“We don't have as much parking as we used to back in the old days. We restored some of that to wetlands habitat," Hallman said. "We also see people here spending more time at the fair, so you don't have that same turnover.”
He said it's a product of the fair's success. Tijuana resident Maria Durazo, who attended the fair Friday with her son, agreed. She used to find street parking for the fair, but that's gotten harder to do. So now, she prefers parking off-site — and that has its own benefits.
"It's easier to get in and out when you're done. If there's a lot of traffic, then you just take the shuttle and you go all the way there," Durazo said. "You skip all this outside (traffic) when you (get) out.”
For Kenroy Reid, planning ahead was key. He was able to find on-site parking by getting to the fair early Friday.
"Last year, we parked way across the street, so it was a lot different, and it's way, like, way in the back," Reid said. "So we had to walk for and use the (shuttle) to come over here. So it was crazy.”
This year, he had a contingency plan just in case the lot was full.
"If it's that packed, I'm just going to pay for preferred parking because preferred parking is never full,” he said.
But Hallman said that's not a guarantee either. If the fair reaches capacity, the on-site and preferred parking lots will be closed to those without a pre-paid parking pass. He said the best way to ensure entrance to the fair is to either prepay for tickets or use public transit, like the Fair Tripper from the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District.
“It's $20 per person, but ... the cost of admission is included. So basically, it's paying for itself," Hallman said. "You're getting the round-trip ride and you're getting into the fair without having to show up and buy a ticket.”
