Pima County fair
What to know before you go
The Pima County Fair, located off Houghton just south of I10, is happing in Tucson this year from April 20th - 30th 2023. The fairgrounds opens weekdays (mon-fri) from 3pm to 11pm and on weekends (sat-sun) from 11am-11pm. The price per Adult is $11. Kids under 5 are free! Youth, Military, and Seniors are all $6. You can purchase tickets ahead of time here. However, in my many years of going to the fair they have never “sold out” and getting tickets at the gate has been easy! Parking is $7. There are 3 parking lots. The Red lot off of Dawn road, the Green lot off of Rita road and the Blue lot off of Houghton road! To skip traffic at the end of the night avoid parking in the Blue Lot! It is the main entrance and will see the heaviest traffic coming and going! On very busy nights traffic may be rerouted and limit you to only making a right out of the lot, taking you the opposite direction of the freeway!
Discount Days!
Take a look at Discount days before you go! This is another reason I prefer to buy my tickets in person, rather than in advance online.
Sun, April 23 and Sun, April 30 Free Admission until noon with three cans of unopened, non-persihable food, benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona
Mon, April 24 $6 admission, plus free wheel rides for fair goers 55+!
Rides the right way
Rides and games can actually be the most costly part of the fair experience! Buying ride tickets from the booths at the fair is a rookie mistake. These tickets are overpriced!!! There are two much better options, but you’ll have to plan ahead!
Option 1 is wristband days! Wristbands are $40 and allow you unlimited rides from open to close (3pm-11pm). Wristbands are only good for 3 of the days so you have to plan ahead which day you plan to go! Wristband days are Thurs, April 20, Wed, April 26th and Thurs, April 27. To get $5 off your wristband bring in an unopened 20oz bottle of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, or Zero Sugar Pepsi.
Option 2 is to purchase Fun Passes! A fun pass is good for 10 rides for $20!! These means you’re only spending $2 a ride! They also have game fun passes, 10 games for $20. They can only be used weekdays (mon-fri). These are only sold before the fair start date so you have to plan to buy ahead of time to make sure you have them! They stop selling this year on April 19th, the day before the fair begins. You can purchase them here. I personally prefer this option to wristbands. Wristband nights get so hectic that even with unlimited rides, you only get the chance to ride 5-6 because of the length of the lines. I recommend going on a Monday, Tuesday or Friday night!
Concerts
The fair concerts are always a big hit! Concerts Thurs - Sat nights begin at 8pm and begin at 7:30 Sun - Wed nights. The concerts take place on the main Budweiser Stage located behind the carousel. If you enter through the main gate and walk straight back you’ll walk right to it. If you enter from the Green Lot parking lot, you’ll be let in right beside the concert area. Unless you spend $20 to upgrade to the bleacher seating, seating is first come first serve. People will start securing a place to stand as early as an hour before the concert begins deepening on how popular the artist is. If you aren’t going to the show, popular artist concert nights can be a great time for rides! The midway will be very busy up until the concert starts, but once it begins all the people go to the show and it can be a great time to catch a shorter line for rides!
Featured artists at the fair this year include: Lil Jon, Joe Nichols, Ying Yang Twins, Dirty Heads and Laberinto. Click here for a full list of artists and/or to upgrade your concert experience.
But wait, there’s more!
The fair is more than just fun concerts, great food, and exhilarating rides. The fair also has many exhibits and shows throughout. During the day you can check out reptile exhibits, visit the petting zoo, watch the sea lion show and even see lions or tigers some years! There are also two large barns filled with all sorts of animals from rabbits to lamas, to cows and horses. There are 3 main halls (large buildings with super interesting things inside). Old Pueblo hall features 4-H, Art, and NASA exhibits. A must see for the kids! Pima Hall has a neat animal exhibit and also has a kiddie corral, a mothers area, and a changing station. Thurber Hall is where you’ll want to do your shopping! It’s filled with many diverse vendors!
During the weekday mornings you’ll want to head to the barns and watch the 4-H kids show their livestock projects. The fair is the most important time of year for these kids. It’s what they spend all year working towards with their animals. Go show them some support and watch a show or two!
I was one of these 4-H kids and the fair will always hold a special place in my heart! I hope these tips and tricks will help you all have an amazing and memorable fair experience for years to come!
If you found this blog, but aren’t from Tucson, Check out my website for places to stay and come check out the Pima County Fair!!