'Double-booked:' X Games timing slowed prep for Ventura County Fair

The race is on to replace the X Games’ dirt BMX tracks and skateboard ramps with deep-fried Snickers, racing pigs and exhibit buildings packed with everything from table-settings to apple cobbler.

The Ventura County Fair launches Aug. 2. That's just 10 days after the X Games summer finals ended at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, and the pressure to switch gears is, well, extreme.

“We were supposed to be here two weeks ago setting up,” said Debbie Bayer, volunteer chairperson of clothing and textiles in the fair’s home arts departments. She and another volunteer complained at a Ventura County Fairgrounds Board of Directors meeting Tuesday that the X Games meant exhibit organizers were kept out of their buildings, putting fair preparations on hold.

“Any event planner knows you don’t double-book a venue,” she said after the meeting. “They double-booked the fairgrounds.”

Hundreds of fair exhibits began to arrive this week as work crews dismantled the X Games in efforts expected to run until 5 p.m. Thursday. Carnival rides sat stacked in the corner of the fairgrounds parking lot on Tuesday, waiting for the clean-up to be completed.

“We’ve had some long, sleepless nights but we’re going to get there,” said Jim "Cowboy" Howell, fairgrounds maintenance supervisor. He addressed concerns that safety will be compromised in the rush schedule, noting that carnival crews need three to five days to safely prepare.

“We’ll still have six or seven days,” he said, noting that all rides will need to pass inspections. Howell also praised X Games crews for working with fairgrounds staff.

Other fair leaders acknowledged the schedule pressure that came from the X Games but cited the marketing value of the attention generated by national television coverage. They pointed at the revenue brought to the fairgrounds.

The X Games paid $87,500 in rent and the fairgrounds will gain another nearly $140,000 for labor, equipment and a cut of admissions. Additional monies will come from parking, food and alcohol sales, said Jason Amelio, fairgrounds sales manager.

X Games officials said more than 51,143 people attended the three-day finals with a sellout crowd of about 23,000 on Saturday. But the unofficial counts for paid attendance were less, at 29,500 for three days, according to Amelio.

Willie Smith-Kennedy, another home arts fair volunteer, told the fairgrounds board she understood the benefits of the internationally branded X Games. She also offered advice.

“Don’t schedule the X Games for around fair time,” she said.

Nothing has been finalized for next year but discussions over bringing the X Games back have begun, said fairgrounds CEO Jen McGuire, adding she is pushing for the event to be scheduled several weeks earlier.

Fair preparations involving horses, livestock and other animals are complicated by an equine virus outbreak across Southern California.

A month ago, state officials reported one confirmed and one suspected case of vesicular stomatitis virus in Ventura County. That count has risen to five confirmed cases with three of them still active and another 15 suspected cases of the virus as of Tuesday, said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Ventura officials want to see X Games return

The virus is not often fatal for animals but is highly contagious and is believed to be spread through contact with an infected animal or by flies. It most commonly infects horses but can impact cattle, swine, sheep and goats.

The virus has brought the cancellation of some of the fair's horse events, including ranch riding and team sorting. A team-roping event is still on tap and so are the rodeos set for Aug. 11-13.

McGuire said protocols will be employed to minimize chances of the virus spreading. Owners and exhibitors of animals, including those shown by youth in the livestock auction, will be asked for health certificates. Animals will also be likely subject to onsite examinations.

The fair will run 12 days and will include an expanded local craft beer and wine garden outside the floriculture building, also featuring acoustic music performers. There will be camels on display, more carnival rides, a massive petting zoo and about three dozen new concession vendors.

About $320,000 worth of advance tickets have been sold so far, officials said, a dramatic rise from the $89,000 in sales at the same time a year ago. The fair was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amelio said fairgrounds security has also been changed with a new high-tech scanning system being used and three private companies being contracted to work the fair. A year ago,  $572,000 was stolen from a safe in an administration building in the middle of the fair.

In another change, all cars and pedestrians will have to enter the fair via Figueroa Street. The Garden Street entry will be closed because of safety reasons that include its proximity to running trains, Amelio said.

The fairgrounds board meeting on Tuesday was also the first in at least three years to include a full roster of nine board directors. Miriam Mack and Guillermo Ceja Jr. both made their first appearance on the board after being appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month.

Mack, of Ventura, served as executive director of the nonprofit, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Ventura County from 2012 to 2015 and previously worked in city government in Santa Monica, Culver City and Ventura. Ceja, of Port Hueneme, is a union president with LiUNA Laborers Local 585. Both are Democrats.

For more information on the fair, go to https://venturacountyfair.org/.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Summer X Games slowed down prep for Ventura County Fair