California State Fair 2026 – Amazing art and um, the food

I love the California State Fair with all its quirky and eccentric ways. It’s the unbelievably unhealthy food, the aggressive vendors, the arts and crafts area, the animal and farm exhibits and of course we have a whole area for both CBD and wine. The Fair is a real melting pot, with youth from city to farm, families, performers, and people of all stripes. Now that is so California.

Attendance was down this year and I hope the Fair attendance improves when it’s moved to the fall next year. There was a huuuuge improvement to the Crafts section (all manner of crafts from quilts to quilling plus Youth art) and we had a huge building to ourselves. You could actually see the quilts and they were for the most part well displayed. I was very disappointed to see most of the items were displayed without identification. That was fixed a few days later, but that was inexcusable. As a result, some of my photos below will not be shown with attribution to the maker.

I usually get ceviche, a healthy option….

but I succumbed to some good ole fried Zucchini:

I met a few new friends:

Reindeer! He was very friendly and very fuzzy.

I had to go to at least one demo! This was on Mexican food and it was delicious!

There is always spectacular art in the Fine Arts building:

And on to the quilts and garments

Youth art, one of my favorite areas. These are so adorable:

I had less photos than normal this year. My feet were telling me I needed to cut it short. It was a great visit, cool and lovely weather and lots of good art. Looking forward to next year!

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday