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CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR
FAQ


UPDATED 11th AUGUST 2006


INTRODUCTION


This years California State Fair, the largest in the United States,
and the most well-attended of any state fair in the United States from
11th August through 4th September in Sacramento California. This FAQ is
posted to give some general information about the fair


GENERAL INFORMATION


Location: Business 80 at Exposition Boulevard, approximately 1 mile
south of
junction of Business 80 and California 160


Hours:


Fri-Sun 10AM to Midnight (gates close at 10PM)
Mondays closed
Tues-Thurs 12PM to 10PM (gates close at 9PM)


Parking


$7 regular parking
$5 extra to enter preferred lots near East Gate


Admission


$10 General
$8 Senior ($6 on Fridays)
$7 Children under 12


Carnival Rides


Unlimited wristband $30 (Fridays)
Gondola Ride, $5 each way (wristbands not valid this year on
Gondola)
Wristbands good until 10PM


Horse Racing


No live horse racing this year. Harness racing daily from
4:30 PM.



Security

All visitors will be subject to search, and all vehicles will be
subject to rigirus inspections before being allowed into either the
grounds or parking lots.


The following items are prohibited from entering the grounds and are
subject to confiscation:


Knives
Firearms
Dangerous/Flammable substances
Ice
All cans or bottles
All outside Alcoholic beverages




TRAVEL INFORMATON


Air travel


If travelling by air, Sacramento International Airport is about 11
miles from the city. International connections are now available from
Mexico and Hawaii. International travellersshould be sure they have
appropriate transit visas, if travelling via Mexico or Hawaii.
Travellers holding passports from Australia, New Zealand, Canada,
Japan, the U.S., or the U.K. currenly do not need visas to enter Hawaii
provided they have an onward ticket. Citizens of all other countries
are required to have visas to enter or transit Hawaii. Travellers
entering
Hawaii without the proper visas may be denied entry and refused onward
travel to the U.S., even if they have valid U.S. entry visas.
Travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or E.U. countries
may stay up to 30 days in the U.S. without a visa. Citizens of all
other countries are required to have visas.
Passports are now required to enter the USA from Mexico (and
thisincludes US citizens), and will be required soon for Hawaii,
Canada,and the Carribbean.
Travellers from Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, and some Carribbean
countrieswill to through pre-clearance before boarding US-bound
flights. This isdone to allow international service to/from US airports
that currentlydo not have appropriate customs facilities. Travellers
traveling to Sacramento directly from points in Mexico and Hawaii will
pre-clearUS Customs before boarding US-bound flights. As a result,
check-in of at least 3 hours before departure will be required on
flights from Guadalajara, Honolulu, or Maui to Sacramento.
Flying to Sacramento from any foreign destination, you will go
through pre-clearance before boarding a flight, becuase Customs still
does not have any facility in Sacramento. Flying from Hawaii or Mexico,
you will go through pre-clearance.



**IMPORTANT SECURITY UPDATE FOR FLIGHTS ENDING/STARTING IN BRITAIN**


Due to a plot to blow up British aircraft, A number of airlines are
now forced to severely restrict what may be brought on board as
carry-on luggage. For any flight that originates or ends in Britain,
this applies, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE ACTUAL PORTION
OF THE FLIGHT THAT LANDS IN BRITAIN. The only items that a passenger
may carry on such flights are wallets and passports.
I encountered this on the first portion of my flight up to Tahiti,
where I changed planes to the portion of the flight to Hawaii. Becuase
the onward soute eventually goes around the world to land in Britain, I
was subject to the restrictions. Just a warning if you are planning on
using any flight where any part of the flight ends or terminates in
Britain. Be sure to allow extra time for check-in, if any part of that
flight lands or takes off from
Britain. As the airline will be required to implement these security
measures, REGARDLESS of WHICH portion of the flight you are on.



By Road


Interstate 80 in the main east-west route, and Interstate 5 is the
main north-south Route. Speed limits on all freeways in California
range from 55 to 65 miles per hour, and fines can be very heavy for
speeding. Average car rental in California is $60 per day and up.


Criminal Penalties/Drug trafficking


With the recent conviction of Schapelle Corby in Indonesia, and
circumstantial evidence indicating that luggage is being tampered with,
travellers travelling to, from, or through Australia need to be aware
that penalties for trafficking in drugs can be severe. Recent thefts
from luggage in Australia indicate that drugs are possibly being put in
peoples luggage without their knowledge.
In the Republic of Hawaii, trafficking/possession of drugs can carry
up to 12 years in prison and penalties in the USA can be as much as 40
years, depending on the type and amount of drugs.








CITY INFORMATION


Climate


The weather can be very hot this time of year. In my nearly 30
years of coming to the fair, since I was a young lad. I have seen it
as hot as 42 degrees celsius during fair time, though the average
temperture during that time of year usually runs around 32 celsius.
Nighttime lows usually are around 15 celsius. The hottest ever during
the fair was recorded in 1974, with a temperature of 43 celsius.


TV and radio.


This list effective as of August 11, 2005


The major television stations in Sacramento are 3 (NBC) 10 (ABC)
13(CBS) and 40 (FOX). With the permission of the ChuckieMonster(tm), a
portion of his radio list, covering stations that can be received from
Sacramento is included here.


AM


560 KSFO San Francisco Conservative Talk 5
580 KMJ Fresno Talk 50
610 KFRC San Francisco Religion 5
650 KSTE Ranch Cordova Talk 25
680 KNBR San Francisco "Sports 68" 5
710 KFIA Fair Oaks Religious 5
740 KCBS San Francisco "News 74" 200/50
770 KCBC Riverbank Religious 500/15
810 KGO San Francisco "Newstalk 810" 50
830 KNCO Grass Valley Talk 5
910 KNEW Oakland Talk 5
960 KQAK San Francisco AIr America 5
990 KATD Concord Radio Unica";Spanish 10/5
1010 KIQI San Francico "Radio Unica" 50/1
1050 KTCT San Mateo "The Ticket";Sports 50
1080 KSCO Santa Cruz Talk 10
1110 KLIB Roseville Asian Programming 5
1140 KHTK Carmichael "Sports 1140" 50
1210 KEDR-AM Sacramento Religion 5
1240 KVQA Sacramento Air America 5
1310 KCTC Sacramento "Sunny 1320";Standards 5
1380 KTQZ Sacramento "Talk 1380" 5
1410 KMYC Marysville Talk 5
1470 KIID Sacramento Radio Disney 1
1510 KPIG-AM Piedmont Freeform 1
1530 KFBK Arden/Sacramento "Newstalk 1530" 150/50
1550 KYOU San Francisco Podcasting 1
1570 KCVR Lodi "Jose FM 5/1


FM


88.1 KEDR Sacramento Family Radio 8.4
88.9 KXJZ Sacrmaento Jazz'NPR 50
89.3 KQEZ North Highlands NPE 6
90.3 KDVS Davis UC Davis 5
91.5 KYDS Carmichael El Camino High School .414
92.1 KXCL Placerville Flash 92.1;80s 3
92.5 KGBY Sacramento "Y92.5";Hot AC 50
93.1 KOBO Patterson "B-93.1";Alternative 10
93.7 KJCK Roseville Jack 93.7 25
94.7 KSSJ Fair Oaks "Smooth Jazz 94-7" 25
95.1 KPAY Chico AC 50
95.3 KUIC Vacaville Hot AC 5
96.1 KYMX Sacramento Lite Rock;"Mix 96" 50
96.9 KSEG Sacramento Class Rock "The Eagle" 5
97.3 KALC San Francisco Alternative "Alice 97" 82
97.9 KTTA Esparto Spanish;"K-Buena" 6
98.5 KRXQ Sacramento "98 Rock" 50
98.9 KSOL San Francisco Estereo Sol 30
99.9 KRCX Marysville Radio Tricolor
100.5 KZZO Sacramento "The Zone";Alternative115
101.1 KYHL Auburn "V-101.1";Urban Oldies 36
101.9 KNTY Shingle Springs "The Wolf";Country 47
102.5 KSFM Woodland "FM 102";Urban 50
102.9 KVNQ Reno "Wild 102-9";CHR 100
103.1 KKCY Marysville Country 5
103.3 KKAT Modesto "Kat Kountry 103" 50
103.5 KBMB Sacramento Urban 3
103.9 KFSH Marysville "The Fish";Religious 2
104.1 KHWK Modesto "The Hawk";Rock 50
104.3 KXSE Sacramento "Super Estrella" 12
105.1 KNCI Sacramento "Country 105" 50
105.5 KKTZ Dunnigan Talk 2.55
105.7 KOZZ Reno Oldies 05
106.5 KWOD Sacramento Modern Rock 50
106.9 KIFR San Francisco Talk;"Free FM" 68
107.9 KDND North Highlands "The End";CHR 50


TV


KCRA 3 Sacramento NBC 100
KVIE 6 Sacramento PBS 100
KXTV 10 Sacramento ABC 316
KOVR 13 West Sacramento CBS 400
KSPX 29 Rancho Cordova PAXNet 4570
KMAX 31 Sacramento CW 5000
KFFX 40 Fuitridge/Sacramento FOX 5000
KQCA 58 Ranch Cordova Ind. 1000


Newspapers


The only daily newspaper in Sacramento is the Sacramento Bee,
although some libraries will have same-day editions of the San
Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and New York Times available.
The gift shop at California State University Sacramento sells same-day
editions of the San Jose Mercury News and the Wall Street Journal.