Southern California Fair | |
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Dates | About 9 days in early October |
Location(s) | Perris, California, United States |
Years active | 1913–16; 1918–41; 1945–2019; 2021–, officially SoCal Fair since 1918 [1] |
Attendance | 122,500 in 2013 [2] |
Website | Southern California Fair |
The Southern California Fair is an annual fair held at the Lake Perris Fairgrounds in Perris, California, United States. The event features amusement rides, food concessions, competitive exhibits, carnival games, motorized events, live performances and more. The fair started in 1913 as the Riverside County Fair and has been held at its current location since 1987.
The Perris Auto Speedway is a racetrack that opened in 1996. [3]
The fair was not held in 1917, 1942–44 or in 2020.
Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, with Los Angeles County in the center, and Orange County to the southeast. The Los Angeles–Anaheim–Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) covers 33,954 square miles (87,940 km2), making it the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area. The contiguous urban area is 2,281 square miles (5,910 km2), whereas the remainder mostly consists of mountain and desert areas. With a population of 18.4 million in 2024, it is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, behind New York, as well as one of the largest megacities in the world.
Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's population centers. The city's population was 208,634 at the 2020 census. Moreno Valley is also part of the greater Los Angeles area.
Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located 71 miles (114 km) east-southeast of Los Angeles and 81 miles (130 km) north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, an artificial lake, skydiving, Southern California Railway Museum, and its sunny dry climate. Perris is within the Inland Empire metropolitan area of Southern California. Perris had a population of 78,700 as of the 2020 census.
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and in Riverside County, and is about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is also part of the Greater Los Angeles area. Riverside is the 59th-most-populous city in the United States and the 12th-most-populous city in California. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 314,998. Along with San Bernardino, Riverside is a principal city in the nation's 13th-largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA ranks in population just below San Francisco (4,749,008) and above Detroit (4,392,041).
Metrolink is a commuter rail system in Southern California, serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, as well as to Oceanside in San Diego County. The system consists of eight lines and 69 stations operating on 545.6 miles (878.1 km) of track. This includes Arrow, which Metrolink operates under a contract with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA).
Auto Club Speedway was a 2.000 mi (3.219 km), D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It hosted National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) racing annually from 1997 until 2023. It was also previously used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack was located 47 mi (76 km) east of Los Angeles and was near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track was last owned and operated by NASCAR. The speedway was served by the nearby Interstates 10 and 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Riverside International Raceway was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside and 50 mi (80 km) east of Los Angeles, in 1957. In 1984, the raceway became part of the newly incorporated city of Moreno Valley. Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment, which was a dangerous challenge for drivers. It was also considered one of the finest tracks in the United States. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989, with the last race, The Budweiser 400, won by Rusty Wallace, held in 1988. After that final race, a shortened version of the circuit was kept open for car clubs and special events until 1989.
Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a 500-mile (800 km) oval stock car races; NHRA for drag races; and FIA for Formula One road course races. Additionally, several motorcycle races were held at the track. Constructed in less than two years, the track opened in August 1970 and was considered state of the art at the time.
The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a commuter rail route operated by Metrolink that runs from Los Angeles to Perris in Southern California, mostly paralleling State Route 91 between Riverside-Downtown and Buena Park stations. Operating since May 2002, the route runs on the Southern Transcon line owned by BNSF Railway, as well as the Riverside County Transportation Commission-owned San Jacinto Branch Line. Services are primarily operated along the entire route between L.A. Union Station and Perris–South, while some trips use Riverside–Downtown as a terminus.
Ascot Park, first named Los Angeles Speedway and later New Ascot Stadium, was a dirt racetrack located near Gardena, California. Ascot Park was open between 1957 and 1990. The track held numerous United States Auto Club (USAC) national tour races and three NASCAR Grand National races. The Turkey Night Grand Prix was held at the track for several decades.
The Press-Enterprise is a paid daily newspaper published by Digital First Media that serves the Inland Empire in Southern California. Headquartered in downtown Riverside, California, it is the primary newspaper for Riverside County, with heavy penetration into neighboring San Bernardino County. The geographic circulation area of the newspaper spans from the border of Orange County to the west, east to the Coachella Valley, north to the San Bernardino Mountains, and south to the San Diego County line. The Press-Enterprise is a member of the Southern California News Group.
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego, California.
The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving night most years since 1934, where it was founded by Earl Gilmore at his Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles. It stayed at this location until 1950. Since that time it has been held at various southern California race tracks. Since 1955, the race has been promoted by J. C. Agajanian and later his descendants, currently by son Cary. Traditionally a dirt track event, it has sometimes been on asphalt during the turn of the 21st century, although it returned to dirt in 2012. The feature race was held over 98 laps in the modern era, the same number that Agajanian used for his racecars.
Riverside–La Sierra station is a Metrolink commuter rail train station in the La Sierra South neighborhood of Riverside, California, United States. Due to its large parking lot, it is the second-largest station served by Metrolink in surface area, after Union Station. La Sierra University is located a few miles from the station.
Riverside–Downtown station is a train station in Riverside, California, United States. It is served by three Metrolink commuter rail lines – the 91/Perris Valley Line, Inland Empire–Orange County Line, and Riverside Line – and Amtrak intercity rail service on the Southwest Chief. The station is owned by the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
The Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM) was a non-profit corporation, located in Riverside, California, dedicated to "Preserving the memory of California's rich motorsports heritage". Primary museum exhibits included memorabilia and artifacts from the Riverside International Raceway, the Ontario Motor Speedway, and local racing champion Dan Gurney. In June 2016, the museum closed following the death of Doug Magnon in 2015, one of the founders. The vehicle collection was sold in two different auctions in 2016, based on a decision by the Board of Directors.
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.
The Inland Empire is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Orange County to the west and San Diego County to the south. The bulk of the population is centered in the cities of northwestern Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County, and is sometimes considered to include the desert communities of the Coachella and Victor Valleys, respectively on the other sides of the San Gorgonio Pass and San Bernardino Mountains from the Santa Ana River watershed that forms the bulk of the Inland Empire; a much broader definition includes all of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The combined land area of the counties of the Inland Empire is larger than ten U.S. states—West Virginia, Maryland, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.
Perris–Downtown station, also known as the Perris Station Transit Center, is a transport hub in Perris, California, that opened on January 11, 2010, with an eight-bay bus platform used by the Riverside Transit Agency. Train service to the station began on June 6, 2016, with the 91/Perris Valley Line extension of the Metrolink commuter rail system. It is located near the historic Perris Depot.