Alameda County Fairgrounds

This ice cream stop is such a scan here I am excited about this huge waffle cone that hold 6 flavores. ME thinking (oh dang that’s a steal) come to find out. There’s a secret cup INSIDE the CONE only a quarter down the cone. $ 15 isn’t bad for 6 scoops. But had I known that it wouldn’t fill up the ENTIRE CONE I would not have purchased it. And everyone walking by us were all asking (wow how many scoops does that hold, and I’m like 6) but I didn’t know until getting down to the cup. What a lie. I feel scammed.

After leaving the fair last night we go to the car, and found out that my lady had lost her car keys. We had to walk all the way back to the concert area, and it was already closed. three male, and two female park officers tried everything that they could to help us. the even had a guy open the gate for us and we all looked around the area, but no keys to be found. We did not know what we were going to do. My lady lives in Oakland and I live in Antioch — Remember — She didn’t have her house keys — Then to top things off we got lost trying to find the right gate. we followed every line in the park except the right one. It was 2am by the time that we got to the right gate. Just before we got to the gate, the man would opened the gate for us came up to us and called his office to checkout if they found the key, he also went beyond the call of duty. Well nothing happened so we get to the gate and this security guard by the name of Steve asked us if we had lost some VW keys — our jaws hit the ground — I asked Steve if they could bring the keys to us, since we were dead tired. 5 minutes later we had the keys in our hands — We want to thank everybody that assisted us — You guys were truly a blessing — But Steve the Security Guard at the end of the green line — We love you — You came to us and asked — We probably would have walked right by you. You saved us so much money and time — HAPPY FATHERS DAY EVERYONE — I will never forget these fine young people — 1LOVE2ALL

Can’t say enough good about the Fairgrounds. Since we moved to Pleasanton in 1966 I have been to the Fair, boat shows, Goodguys car shows, concerts, Oktoberfests, RV shows, home shows, political functions, Scottish Games, you name it. My wife, in-​laws, nephews and nieces have all shown animals during the fair over many years, and I have played at the Fair and political functions in our band. I now live in Livermore but I presently golf there at least once a week and the staff and maintenance crew at the course are stellar. The fairgrounds are kept to a high standard as well. Every time I go there someone is cutting the grass, trimming flowers, or cleaning something. I’m glad it’s close cause I’ll be going for years to come. A local gem of many many years.

We are having a wonderful time at the off track betting site at the fairgrounds. The staff is very pleasant, and I enjoy the huge tv screens. It is nice to be able to see all of these horse races.

A few day s ago i had called and complained about an issue with a employee… I was treated horrible and
Was given a obscene finger… well this weekend i went to the scottish celebration and was treated excellant by a guy named ron who drives people from parking in a cart type transporter he seen that i was handicapped an had offered his assistance.
This made my day attend a good event and to recieve assistsnce out standing.

Here for the Good Guys Car Show!
Definitely a family friendly environment. Good music, amazing cars, and a variety of food stands. The only thing I have a problem with is the prices– $ 4 for a bottle of water and $ 5-​$ 8 for a corn dog is a little ridiculous. Other than that, Alameda County Fair Grounds holds great events!

When you say «fairgrounds» you just think of rides for everyone. Well nowadays it seems more for adults. With all the shows that are going on who wants to ride on the rides. So what ends up happening is the fair is overpowered by adults and it leaves no room for the children. I think all rides should be separate from all shows completely… Perhaps having two fairgrounds instead of one.
So my kids were free to get in before a certain time but I ended up paying close to $ 200 for unlimited wrist bands for 4 kids. Upon buying the wrist bands, the ticket booth lady did not tell us the information that we needed to know. Which left us very upset.
My youngest is 4 and I decided to let him go on rides first. It was a let down. Of all kiddie rides he was not able to ride them all. And if I wanted him too then he’ll have to be accompanied by an adult. Ok, that’s fine but WAIT… I needed tickets to go on with him. I tried asking over and over but he denied me. I can see if it was an adult ride but come on now… A kid ride… Oh yea, I’m really going to enjoy that. I went to complain but all he did was give me tickets. Wow! But what about the information I should have been told prior to buying the unlimited wrist bands. I wanted my money back… Still nothing.
On top of all that, the workers were non speaking English Latin men so that made it even more frustrating. Who was handling the money were white people. One of the workers who actually spoke English said that they are there from the time of set up to the time of taking everything down and only get paid $ 380 a week and if they get in trouble that’s a $ 50 deductible.
I am never going back there again. Maybe just for me and my husband but definitely not for my kids. It was a complete waste of money. Not only was my younger son limited but my older sons couldn’t have a chance to ride the big rides because we stood in line for so long only to find out by the 3^rd or 4^th ride that younger son couldn’t get on. It is very hard when you have all ages and what tends to happen is the little ones get left out. It was all of our first time being there and I didn’t want my youngest to feel left out. Definitely a choice battle when you try to do things as a whole family.
But still a waste of money or too much money.

A little late on this review. I have been to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, CA day and night, night being way better with the temps in the 70’s vs 100 degrees during the day. They have parking and security set –up to avoid any mishap or ruckus from boys eating too many corndogs and getting riled up.
The Alameda County Fair offers fun for the whole family, whether rides for the children, games, exhibits… who was the hiding the 500 lb pig and a variety of food.
So many food selections, I always order the barbeque ribs or chicken but not amusement rides after. Could you imagine what could happen on one of those fast spinning rides.
I like the exhibits such as the one touch floor mop, the car detailing wax, air-​brush t-​shirts, the guy who sales the shoes cleaner to make your nikes, adidas and my k-​swiss look brand new again. Those sour gummy worms are so irrestible.
This year I noticed a monster truck exhibit which was blazing loud during the night time Confunkshun concert (80’s funk music). You could ride in the back of the monster truck strapped in while it spun circles and rode around the track. Even though the noise from the trucks was loud it appeared that the concert goers were having a good time anyways.
For inexpensive entertainment, the Alameda County Fair is a great place to visit.

Bring your family, gf/​bf, and relatives because this is a great place to spend time in the summer! Many activities you can do. They provide many shows to watch such as destruction derby, motorbikes, horse and pig races, etc. They have a mini zoo full of pigs, horses, llamas, birds, goats, etc. Also, they have bunnies you can purchase and take home. I definitely enjoy the county fair food they have. My favorites are the tator twisters, funnel cakes, and the bbq. My favorite place to come every summer!

Tons of parking, separate rides for younger kids, healthy food options, educational events, HORSE RACING, fire department and police on grounds at all times, color coded gates/​parking/​pathways… I could go on and on. Who needs over-​priced amusement parks when you can just go to the alameda county fair!

*Medium size area, organized, off the main road, easy to find*
Came here for the NowRoz festival (I’m not even persian).
Parking was organized and plenty of it. Large grounds but not particularly pretty. Port-a-potties…moving on.
Pass.

The fairgrounds seriously needs to work on their noise level. The Fair itself is great but other events (especially April 12, 2015) are ridiculously loud.
1) check your decible levels and make sure whoever rents out your facilities abides by this.
2) if you are going to have fireworks, please don’t do them on a sunday nite after 9pm!
3) if you are doing fireworks, please have the common courtesy to notify the local community (there are lots of social media outlets that you can use) to give us a heads up so it doesn’t scare the crap out of everyone!

Came out here just in time for a recent festival. Great layout and pretty decent place to be. Reminds me of a much cleaner Santa Clara Fairgrounds.

Alameda County Fairgrounds means only one thing to me: someone is gonna stick their hand in my pocket for fees, goods sold, attendance fee.
as a youngun i enjoyed coming here. for the county fair. it was a chance to get out of the house. and i didn’t have to pay.
when i was a parent, brought my kids here only once or twice. really expensive for foods, rides. there wasn’t much to do. kids didn’t enjoy it. preferred Great America more. or the swimming hole on Stanley. haven’t been here for a long time. not even for the food trucks. $ 10 parking, forgetabout it.

First off, amazing event, and great staff! When your fairground has a military appreciation day and all military folks get in for free? You’re already up to 4 stars.
That last star to help this place get 5? The food. Plain and simple. Who would’ve thought that this average looking location would have amazing food, quality rides, and fantastic music? I certainly did not expect much out of here, but I was humbled quite quickly.
I will definitely return next year :)

If you don’t have kids its really not that much fun, my wife and I are not really into the rides, the only thing we liked was the animal exhibit, the trains exhibit and the shopping expo, with a lot of as seen on TV stuff. i bought the grill mat, which i have used and its awesome FYI. also got to hold a Burmese python which was pretty awesome experience. The train exhibit looks like they put a lot of work in it and it shows, its excellent.
But overall on a hot day, rides and games too expensive, food is insanely expensive. one place was 16 buks a funnel cake. insane.

BEST 4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS
Normally I don’t write events but the fireworks at the Alameda County Fairgrounds warranted this. Last Friday night I went here with my friend and his family. My friend and I during the day were thinking about other places such as San Francisco and Berkeley Marina. That night at the fairgrounds we found a small patchy field to sit on. I thought the fireworks would be the same type of entertainment that I’ve seen at San Francisco or Lake Elizabeth in Fremont. Starting off the fireworks were the same as usual — mortars exploding in the air one by one with different colors or shapes. One color or shape that was intriguing was the red heart. Then when the fireworks stopped I thought the fireworks were over as did the crowd. If it had ended it there everybody would have been disappointed. The last series of fireworks were the best as they consisted of successive, consecutive, bombardment of mortars were exploding in the air. This was non-​stop and it excited the audience. There was a rapid pace of fireworks that grabbed the audience’s excitement. The rapid explosion of fireworks appeared as if the stars were exploding. After the fireworks were over my friend and I agreed this was the best fireworks we have ever seen. Most of the audience felt the same way. So next year if you want to see a fireworks for the 4^th of July don’t go through the hassle of traffic of San Francisco, or the secluded atmosphere of Lake Elizabeth in Fremont, or anywhere else in the Bay Area. Come here at the Alameda County Fairgrounds to enjoy the event in a family friendly atmosphere.

Here for the Alameda county fair. The fairgrounds are great. Big, open and spacious. Lots of grassy areas to lay around on. I loooove fair food. The one time I can truly pig out on funky fried foods. As well as different, you don’t see everyday foods.
Alligator on a stick for one, is something I normally wouldn’t have somewhere else. It’s delish! Honestly tastes like chicken. Deep fried pineapple upside down cake! A funky delicious dessert. Giant corndogs, foot long hot dogs, Mac n cheese stuffed baked potato, Mac n cheese stuffed bacon burger, the list goes on and on!
It’s a great time to spend here at the fair. The horse racing is also great. They also have great deals. Like $ 2 Tuesdays. Fair admission is only $ 2! That’s a big savings if you have a big family.

I haven’t been back to the Alameda County Fair since I was a kid, so it was interesting to see as an adult.
Got there after work and dinner elsewhere. Parking is $ 10 Cash Only, but if you can find a Groupon it’s $ 8 + $ 1fee — so $ 9, you can save $ 1.
I got FREE Passes through FB offer — that was Great. Regular adult ticket price is $ 10 ea person.
I wanted to see Eddie Money — all the concerts start at 8pm. He’s looking old, slouched over, at least he still remember his lyrics. I only knew 2 songs: Take Me Home Tonight & Two Tickets to Paradise which were at the end of the show at 9pm.
Went into the shopping area — mostly junk. Didn’t buy anything.
B. bought 1 huge glass of Bud Light for $ 10.
Carnival rides are $ 5 each, you buy tickets that are $ 1ea and most rides were 5 tickets. If you want to do the rides get an unlimited pass or go on $ 1 ride days (first day of fair was Wed 6÷18÷14 until 5pm).
Didn’t see the Livestock because we were there too late, same thing for Petting Zoo.
Before leaving go to the East Bay Regional Parks booth to get FREE pics taken, near Gate 8 entrance.
Best to stay the whole day, not only a few hours.

4.0 fairgrounds and exhibits
2.0 fairgrounds food
Hubby and I enjoy going to the various county fairs for the shopping pavilions. Vendors who offer unique and not so unique products and snack goodies.
The Alameda County Fair is one of the larger county fairs in the nine Bay Area counties. There’s a huge amusement ride area. And a horse race track. We were going to check it out but decided not to since we don’t know the first thing about how to pick a horse.
The food prices and the type of food for sale is enough to clog anyone’s arteries. I love corn dogs but was unwilling to pay $ 6 for a medium size one or $ 8 for a jumbo size dog. So I went over to the American Grill vendor. I wish I hadn’t. I order a grilled chicken sandwich for $ 8. The order taker takes my money and then says it’ll be a couple of minutes. I look over to the grill area and two guys are yakking and unloading the food inventory. There’s no one in the kitchen preparing food.
At this point I say I’ll switch to a burger if it’ll be quicker. Still I have to wait. What terrible service. And the beef patty was questionable. It’s a good thing I’ve taken my hepatitis A booster shot.
I get the burger and the onions and lettuce look suspicious. I toss both in the trash.
Bottom line — don’t have lunch there. Or any place at the fair. Highway robbery prices.
Hubby had a hot pastrami sandwich elsewhere. $ 10. Not the kind of deli pastrami meat but looked like package lunch meat.
$ 10 parking.