Why the county's largest annual event is taking place one month earlier than usual and the impact of the date change.
The food is sizzling at the Merced County Fair, but unlike many past years, the temperatures are not.
"The weather is really nice. It's better than it normally is," Larry Turner said.
The mild and breezy weather is exactly what fair organizers had hoped for when they moved the annual event up a month to avoid conflicts with the state fair, which will be held in July instead of August this year.
"Oh, this is perfect, this is beautiful weather. One of the things that's really different this year is my crew was telling me how wonderful it was to set up the fair and it wasn't 105 degrees when they're working outside trying to get the fair together," Tom Musser said.
It's also a welcome change for families attending the fair.
"I've been out here and perspired, come to the shows and they've been really, really hot. It's been uncomfortable. This year it's going to be nice," Turner said.
The cooler weather is not only more enjoyable, but also safer for the animals and their handlers.
"A couple years ago is when we had that heat strike when they were losing animals and stuff," Dave Pacheco said.
In 2008, several kids passed out in the barn and had to be taken to the hospital with heat related illnesses. And last year Theresa Frey says she had to water her pig every 30 minutes. But now she and Stripe are in hog heaven.
"This year it's been really nice. We don't have to water them near as often. They're just pretty much chilling out. We don't have to worry about their safety or anything," Frey said.
What remains to be seen is if the cooler weather will also lead to higher overall attendance.
