Tulare’s September calendar brought together two different draws: the Tulare County Fair, scheduled for September 16 to 20, and the newer concert season at Zumwalt Park.
The Tulare County Fair was scheduled for September 16 through September 20 at the fairgrounds on South K Street, the same agricultural showcase Tulare has run since 1915. A half mile away, the Adventist Health Amphitheater at Zumwalt Park was in the midst of its season; the city had allocated $842,000 in off-budget support since December, in addition to the $400,000 already set aside for concert expenses in this year's budget. The figures offer two different views of the costs of bringing people to downtown Tulare.
The fair's long-running model
The fair was expected to draw an estimated 100,000-plus visitors over five days, with livestock competitions, the Destruction Derby scheduled for Saturday, September 19, and free entertainment scheduled across three stages, including Circus Xtreme's stunt shows, Ballet Folklorico and the KJUG Country Showdown on the Community Stage. Admission was listed at $7 to $17 depending on the day and age bracket; public gates were scheduled to open at noon on opening day, and youth livestock judging for FFA and 4-H participants was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. The fair has run in a similar form for over a century.
The fair and the amphitheater have different histories and funding models.
Zumwalt Park funding and attendance
The Adventist Health Amphitheater opened as the centerpiece of a $15 million renovation to Zumwalt Park, paid for with a mix of federal ARPA dollars, park development impact fees, and city fund balance. City Manager Marc Mondell told the council in early August that the investment was always going to need a few years of runway. In the first year, 11,400 tickets were sold, with about 10 percent of buyers coming from inside Tulare itself; Mondell said that share was lower than he expected based on similar venues he'd worked on elsewhere.
That local share has been climbing. As of the August 4 council meeting, local ticket buyers made up 39.8 percent of the audience this season, average attendance per show is up from about 1,900 in 2025 to roughly 2,400 in 2026, and average monthly foot traffic at the park itself has grown from about 3,800 visits in 2019 to more than 13,000 so far this year. Mondell framed the ongoing subsidy as the price of building something Tulare didn't have before.
The Sun-Gazette quoted City Manager Marc Mondell saying: "Nobody was driving from Fresno to go to Zumwalt Park before the amphitheater. Or Los Angeles. Or certainly not out of state."
He also pointed out that Visalia subsidizes its own convention center to the tune of about $1.3 million a year, so a new venue needing help isn't unique to Tulare. The council approved the latest $160,000 by a non-unanimous vote. Councilmember Jose Sigala voted against it, questioning the city's continued funding of the concert series; he took the same position against the $550,000 subsidy approved in December.
This season, amphitheater attendance has increased, while downtown's average daytime population has changed little: about 8,816 people on an average day in 2019 compared with 8,865 so far this year. Venue attendance and downtown population measure different activity, and the figures show different trends.
| Tulare County Fair | Zumwalt Park concert series | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 111 years | Opened 2024 |
| 2026 funding | Self-supporting | $842,000 in city subsidies since December, plus $400,000 budgeted |
| This season's draw | Estimated at ~100,000 over 5 days | ~2,400 average per show, up from ~1,900 in 2025 |
| Local attendance share | Not tracked the same way | 39.8%, up from about 10% in year one |
| Admission | $7 to $17 | Priced per show |
2026 event schedule
These are the published details for the 2026 fair and concert season:
- The fair was scheduled to run Wednesday through Sunday, September 16 to 20, with gates set for noon to 10 p.m. most days and later on Friday and Saturday.
- Five concerts remain on the 2026 Zumwalt Park calendar, and Spade Entertainment, the promoter running the venue, is already booking into 2027.
- During Fair Week, the venues were close enough that a fair evening and a concert night could have been combined in one downtown trip, something that wasn't possible before the amphitheater existed.
Where to eat before a concert
Tulare's restaurant lineup has shifted since spring, offering nearby options for people planning an evening at the amphitheater.
- Slices by The Mill, at 1094 Leland Ave, soft-opened in June. It's the newest concept from the team behind The Planning Mill in Visalia, serving New York-style pizza slices, wings, and salads on a schedule that runs Tuesday through Sunday.
- Chick-fil-A East Cartmill, at 2977 Market Drive, opened May 7 with a reimagined playground and full dine-in, drive-thru, and catering service, open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Neither is downtown proper, but both sit close enough to the K Street corridor to fold into a concert-night outing without much extra driving.
What the figures show about downtown
The fair and the concert series represent different kinds of activity: a five-day annual fair and a concert season whose attendance has increased. Downtown's average daytime population, by comparison, has changed little since 2019.
For Tulare residents, the figures offer a snapshot of two local attractions and the different funding models behind them.
If you're weighing what any of this means for property near downtown, or just want a local team that pays attention to the details that don't show up in a listing description, The Shawn Team is a good place to start that conversation.
