{"id":398154,"date":"2026-07-14T17:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398154\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:45:08","slug":"get-free-california-state-fair-tickets-on-giving-fridays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398154\/","title":{"rendered":"Get free California State Fair tickets on Giving Fridays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The California State Fair is right around the corner, starting this coming Friday and running through Aug. 2 with a series of concerts, carnival rides and food options to explore \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/castatefair.com\/smud-giving-fridays-at-the-fair\/\">and there\u2019s a deal being offered<\/a> to get in on certain Fridays for through.<\/p>\n<p>Adult tickets are <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/castatefair.com\/admissions\/\">$16 in advance and $18 at the gate<\/a>, according to the fair\u2019s website. Seniors and children get a reduced price and children ages 4 and younger get free entry.<\/p>\n<p>However, ticket prices don\u2019t have to get in the way of fun.<\/p>\n<p>The Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced it is sponsoring \u201cGiving Friday\u201d where people who donate five non-perishable, non-expired food items receive a free California State Fair ticket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiving Friday\u201d is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 17, July 24 and July 31, according to a SMUD release. Those participating can enter at the Cal Expo\u2019s main gate, blue gate or green gate. Tickets <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/castatefair.com\/smud-giving-fridays-at-the-fair\/\">must be used by 3 p.m<\/a>., according to the California State Fair\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2019Giving Friday\u2019 truly reflects SMUD\u2019s commitment to our community, especially those facing food insecurity,\u201d SMUD CEO and General Manager Paul Lau wrote in a statement. \u201cThis year, we\u2019re excited to partner with the Sacramento Food Bank to celebrate their 50th anniversary by giving back to the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Sacramento Food Bank supports more than 320,000 people each month, the release states.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of non-perishable food items include canned beans, peanut butter, oatmeal, cereal boxes, canned meat, canned vegetables and rice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith rising costs affecting so many families, this partnership offers a meaningful and easy way for neighbors to support each other while enjoying all the fun at the State Fair,\u201d Lau wrote.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/315233098\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_8021_CoreySchmidt_HA_260409.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Corey Schmidt\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/315233098\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Corey Schmidt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Corey Schmidt is a watchdog reporter for the Sacramento Bee, focusing on Folsom, El Dorado Hills and Sacramento County\u2019s eastern suburbs. Previously, he was the government watchdog reporter for the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota. Schmidt received his bachelor\u2019s degree from DePaul University in Chicago and his master\u2019s degree from Yale University.\u00a0\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California State Fair is right around the corner, starting this coming Friday and running through Aug. 2&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-398154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}