The California Mid-State Fair gates open next month with this year's theme, "Off to the Races," paying tribute to the horse track built at the Paso Robles Event Center in 1887, before the first fair was held there.

“We are bringing back some of our heritage," California Mid-State Fair Special Events Coordinator Teresa Dellaganna said. "The fairgrounds used to have a horse racing track, and that's our theme this year. One of our exciting new exhibits going on in the exhibits department is down in the Ponderosa Pavilion. We have a horse racing exhibit about the history of horse racing.”

include a watermelon eating contest, pedal tractor race, a farmer's Olympics, and a diaper dash.

For adults, a Central Coast wine competition is taking place on the first Friday with awards that include Wi

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