The festival will start at 2:20 p.m. Thursday with a blessing of the dates ceremony at Gate One of the fairgrounds, at 82-503 Highway 111. The festival will run through March 1.

The 78th iteration of the event will introduce the theme of “Return to the Oasis,” which will incorporate decades of heritage and fair traditions.

“The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival is always a great time,” Supervisor Manuel Perez said in a statement. “Every year, we work to improve our fair and bring more engagement and new events and new ideas to enjoy. I invite all of you who live throughout Riverside County and beyond to come visit.”

New items this year will include the Oasis Lounge and Tiki Bar and the National Date Festival Museum inside the Sands of Time building, which will give guests an inside look at date farming, the festival’s history and the agricultural roots of the Coachella Valley.

Daily entertainment includes all-Alaskan racing pigs, “Jump!” the ultimate dog show, a petting farm and livestock exhibits.

Scheduled events will be the President’s Day grand parade on Feb. 16 featuring professional boxers from Coachella, “Out at the Fair,” an LGBTQ- inclusive day on Feb. 14 and monster trucks on Feb. 12-13.

“Return to the Oasis welcomes families back with a mix of nostalgia, new experiences and the shared joy of coming together at the Fair and Date fest,” Chris Pickering, CEO of Pickering Events, said in a statement.

More information on tickets, schedules and event details is available at datefest.org.

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Hemet High School graduate and Agriculture teacher Katie Fernandes and six of her students were guest presenters at the recent California Retired Teachers Association Division 33 luncheon on April 9th at the Seven Hills Members Club in Hemet.  After a brief introduction by Ms. Fernandes, Hemet High Ag students Andres Moreno, Nick Leon, Natali Romero, Esmeralda Aleman, Emmale Americano, and Sam Rodriguez each took turns discussing their busy schedule with FFA events and the many pathways to choose from in the Hemet High School Agriculture program, including Ag Mechanics I and II, Animal Science and Vet Science, Ag Floriculture I and II, and a new pathway coming next year — Ag Food and Plant Science.  The six talented student leaders also shared some of the honors and awards they earned at the many events they’ve been involved with this school year, including six Career Development Events throughout California, Leadership Development Conferences, the recent California Agricultural Education State Leadership Conference in Sacramento, the Riverside County Fair and the National Date Festival in Indio.

        Fernandes encourages her students to create their own projects, including floral arrangements, ag mechanics, gardening, aquaponics, and animals, of course.  She most enjoys seeing her students get involved and find something that sparks their interest. “I find it very rewarding when students who have been working towards projects or contests see their hard work pay off and do well in competitions and realize how much they have grown in their abilities,” Fernandes says.  Students brought many of their projects to the luncheon to be purchased by CalRTA attendees, with all items selling out quickly. 

       After graduating from HHS in 2013, Fernandes attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she graduated in 2017 then went on to earn her teaching credential.  She began teaching at HHS in 2019. “Hemet has always been a special place for me,” Fernandes says.  “I had the idea from a young age to be a teacher, and being an active member of Hemet FFA gave me a desire to continue in the education field, specifically for agriculture, and come back to Hemet to give back to the community that helped me.” 

            For more information about the California Retired Teachers Association, go to calrta.org or div33.calrta.org.

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The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival had a record-breaking return to Indio after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

“The community came together to celebrate the very best in Riverside County for the first time since 2020 with Blue Ribbon competitions, community performances, and date-laden treats,” said principal partner of Pickering Events LLC., the Fairgrounds’ new operator, Chris Pickering in a statement.

“This year marked the return of the Fair & Date Fest; future years will see its growth.” The festival, which was held from Feb. 17 to Feb. 26, experienced three days of record-breaking riders in over 20 years of Butler Amusements’ history with the fair, officials said. Butler Amusements is the company that provides the rides and attractions at the fairgrounds. Additionally, fair food sales including date shakes, bacon wrapped dates, milk tea with date syrup, date nut bars and more, increased by 10% since the festival was held in 2020, according to festival officials.

Even through the storms and weekend rain last week, the fair experienced an impressive amount of attendees in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers, festival officials said.

The Junior Livestock Auction, a returning tradition, raised over $248,000 benefiting local youth who sold 187 project animals Saturday. New this year, $24,000 in scholarships were awarded to 14 graduating high school students within the county through a partnership between Pickering Events, Butler Amusements and The Bailey-Findley Foundation, according to festival officials.

“The tremendous turnout for the Date Festival is a testament to how important this event is to our community,” said Supervisor V. Manuel Perez in a statement. “Pickering Events did a great job producing the festival for the first time which offered something for everyone reflecting the diversity of our Coachella Valley. We are so pleased to be a partner with them.”

The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival will return next year on Feb. 16, 2024.

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The event known for providing family fun throughout the decades is returning in person after a three year hiatus. The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival announced two nights of Monster Truck shows on Monday.

The ten day festival kicks off February 17 and we were able to speak to the new event manager, Chris Pickering. After winning a bidding process through Riverside County, Pickering Events was selected as the new fairground partner for the next five years. “We’re excited to be here for the long haul.

And well this year is the return of the date festival. Future years will be the growth,” says Pickering. Pickering tells us he’s committed to preserving festival traditions. “All your Blue Ribbon competitions, your ten days of grandstand entertainment, the carnival like vendors, all the shopping you can think of and of course, your favorite fair foods,” says Pickering.

Attendees can also look forward to the Presidents’ Day Parade starting at Miles Park, and the Queen’s Court Scholarship Program that they’re expanding this year. “Instead of awarding to three young women we’re going to be awarding 10 scholarships of $2,000 each and that will be open to anyone,” adds Pickering.

Of course you can’t forget the origin of the festival itself. “We’re very excited to work with the date growers in the region to return with their featured exhibits in the Taj Mahal,” shares Pickering. New management also means new features. This year, each food vendor is required to bring at least one date item on their menu.

Another notable change has to do with entertainment. Ten nights of shows will be held at the fairground’s grandstand arena. “We’re actually going to add another thousand seats out on the dirt. It’s going to be an opportunity for people to get up close to the stage itself. But there’s no bad seat in the house. So people up in the bleachers are going to have a great time too,” says Pickering.

Two of the events include the Monster Truck shows, and concerts are scheduled for the other nights. The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival will be announcing the concert lineup in the coming weeks. They’re also offering a special where you can get access to the event all ten days for $30. The special is available to Coachella Valley residents only.

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