{"id":407480,"date":"2026-07-22T03:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T03:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407480\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T03:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T03:30:11","slug":"does-california-have-the-best-state-fair-anywhere-vote-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407480\/","title":{"rendered":"Does California have the best state fair anywhere? Vote now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Which state fair stands above them all?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the question asked by the USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards. Twenty states, from Alaska to Wisconsin, are in the running for the nation\u2019s best.<\/p>\n<p>2026\u2019s top ten state fairs will be decided by a public vote, and the winners will be announced on August 5. People can vote once <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/10best.usatoday.com\/awards\/best-state-fair\/\">per day until July 27<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What is America\u2019s best state fair?<\/p>\n<p>USA Today has put this question to the public twice before, once in 2015 and again in 2025. Both times, the Minnesota State Fair was voted number one.<\/p>\n<p>The Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest and most beloved in the nation. According to the USA Today website, it draws nearly two million visitors a year and has \u201chas enormous economic impact on the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California is also in the running this year, and it\u2019s notable, per USA Today, for both its food offerings and \u201cmore than 3,000 exhibits and events,\u201d such as an olive oil competition and big musical acts. In 2025, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blueribbongroup.net\/blue-ribbon-foodies\/tag\/top-30-state-fair-list\/\">649,000 people attended<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>California will have some tough competition to beat, considering that state fair behemoths such as Wisconsin, Texas, and, of course, Minnesota are also in the running.<\/p>\n<p>The California State Fair is currently underway at Cal Expo in Sacramento, from July 17 to August 2. Fair hours are Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Information on ticket prices, parking and events can be found at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/castatefair.com\/\">castatefair.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/315960345\/\" 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\/1781030289_263_anneheadshot.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Anne Ewbank\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/profile\/315960345\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anne Ewbank<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Anne Ewbank is a service journalist and food reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Previously, she worked as a writer and editor for the New York-based travel website Atlas Obscura, where she covered food and culture. A California native, she is a graduate of Occidental College and Yale University.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Which state fair stands above them all? That\u2019s the question asked by the USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-407480","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\/407480","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=407480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}