Kern County Fair “Best in the West” is returning Sept. 18 with many new additions. Michael Olcott, CEO of Kern County Fair, stated, “We have a lot of new exhibits coming on.”

People can expect to see Frisbee dogs, gold mining, a sand-castle exhibit called Sandscape, and the return of the elephants.

“People love to ride the elephants,” said Olcott.

Along with the return of the elephants, the Flume ride will be back to help fairgoers try to beat the heat. Olcott stated that the water ride was a big hit last year.

There will also be a new carnival attraction called Vertigo and some other additions for the Kid’s Carnival.

Olcott stated, “The number one reason that people come to the fair is the food.”

People can expect many new additions to the menu. One such addition many frequent fair goers will be excited about is the return of the deep fried Twinkie.

There will be many other deep fried options such as pickles, grilled cheese sandwiches, baked potatoes, pork chops on a stick, banana and pineapple bits, and even waffles on a stick.

“One of my favorites is the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it’s deep fried,” said Olcott.

Other than the deep fried options, there will be many other food items as well. Ceviche and shrimp tostadas, torpedo dogs, chocolate covered bacon, maple syrup and bacon funnel cake, roast beef sandwiches, and many others.

Olcott also mentioned that a lot of the more popular menu choices will be returning this year.  Some such items are smoothies, pizza, curly fries, barbecue, and even Mexican corn on the cob.

Along with the cooked items for purchase, there will also be a livestock auction to benefit the Community Action Partnership of Kern Food Bank.

“If people want to buy the animal from the auction, they can donate it to the CAPK and then the meat will end up going to a lot of the different homeless shelters and things that need food,” said Olcott.

Along with the “Fill the Need” project, Kern County Fair is also working on a canned food drive which will be held Sept. 4.

“It’s a one day thing where you get a free day in if you bring in four cans of food,” said Olcott.

Kern County Fair will also be participating with the “Pint for a Pass” project with Houchin Blood Bank, in which people will receive free passes into the fair for donating blood.

The traditional opening day parade will not be continuing this year.

“It’s a timing issue for people getting here, parking, and getting in line. Also, it’s an issue with security getting them down these streets with people crossing in front of the animals,” said Olcott.

People can expect to find many of the same exhibits that they return to the fair for every year, such as photography, mineral rocks, food contests, cooking shows, hypnotist shows, and, of course, concerts.

Opening night will start off with two big concerts.

“We will have Uncle Kracker on the Bud stage and Luis Miguel on the Coors Grand Stand Arena,” said Olcott.

“[Luis Miguel] is an entertainer out of Mexico. People should really buy tickets as soon as possible,” said Olcott. Tickets are priced $59 to $149.

There will be many other concerts throughout the 12 days of the fair. Some include Jo Dee Messina, REO Speedwagon, Starship, Lonestar, and many others. With the exception of the Luis Miguel show, all of the other concerts are free with admission.