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Riverside County announces 2026 Fair and National Date Festival, operator cites $92 million impact
Summary
County and Pickering Events outlined the Feb. 12–March 1 Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival, touting new attractions, school ticket programs, veteran admission policies and a reported $92 million annual economic impact; operators said revenue-sharing has funded fairground improvements.
Supervisor (speaker 13) and fair officials announced the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival will run Feb. 12 through March 1, with new attractions, expanded programming and a focus on veterans and accessibility.
The fair operator, Chris Pickering of Pickering Events, LLC, said the county’s public-private operating agreement and revenue-sharing have generated about $1,500,000 to fund improvements at the fairgrounds. He cited an independent economic-impact figure of $92,000,000 in annual impact, roughly 300,000 attendees and approximately 600 ongoing jobs linked to the event.
The presentation highlighted several community-focused elements: free or priority admission for veterans and first responders, a scholarship fund that receives donations from Butler Amusements and Pickering Events ($20,000 awarded annually), autism-friendly accommodations including sensory spaces and training for seasonal hires, and an expanded school-ticket program that provides printed tickets to fourth-grade classrooms across the county. Organizers said livestock participation and exhibit entries have returned to pre-pandemic levels and that the festival includes daily live performances, rodeos and new midway rides.
"We are inviting all of you who live throughout Riverside County and beyond to come and visit," Chris Pickering said during the presentation. The supervisor who introduced the festival noted the event’s long county history and urged board members and the public to support the fair’s volunteers and vendors.
The county also announced at the meeting that animal-adoption programming continues at county events: Veronica Perez of Riverside County Department of Animal Services brought an adoptable dog, Bobby, and noted fee-waived adoptions at county shelters include microchips, vaccinations and spay/neuter surgery.
Organizers said tickets and season passes would be available at the festival website and emphasized the fair’s role as a regional economic and cultural event. No formal board action was required on the presentation.
The county indicated veterans’ ticket policies, revenue-sharing amounts, scholarship distributions and the economic impact number are based on the operator’s founding data and an independent study cited by the operator at the meeting; additional contract or study documents were not provided during the presentation.
