New at this year's Big Fresno Fair is a 26 foot replica of Yosemite's Half Dome. Underneath the giant rock ... a sequoia tree with a burned out center ... perfect for kids and kids at heart to walk through.
Fresno designer James Powell began sculpting the huge blocks of styrofoam two months ago. "Yosemite Station" is the new site of blues and brews ... with seating for 300 people.
Powell said, "John Alkire - the president of the fair- said I want to do something Yosemite related, mountainous related and it developed from that. I started sketching and decided to do Half Dome - I thought everybody knows that around here."
Powell also designed and built the farmer's market ... another new exhibit at the fairgrounds ... a larger than life display of the valley's famous fruits and vegetables. During the run of the fair ... Fresno State's farmer's market produce will be available right next to the huge tree.
Well known Fresno sculptor Chris Sorenson made a contribution to this year's Big Fresno fair with this wooly mammoth ... made completely out of metal. The giant sculpture had to be trucked in for its temporary appearance.
Despite the new ornate exhibits ... fair organizers have tried their best to make this year's event the biggest bargain ever.
Laurie King of the Big Fresno Fair said, "It is our goal every year that every family, regardless of income, can make it to the fair. We have more discounts than we've ever had ... we had more discounts last year than we'd ever had before."
Among this year's discounts ... two dollar Tuesdays, dollar carnival ride Wednesdays, two dollars off pre-sale tickets if you buy them at Save Mart or Food Max grocery stores. And anyone can get in free October 14th with four cans of food.
Already 20 cans of white paint have been emptied ... hundreds more are expected to be stirred and spread before the gates swing open on October 6th.
