78th annual Kings Fair kicks off this week with Where Country Traditions Meet Carnival Lights theme

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- "Where Country Traditions Meet Carnival Lights" is the theme of the 78th annual Kings Fair this week.

The four-day event will host dozens of new rides, food, entertainment, monster truck shows, and much more..

"Deep fried lemon bites, jalapeno corn dogs, amazing items. We have a brand new three-story haunted house, a night ride, and you get to go through. We have nightly entertainment at the beer gardens," says Davey Helm, the CEO of Helm and Sons Amusement

For the very first time, they're taking over the Kings Fair.

It's ten dollars to park, but the best part is that there's no entry fee.

"As a father first and business person second, my wife and I talked about this with our team and we felt it was very important to make sure that any community we go to, where Helm and Sons is in charge of gate to gate operations, we have free admissions anywhere that we go," explains Davey.

The Helm family has been running carnival circuits since the 50s..

The hope is the tens of thousands of dollars that would typically be made at the gates is spent inside with local vendors.

"It's really a godsend because it helps a lot of families be able to come and enjoy the fair and festivities and food and games, and see the animals and actually learn about the animals here, how they raise them, feed them and show them," says Lisa Parra, a local who has been coming to the fair for nearly 60 years.

Showing animals has become a family tradition.

Marketing Director, Payton Ryan's family, also has a long history with carnivals-

She says the magic of "Fair-a-dise" never gets old

"It really warms my heart to watch families come out year after year," expresses Payton.

She continues, "You can take those worries and put them aside for a minute, you can come in, eat our fair food, get on roller coasters, we can all be kids again for a minute."

If you want to head to the fair, you still have time.

Gates close at 10 on Thursday.

On Friday gates open from 5 PM to 10 PM.

Saturday and Sunday gates open from 2-10 pm.

More details can be found here.

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