Dog Show, Carnival, Cotton Candy--It’s County Fair Time

In what organizers envision as a temporary city dedicated to fun, the Los Angeles County Fair will open Friday in Pomona, complete with a carnival, rodeo, circus, dog show and a mascot pig named Thummer.

The fair has expanded in size and scope over previous years, fair spokesman Sid Robinson said, and will include traditional and innovative attractions. Livestock shows, cook-offs, and arts and crafts displays will abound, but there will also be a wine competition, a replica of the space shuttle Discovery and a working monorail system to transport visitors around the fairgrounds.

To accommodate the more than a million visitors expected, the 487-acre site includes two fire stations, a police headquarters, a first aid center, a child-care center, a post office and bank. A race meeting featuring thoroughbreds and other breeds will also operate from Sept. 13 to Oct. 1.

“It definitely is a city,” Robinson said.

The 1990 edition marks the fair’s 63rd year. The fair opened in 1922 and has been held every year since then, except for a five-year period when the site was used as an internment center for Japanese-Americans during World War II.