At the first San Diego County Fair, farmers competed to come up with the best gopher trap, the finest wool stockings and the tastiest salt pork.

Nearly 130 years later, agriculture-related events are still a major part of the San Diego County Fair, which opens tomorrow.

22nd District Agricultural Association A diaper derby was held for babies 12 months and younger at the 1950 San Diego County Fair. The race is held every year at the fair, which opens at the Del Mar Fairgrounds tomorrow.

But the fair has grown far beyond its original purpose as a meeting place for farmers into a cornucopia of competitions and entertainment running the gamut from sophisticated to folksy, silly to serious, highbrow to low.

Where else can you see a demolition derby, then stroll over to a digital and fine arts show? At what other event can you sample deep-fried Spam and watch chefs demonstrate gourmet cooking? Where else can you find an eco-fashion show, ostrich races, cows and Charo – all in one place?

Melding the traditions of a country fair with the expectations of more urban fair-goers who wouldn't know a plow from a wheelbarrow is one reason for the annual event's ongoing success, fair industry watchers say.

With a record 1.265 million attendees last year, the San Diego County Fair is among the five biggest in the nation and second only to the Los Angeles County Fair statewide.

San Diego County Fair When: Tomorrow through July 6; Closed June 16 and 23 Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar Admission: $12 adults, $6 seniors and children 6-12; Children under 5 get in for free Fare: (858) 755-1161 or sdfair.com

High gas prices and the declining economy may put a crimp on ticket sales this year. And the typical 22-day run was cut short one day to accommodate traffic from the U.S. Open, which continues today at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla.

Still, fair operators hope San Diegans scaling back travel plans will spend their vacation dollars at the fair instead. About 92 percent of attendees come from within the county, according to a recent survey.

“I think it's a wait-and-see situation,” said Tim Fennell, CEO and general manager of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, the state agency that owns and operates the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Industry trendsetter

Every year, Stephen Chambers, executive director of the Sacramento-based Western Fairs Association, invites out-of-town fair operators to Del Mar to help them gather ideas for their own events. San Diego's fair, one of the earliest on the calendar, is considered an industry trendsetter.

Innovations such as marketing across the U.S.-Mexico border and booking Latino acts have roped in new audiences. Over the past decade, four of the top 10 most well-attended days at the fair featured a Latino grandstand act.

22nd District Agricultural Association In 1943, part of the grandstands at the fairgrounds was used to manufacture World War II B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber parts. Oct. 8, 1936, marked the first time that the San Diego County Fair opened at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, drawing 50,000 people for the day.

22nd District Agricultural Association Del Mar Racetrack manager Bill Quigley (left) joined actors Bing Crosby (center) and Pat O'Brien at the track in 1937. Crosby and O'Brien put up loans to help build the track and the fairgrounds.

Add that to the tribute bands, reggae, classic rock and country days, and headliners including Boston, Sugarland, the Doodlebops and pop star Fergie.

“The old entertainment model was a big country act on Friday night on the big stage,” Chambers said. “San Diego led the way in entertainment diversification.”

The farmers who showed up in the 1880s with wagons filled with tanned calf skins and quilts could not have imagined the future of their fair would include monster trucks and cell phone picture contests.

San Diego's earliest fairs were held in several locations from National City to Oceanside. With travel and communication difficult, farmers would gather to trade ideas and information.

The fair, first held in 1880, got a permanent home during the Depression, when the Works Progress Administration gave the 22nd District Agricultural Association a $500,000 grant to build the Del Mar Fairgrounds on a 240-acre parcel with an ocean view. The district bought the land for $25,000.

Using adobe mixed and dried on the grounds and mission-style architecture, construction crews built exhibit halls, stables, a grandstand and a racetrack. Actors Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien, founders of the racetrack, later had exhibit halls named for them.

During World War II, the fair was put on hiatus and the grandstand was used briefly as a factory for B-17 bomber parts. After the war ended, fair attendance grew rapidly, hitting 400,000 by the late 1960s and topping 1 million in 1989.

“When I first went to the fair in 1980, it was very old-school. Here's your corn dog and the cows are over there,” Chambers said. “Then we started seeing a new generation of fair management that realized the community had changed and fairs needed to change, too. The Del Mar fair was at the very front of that.”

Fennell was hired in 1993, and his background included running a stadium in Portland, Ore., not fairs. He soon expanded the number of events at the fairgrounds from 100 to 300 a year, including gun, horse, gem and dog shows, weddings, meetings and, recently, Cirque du Soleil.

At the same time, organizers dumped agricultural-heavy themes such as “Lettuce and Lambs” (1994) and “Poultry and Petunias” (1995) for themes with a broader appeal.

In 2007, the district's gross revenue was $95 million – $25 million from the fair, $37 million from horse races and $33 million from other events.

“At our heart we're an agricultural fair,” Fennell said. “That's all well and good, but in order to educate people you need them to come into the gates. If you're an 18-year-old and you hear 'Lettuce and Lambs,' is that going to attract you to the fair?”

To keep 'em coming, fair staffers spend a great deal of time encouraging participation at schools and in the community, said Katie Phillips, exhibitions manager.

In addition to contests for best animal noise, pie-eating and bubble gum-blowing, about 23,000 children will show off their school art, history and science projects. Fair organizers have added rabbit, dog and other small-animal competitions to the traditional livestock shows, making it easier for suburban kids to get involved.

“When your neighbor or your mom has a piece hanging in an art show, not only will that participant come, but they will bring their family and their friends,” Phillips said.

Different but the same

Although there will never be a reprise of 1993's “Salute to Swine,” consumers' growing concerns about genetically engineered crops, greenhouse gases and pesticides are fueling a resurgence in interest in the fair's agricultural offerings, Chambers said.

The county is the nation's largest producer of avocados, nursery and flower crops, said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau. While the fair is heavy on large animals, livestock accounts for only about 4 percent of the county's agricultural production.

Fair organizers say they're committed to keeping agriculture a core part of the event. In surveys, attendees say one of the biggest draws is the Flower & Garden Show, a competitive exhibit that will include 5,000 bloom specimens submitted by 45 nurseries and landscape design companies.

But don't expect to see farmers comparing gopher traps.

With modern farming techniques and the Internet, farmers no longer consider county fairs critical to their livelihood.

“Getting a blue ribbon at the fair doesn't add value for them anymore,” Larson said. “The true judge is the store and who's going to pay top dollar for their product.”

Yet a fair wouldn't be a fair without hay bales and sheep.

Along with funnel cakes and turkey drumsticks, the Zipper and the Ferris wheel, seeing children dressed up like goat herders or walking a pig around a pen gives the feeling that the fair isn't just another way to clean out your wallet, but to be connected to a simpler, rural past.

“To make it different but keep it the same – that, without a doubt, is our biggest challenge,” said Donna Ruhm, concessions manager. “You move a food stand and people say, 'Where did it go?' They don't like change, but they want it to be different every year.”

22nd District Agricultural Association Oct. 8, 1936, marked the first time that the San Diego County Fair opened at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, drawing 50,000 people for the day.