The Antelope Valley Fair Puts Music in the Forefront

The 82nd Antelope Valley Fair, a five-day event held at The Antelope Valley Fair & Event Center in Lancaster CA concluded September 29th, with music as its centerpiece. This year the theme was “Hay It's a Moosical Fair,” which was conceptualized with Lancaster High School's Audio Visual & Engineering students.
Fair admission was priced at $15 for adults; $9 for juniors and seniors. Kids under 5 were admitted free as were active military members with ID.
Helm and Sons provided the carnival midway for the fair, with advance sale $35 ride wristbands as well as WOW passes, that allowed front-of-the-line riding, priced at $55. After the fair began, carnival wristband pricing was $55 and $75 respectively. On Thursday, the fair offered a Pay-One-Gate Day with admission to all carnival rides and the fair itself priced at $25. Seniors could purchase discounted tickets, but sans carnival rides.
Some attendance aspects were new for the fair this year. All attendees under the age of 18 had to be accompanied by a chaperone 21 or older to enter the fairgrounds, with chaperons allowed to supervise up to 5 minors. This policy held throughout all the fair's operating hours. Fair staff report that “People felt extremely safe and secure, which added to the overall
enjoyment…” of the event.
Also new was the run time of the fair itself, which was shortened to five days. Antelope Valley Fair Association president Angie Hughes says the decision to shorten the event was “long and complicated…but one we ultimately feel will benefit the community.” The fair association partnered with the city of the Lancaster's spring Poppy Festival providing the “two events at different times during the year which increases the chances that the community will be able to attend” one event or the other.
While shortened in run time, the five-day fall event was packed with “more entertainment, exhibits and animals” than previously, according to Hughes.
Helm and Sons brought a new carnival ride to the fairgrounds, their impressive new Diamond Ferris Wheel, which was purchased from Lambrink this year. The company held an online contest allowing followers to guess the wheel's height in order to win fair admission tickets. For those who didn't play and win, it stands 110 feet tall, and has 20 ride gondolas. Additionally, per Helm and Sons “We also had a photo contest with the grand prize a Diamond package of 50 VIP wristbands to the winner.” All the prize winner needed to do was take a photo with the new wheel and submit it to the company's social media comment section.
While the Diamond Wheel was a stellar attraction, also popular were Alien Abduction, the extreme thrills of Blackout, the Zipper, Medusa, and Big Splash. The company's top kiddie rides included the Frog Hopper, Merry-Go-Round, Saddle Up, and a kid's Ferris Wheel. Both the carnival rides themselves and the games on the midway were paid for using Magic Money cards rather than ride tickets.
Educational animal exhibits were also popular, including llamas – and a llama competition, dairy cows and bottle-fed baby calves, sheep, ducks, goats, sows, and adorable piglets. These exhibits expanded this year with an emphasis on interactive and educational experiences for families. According to Hughes, “The barns were busier than ever…we saw a tremendous surge in visitors, with guests spending nearly twice as much time exploring the exhibits” versus interest in such animal exhibits in previous years.
These hands-on exhibits offered the opportunity for fairgoers to experience everything from butter making to learning about goats and climbing a hay bale “goat mountain.” These educational exhibits were run by the young members of Antelope Valley local organizations including 4H and FFA.
Hughes noted that “This new format offers a unique experience that complements our April livestock exhibits.” She describes the offerings as not “better” per se, but “different” from the springtime events, with a variety of hands-on activities. Among the memorable occurrences were the hatching of nine baby chicks who made their appearance during the fair's five days.
These exhibits took the place of the Junior Livestock Show and Auction that's now being held in the spring as a part of the poppy festival. The popular Monster Trucks and Demolition Derby arena events have also been moved to the spring event.
Other exhibits were also a strong draw, from home arts to farm & garden, a junior dog show, and open poultry and rabbit competitions.
And when it came to food, it was plentiful and varied, with local food trucks offering a wide variety of options, along with standard fair treats such as extremely popular BBQ, corn dogs, cotton candy, and funnel cakes. Nachos, tacos, Lucky Luke Cinnamon Rolls, fried zucchini, grilled cheese sandwiches, almond-toffee-coated pretzels, curly fries with cheese, grilled meat and veggie kebabs, and bacon-wrapped sausages were among the hits.
As to the fair's major musical attractions, which Hughes noted included “the addition of top-tier performers” this year, all concerts offered free grandstand seating with fair admission.. Shows included acts as diverse as the multi-platinum hip hot artist Wiz Khalifa and country pop star Walker Hayes, along with Nelly, Tanner Adell, and a double header of Jefferson Starship with the Spazmatics. Luis Ángel Franco. aka El Flaco, was also present, performing hit banda music. Grandstand attendance was packed for all shows, with two of the events completely sold out. But if free grandstand seating wasn't fairgoers' jam, gold circle and floor seats were available for additional purchase. Prices for this seating ranged from $5.50–$27.50 for Jefferson Starship to $55-$104.50 for Wiz Khalifa.

Hughes adds that the fair team was “incredibly excited about this year's fair and our fantastic concert lineup.”
While attendance numbers are not yet in for this year, based on the packed grandstand seating and busy carnival lines, fair officials say all signs point to an increase in attendance for the fall iteration of the fair. Already being planned, the 2025 Antelope Valley Fair theme will be “A Pigture Perfect Fair” and will run September 24–28 next year.
Fair admission was priced at $15 for adults; $9 for juniors and seniors. Kids under 5 were admitted free as were active military members with ID.
Helm and Sons provided the carnival midway for the fair, with advance sale $35 ride wristbands as well as WOW passes, that allowed front-of-the-line riding, priced at $55. After the fair began, carnival wristband pricing was $55 and $75 respectively. On Thursday, the fair offered a Pay-One-Gate Day with admission to all carnival rides and the fair itself priced at $25. Seniors could purchase discounted tickets, but sans carnival rides.
Some attendance aspects were new for the fair this year. All attendees under the age of 18 had to be accompanied by a chaperone 21 or older to enter the fairgrounds, with chaperons allowed to supervise up to 5 minors. This policy held throughout all the fair's operating hours. Fair staff report that “People felt extremely safe and secure, which added to the overall
enjoyment…” of the event.
Also new was the run time of the fair itself, which was shortened to five days. Antelope Valley Fair Association president Angie Hughes says the decision to shorten the event was “long and complicated…but one we ultimately feel will benefit the community.” The fair association partnered with the city of the Lancaster's spring Poppy Festival providing the “two events at different times during the year which increases the chances that the community will be able to attend” one event or the other.
While shortened in run time, the five-day fall event was packed with “more entertainment, exhibits and animals” than previously, according to Hughes.
Helm and Sons brought a new carnival ride to the fairgrounds, their impressive new Diamond Ferris Wheel, which was purchased from Lambrink this year. The company held an online contest allowing followers to guess the wheel's height in order to win fair admission tickets. For those who didn't play and win, it stands 110 feet tall, and has 20 ride gondolas. Additionally, per Helm and Sons “We also had a photo contest with the grand prize a Diamond package of 50 VIP wristbands to the winner.” All the prize winner needed to do was take a photo with the new wheel and submit it to the company's social media comment section.
While the Diamond Wheel was a stellar attraction, also popular were Alien Abduction, the extreme thrills of Blackout, the Zipper, Medusa, and Big Splash. The company's top kiddie rides included the Frog Hopper, Merry-Go-Round, Saddle Up, and a kid's Ferris Wheel. Both the carnival rides themselves and the games on the midway were paid for using Magic Money cards rather than ride tickets.

Educational animal exhibits were also popular, including llamas – and a llama competition, dairy cows and bottle-fed baby calves, sheep, ducks, goats, sows, and adorable piglets. These exhibits expanded this year with an emphasis on interactive and educational experiences for families. According to Hughes, “The barns were busier than ever…we saw a tremendous surge in visitors, with guests spending nearly twice as much time exploring the exhibits” versus interest in such animal exhibits in previous years.
These hands-on exhibits offered the opportunity for fairgoers to experience everything from butter making to learning about goats and climbing a hay bale “goat mountain.” These educational exhibits were run by the young members of Antelope Valley local organizations including 4H and FFA.
Hughes noted that “This new format offers a unique experience that complements our April livestock exhibits.” She describes the offerings as not “better” per se, but “different” from the springtime events, with a variety of hands-on activities. Among the memorable occurrences were the hatching of nine baby chicks who made their appearance during the fair's five days.
These exhibits took the place of the Junior Livestock Show and Auction that's now being held in the spring as a part of the poppy festival. The popular Monster Trucks and Demolition Derby arena events have also been moved to the spring event.
Other exhibits were also a strong draw, from home arts to farm & garden, a junior dog show, and open poultry and rabbit competitions.
And when it came to food, it was plentiful and varied, with local food trucks offering a wide variety of options, along with standard fair treats such as extremely popular BBQ, corn dogs, cotton candy, and funnel cakes. Nachos, tacos, Lucky Luke Cinnamon Rolls, fried zucchini, grilled cheese sandwiches, almond-toffee-coated pretzels, curly fries with cheese, grilled meat and veggie kebabs, and bacon-wrapped sausages were among the hits.

As to the fair's major musical attractions, which Hughes noted included “the addition of top-tier performers” this year, all concerts offered free grandstand seating with fair admission.. Shows included acts as diverse as the multi-platinum hip hot artist Wiz Khalifa and country pop star Walker Hayes, along with Nelly, Tanner Adell, and a double header of Jefferson Starship with the Spazmatics. Luis Ángel Franco. aka El Flaco, was also present, performing hit banda music. Grandstand attendance was packed for all shows, with two of the events completely sold out. But if free grandstand seating wasn't fairgoers' jam, gold circle and floor seats were available for additional purchase. Prices for this seating ranged from $5.50–$27.50 for Jefferson Starship to $55-$104.50 for Wiz Khalifa.

Hughes adds that the fair team was “incredibly excited about this year's fair and our fantastic concert lineup.”
While attendance numbers are not yet in for this year, based on the packed grandstand seating and busy carnival lines, fair officials say all signs point to an increase in attendance for the fall iteration of the fair. Already being planned, the 2025 Antelope Valley Fair theme will be “A Pigture Perfect Fair” and will run September 24–28 next year.

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