Tulare County Fair: Let the Good Times Roll | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Tulare, Calif. The 2009 /*Tulare County Fair*/ kicked off Wednesday morning with a parade in Downtown Tulare. The theme "let the good times roll" is in honor of truck drivers who deliver agriculture from the Valley to the rest of the country.

This year's fair boasts 49 rides-the most ever before. The "zipper" along with two other rides were once owned by Michael Jackson. This year, the fairgrounds expanded by 3-1/2 acres, giving people more room to walk around.

New food vendors are offering deep fried artichokes, or if vegetables aren't your thing, deep fried Twinkies, Snickers and Oreos are also available for the first time. I tasted the deep fried Oreo ... my photographer didn't give it a try but he did try the Twinkie ... deep fried in funnel cake batter and topped with powdered sugar.

Kids under 12 are admitted into the fair free Wednesday. Organizers are holding specials nearly every day to encourage people to visit the attractions even during today's tough economic times.

Our Action News cameras also caught the first birth of a baby calf on the fair's opening day. The livestock shows attracted many people and organizers had plenty of hand washing stations available to make sure people kept clean.

The El Diamante High School pigs placed high in the FFA rankings so far ... a successful end to the story we brought you this summer after someone broke into the Visalia Unified Farm and spray painted the pigs.