Where Your Heart Has a Home
The Monterey County Fair & Event Center — popularly known as The Fairgrounds — is home to community events large and small, from the Monterey County Fair and the Monterey Jazz Festival to weddings and anniversaries, seasonal trade shows, nonprofit fundraisers, flea markets, community gatherings and much more. The facility also opens its arms to the community in times of urgent need — during wildfires, floods, and earthquakes — as an emergency center and staging area for first responders and a comfort and aid station for natural disaster victims.
With all that in mind, we are launching a major capital drive — The Heartbeat of Our Community Campaign — to raise funds and re-imagine how we can better serve a changing community and address the urgent needs of our residents. Our goal is $1 million to convert our aging barns into a multi-use community center for local events, from barbecues and weddings to a central crisis center in times of emergency and need. Restoration of our public restrooms is also a priority.
We ask that you give generously during this campaign — every contribution matters, from $5 to $5,000 — to create a purposeful space that provides an environment for our community to connect, unite and heal.
The Monterey County Fair Heritage Foundation supports the operations of the Monterey County Fair & Event Center while funding community agriculture awareness activities, youth scholarships and capital improvements to the facilities and grounds.
Revitalization is needed to continue serving a changing community
Built-in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) facility, the Fairgrounds’ 22 acres in the heart of Monterey has hosted world-famous events — including the 1967 Monterey International Pops Music Festival — and continues to offer a full calendar of important community events, such as the Monterey Jazz Festival and the annual Monterey County Fair. But perhaps its most important community contribution is its role as a part of the state’s emergency response system.
Today, the Fairgrounds require revitalization to retain the infrastructure the community enjoys in its capacity not only as a vital community gathering place but also as an essential natural disaster emergency facility. The state turns to facilities such as the Fairgrounds in the wake of natural disasters for staging emergency vehicles and equipment, and also for sheltering displaced residents and animals. The Fairgrounds’ support at such times is essential to the community.
The Monterey County Fair & Event Center is part of the Network of California Fairs, which includes 76 fairgrounds serving more than 35 million people in the state, generates more than $35 million in nonprofit and community funds, provides 30,000 jobs, and contributes $200 million in tax revenue to local and state governments. It’s time to revitalize our Fairgrounds’ old barns to assure the Monterey County Fair & Event Center’s role in our community, and better serve our changing community.
This project, like every other, will succeed because we are building a community together. And we need you to be part of it.
Want more details? Contact marci@thebuzzpr.net or go to www.mcfcapitalcampaign.com for answers to frequently asked questions. Donate now.
Paving the way to a better tomorrow
Your custom brick paver will line our new patio which will be the centerpiece of the new barn.
Help the Monterey County Fair Heritage Foundation complete our new capital improvement project. Your custom brick paver will line our new patio which will be the centerpiece of the new barn.