DEL MA –
It took the Estrada family of Tijuana more than four hours to get to the San Diego County Fair last Sunday, factoring in two hours of sitting in border traffic, then a quick break for lunch in San Ysidro en route to Del Mar.
The Mexican flag welcomes visitors at the Plaza de Mexico at the San Diego County Fair. Two years ago, the flag was moved from the fair entrance.
Julia Ramirez (top) watched entertainment with her son Leo, 2.
K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune photos
Nery Antonio performed last weekend on the Plaza Stage. Since 1997, the fair has been marketed to Latinos, with special attractions and promotions.
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But after an afternoon of carnival rides, games and decadent snacks, the strain of hours spent on the road had worn off.
“It wasn't so bad,” said Antonio Estrada, 41, seated in the grandstand with his four children, his wife and his in-laws as they awaited a performance by Los Huracanes del Norte, a superstar Mexican norteño band. “You can have fun here. It's good for the kids; they can eat and have a good time.”
Last Sunday's concert was one of the many promotional tools that organizers of the San Diego County Fair have used over the past decade to draw Latinos, about half of them from Baja California.
According to a 2006 exit survey, Latinos made up about 25 percent of fair attendees. From 12 percent to 13 percent of overall fair-goers made the trek from south of the border, some traveling from as far south as Ensenada and as far east as Mexicali.
“People are looking for options to have fun,” said Luis Valdivia, a spokesman for the fairgrounds. “Tijuana has a fair, Mexicali has a fair, but every fair is different.”
Since 1997, the San Diego County Fair has been marketed to Latinos, with attractions and promotions intended to capitalize on their spending power.
“It was kind of a no-brainer to put together a marketing plan that would reach both sides of the border,” Valdivia said. “The beauty of the Hispanic market in San Diego is that most Hispanic media reaches both sides of the border. If I buy an ad schedule with Telemundo, it will reach both Tijuana and San Diego.”
Overall last year, fair-goers spent $23.8 million on admission, parking, midway attractions and food. According to fairgrounds management, Latino fair-goers spend more than their non-Latino counterparts, in part because they come in larger groups, Valdivia said.
This does not include big-ticket items such as spas or pre-concert Turf Club luxury dinner packages, he said, but rather average purchases such as food, games, rides and souvenirs.
For several years now, the fair has been advertised in Baja California with a series of special promotions, such as the half-off coupons distributed at Oxxo convenience stores in Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada and Tecate. Tickets have been sold at other retail outlets in the past, including the grocery chains Gigante and Calimax.
Sundays are promoted as “Dia de la Familia,” or Family Day, with concerts directed at Latino fair-goers from both sides of the border. In addition to the grandstand concerts, live music from Mexico, Argentina and other Latin American countries can be heard Sunday afternoons on a smaller stage at the Plaza de Mexico vendor area near the grandstand entrance. During past fairs, some of the best-attended concerts have been those featuring Latino entertainers, Valdivia said.
The welcome extended to fair-goers from Mexico was the subject of a flap two years ago, when local critics objected to the Mexican flag's presence at the entrance alongside the California flag, below the Stars and Stripes. Although the Mexican flag had been at the fair entrance for more than a decade, about 60 anti-illegal-immigration activists staged a protest demanding that it be removed.
Since then, the flag has been moved to the Plaza de Mexico area inside the fair.
Inside the plaza last Sunday evening, fair-goers were busy buying snacks at concession booths before heading to the Huracanes del Norte concert.
Plaza de Mexico doll vendor Petra Rosales said fair-goers from Tijuana and farther south frequently visit her booth.
“Most of the ones that we get come from Baja California,” said Rosales, of El Paso, Texas, who with her husband sells porcelain dolls attired in traditional dress from different Mexican states. “It's something nice to do with their families, even if they don't have lots of money to spend.”
Inside the grandstand, Estrada, a construction worker in Tijuana, said his family has made a tradition of coming to the fair each year when they can.
“We come whenever we have the money,” he said.
Two weeks into the fair, it's still unclear if longer border waits are affecting this year's turnout of Baja California fair-goers, Valdivia said. Another exit poll that will measure their attendance is being conducted.
“The way I see it, if the waits at the border would dissuade people from coming, there would be no waits at the border,” Valdivia said. “People are still coming.”
Leslie Berestein: (619) 542-4579; leslie.berestein@uniontrib.com
