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There’s still time to do these 6 things at The Big Fresno Fair

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Sarah Soghomonian

TV Producer and fan of all things fabulous.Bulldog Born, Bulldog Bred!

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The Big Fresno Fair is more than carnival rides and deep-fried food. There’s so much to do and see.

If you haven’t made it out to the fairgrounds yet this year, don’t worry—you still have time. The fair runs through Sunday, Oct. 15.

Here are six things you don’t want to miss before the fair ends.

six things Big Fresno Fair

Many people go to The Big Fresno Fair for food, but there’s so much more to see and do.

1. Big (and Small) Entertainment

The Paul Paul Theater is the go-to place for big-name acts at the fair. This week, you can enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls, Ice Cube, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, and more. I recently previewed this year’s concert line-up, so this time around I want to fill you in on some of the smaller entertainment acts you can enjoy at the fair.

The Pavilion Stage in the center of the fairgrounds has different acts throughout the day. Hypnotist Catherine Hickland performs daily and always gets a big crowd. Steve the Pretty Good Magician is entertaining families through Tuesday, and The Marshall Artist Speed Painter is doing his thing through Friday.

The Pavilion Stage is also where you will find local acts. For example, the Roosevelt High School Orchestra performs Friday and Cheer Force Central Valley takes the stage on Saturday.

You can see the entire list of performances here, or be sure to grab a fair guide at the entrance.

six things Big Fresno Fair

The grandstand is where you’ll find live horse racing.

2. Live Horse Racing

The Big Fresno Fair has something most fairs don’t have: live horse racing! The fun takes place at the Brian I. Tatarian Grandstand. You can place a bet for as little as $1. Post time is at 1:45 on weekdays at 12:45 on the weekends. There’s no racing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It’s free to get into the races on the ground floor, but you’ll pay $5 for a reserved seat. Get more info about horse racing here.

six things Big Fresno Fair

The Fine Arts and Photography Building is where you’ll find work from local artists.

3. Awesome Local Exhibits

The Big Fresno Fair is all about celebrating all things Fresno County, including the talents of its residents. People like you and me can enter into exhibition things we make and grow.

You’ll find just about every kind of fruit and vegetable in the Agriculture Building. And the Fine Arts and Photography Building is full of amazing paintings, sculptures, and photographs.

six things Big Fresno Fair

Yours truly is a big Blue Ribbon winner. That’s right: I’m an award winning baker! 🙂

six things Big Fresno Fair

Junior Exhibits is located close to the Butler gate. It’s a must see.

The Greenhouse is where folks with a green thumb show off their horticulture talents. Home Arts is full of baked breads, cookies, and crafts.

Junior Exhibits showcases the work of Fresno County students—everything from art projects to welding.

Go inside and get inspired. Next year, your entries might bring home a blue ribbon! (Check out my article on how to show your arts and crafts at next year’s Big Fresno Fair here.)

six things Big Fresno Fair

The Big Fresno Fair is also about learning the history of Fresno County and the fair itself.

4. Fresno County Historical Museum & Big Fresno Fair Museum

There’s a lot of history at the Big Fresno Fair. The Fresno County Historical Museum is a two-story, 14-thousand square foot building that tells the story of our region. It’s jam-packed with memorabilia. Go inside and learn about Fresno County’s rich sports, agriculture, and military traditions.

The Big Fresno Fair Museum tells the history of our fair. You’ll even spot a 1909 Blue Ribbon. How cool is that?!

six things Big Fresno Fair

Livestock is a big part of The Big Fresno Fair tradition.

5. Junior Livestock Auction

City folks may forget that there are lots of smaller cities and towns that make up Fresno County, and that many are rich in agriculture. 4-H and FFA students ages 9 to 19 take part in the Jr. Livestock Auction on Saturday, Oct. 14.

These students select, purchase, feed, and groom livestock to be judged, graded, and sold at the fair. The money raised goes towards future animals projects and, in many cases, their college fund.

6. Fair Food

What’s a fair without food?! The Big Fresno Fair has several new food options, including Eddie’s Asian-Inspired Cuisine. Located on the northeast side of the Fine Arts and Photography Building, the stand sells noodles, rice bows, and won tons.

six things Big Fresno Fair

The Gingerbread Shop is also new to the fair this year. Located on the east side of the Commerce Building, you’ll find pies and other goodies. There are even gluten-free options.

And, of course, favorites like Chicken Charlie’s, Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ, and Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls are on hand to fill you up!

six things Big Fresno Fair

Again, you have until Sunday (almost a full week!) to enjoy everything the Big Fresno Fair has to offer. To learn more about the fair, visit FresnoFair.com.

There’s More Than Art to Experience at ArtHop

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JoAnn Hallum

Houseplant killing optimist- freelance writer -kid herder

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A while back I wrote a beginner’s guide to ArtHop and I focused on venues to view local art and meet artists. However, I’ve realized lately there’s more to ArtHop than the art.

ArtHop has become (or has been for awhile) an interactive, all-encompassing experience. It’s not just wine and works of art anymore (which in itself is worth going out on the town for). There’s music, dancing, workshops, and gatherings all happening, and more and more ways for you to feed your artistic energy whether you consider yourself an art fan or not.

Tonight is a great night to experience what the Downtown/Tower District ArtHop has to offer in the way of these interactive experiences. Below, I’ve listed some of the cool, not-art things going on in and around ArtHop venues. If you want to also see some art while you’re out, check out arts critic Donald Munro’s “5 picks for July ArtHop.”

more than art at art hop

Cupcake and Succulent Workshops at Tree of Life

*Note: Due to a broken air conditioner, this event has been rescheduled for Aug. 3.

Tree of Life is a restaurant on Kern Street. It’s not a studio or gallery, but its ArtHop game is strong. Tonight it will offer several workshops, including its first-ever cupcake bar.

Tickets are available in advance for the cupcake bar, or you can buy one the day of ArtHop. You not only get a cupcake, you can customize it by flavor, icing, and toppings. As part of the cupcake cost, House Manager Sandra will show you how to decorate your cupcake to Instagram-worthy levels, making you the envy of your millennial friends (they really go in for that stuff).

If cupcakes aren’t your thing, or you think “I like cupcakes but I can’t go another day without more succulents in my life,” there are other workshops available. You can sign up to make a moss mini-scape, a succulent garden, or even homemade peach jam. These workshops all come with dinner and a cupcake, and materials and instructions are included in the cost.

Finally, you can show your Fresno pride with a hand-printed t-shirt or tote created by you with help from the good folks at Urban Crow Apparel, who use traditional printmaking techniques (check out their shirt with the Pacific Southwest Building on it here).

For more information on these workshops, check out the Facebook event page here, or purchase tickets here.

Transforming ArtHop Into Lindy Hop

more than art at art hop

Hop on over to the Cultural Arts District Park on ArtHop to Lindy Hop

Even if you feel like a dead hoofer, there’s still hope for your dancing skills with instruction from the Fresno Swing Dance organization. At 8 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Park, you can enjoy swing dancing, swing music, and grub from food trucks such as Raw Fresno. This is a free event (you’ll have to buy your own food, of course), so even if you’re too shy to put on your dancing shoes, you can show up and watch the dancers evoke an older era in one of Fresno’s newest parks.

For more info on this event, check out the Facebook event page here.

Play That Funky Music, DJ

Perhaps you feel like Thursday nights aren’t complete without live music. If this is the case, be sure to make time in your evening to visit Gazebo Gardens, which is home to a beer garden and visiting food trucks, to listen to the sounds of Acoustic Soul.

Also tonight, Root General will have bootleg Peanuts posters available as well as music from DJ Nesto and DJ Don D. Word is, there will be a Peanuts-inspired quesadilla by Quesadilla Gorilla available as well.

And nearby, K-Jewel Art Gallery will have Chris Janzen’s Jazz Ensemble on hand to entertain art (and music) lovers. More info on this event here.

more than art at art hop

Music at Root General on an ArtHop night

Make A Toast to Thursday

Finally, Fresno’s brewery scene is hopping during tonight’s ArtHop as well (see what I did there?).

At Full Circle Brewing Co, you can sample the beer made by graduates of the Beer U program—a course in which students learn about the craft beer industry. It’s a great way to enjoy a cold one and keep craft beer crafty in Fresno. For more details on this, check out the event page here.

Over on Fulton St., Tioga-Sequioa Brewing Co. will have music, vendors, food trucks, and a new brew to celebrate their “Arts and Hops” event. This month’s beer will be Jungle Juice West Coast IPA, and it sounds like fruity deliciousness. Here’s the event page if you want more information.

 

So there you have it—there’s really no shortage of art, activities, music, and food to be had at ArtHop, which is really transforming into Awesome Hop.

If you’re looking for even more entertainment options, check out the Downtown Partnership July Newsletter here, and be sure to check the ArtHop Events Facebook page here.  Happy Hopping!

The Munro Review Keeps Arts Coverage Alive in Fresno

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Jason Farris

Head YES man at FresYes.com
I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES

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When Donald Munro revealed last week he was leaving The Fresno Bee, the arts community let out a collective shocked gasp. Who was going to keep Fresnans informed about theater, opera, and art performances in the area? Was this it for arts coverage, and — worse — local arts itself?

Turns out: nope. Yesterday, Munro announced The Munro Review, his new blog dedicated to “connecting, sharing and valuing the arts in the central San Joaquin Valley.”

In his first post, Munro went into more detail about his decision to leave the Bee (essentially, McClatchy’s decision to significantly cut local arts in favor of clickbait coverage left him no choice but to accept a buyout), as well as his plans for The Munro Review.

While this is welcome news to everyone who values the arts, the disappearance of Munro’s content from our local newspaper is still a huge loss. Although the Bee will continue to cover the arts, it’s clear it won’t receive the care and attention it did under Munro’s tenure.

Heather Parish, executive director of the Rogue Festival, summed up the importance of Munro’s work in her post, Donald Munro’s Contribution to Fresno Theater is Immeasurable – Clicks or No Clicks: “Art is a conversation and arts journalism is one important way that conversation is facilitated.”

Lucky for Fresno, Munro has decided to keep that conversation going.

FresYes People – From Performer to Producer: Rogue’s Jonathon Hogan

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Kendra Gilbert

Writer at FresYes.com
Kendra Gilbert is a writer born and raised in Clovis. She has written for publications from Boston to Los Angeles and loves writing about fashion and people most of all. The abbreviated list of things she enjoys outside of writing includes: thrifting, photography, harmonica, beer, movies, hiking and skee ball.
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What’s your idea of pillow talk? Without going into too much detail, it’s probably a playful back-and-forth that includes key words like “sexy” and “baby.” But, does it ever involve breathy whispers about producing a fringe arts festival? Or discussion of artists’ general aversion to prompt e-mail communication or a fundraising brainstorming session? Probably not.

That is, unless you’re the husband-and-wife Rogue Festival producing duo Jonathon Hogan and Barbara Coy-Hogan. In the weeks leading up to the festival, which is going on now through March 7, it was all Rogue, all the time. Or so said Jonathon when I sat down with not too long ago at Mia Cuppa Caffe in the Tower District.

He’d probably like me to talk more about the Rogue Festival and less about his bedtime chitchat, so here it goes. This is the 14th year of the Rogue, held, as it has been for most of its history, at venues (both traditional and non-traditional) throughout the Tower. And while the acts vary each year, that eclectic mix of dance, comedy, fine arts, theater and music that Rogue is known for is firmly intact in 2015.

You’ve got acts like Shane “Scurvy” Spears’ “Wet-wired for Weird,” whatever that means. And Annette Roman’s show about her bond with a pair of unusual pets; I’m intrigued, and scared. There’s also Benjamin Boone’s “The Poetry of Jazz,” which is pretty straightforward. And, on a sidenote, anyone interested in purchasing a one-way ticket to crazy town should do so from Les Kurkendaal, whose comedy show is a race against the clock to get his mother to remember who he is. How they end up in crazy town, well, I guess all will be revealed at the show.

For more information on all things Rogue, check out the festival’s website.