Wide Open Spaces were enjoyed by all at the California Mid-State Fair

This year featured two sold-out concerts and full stands at the rodeo

NORTH COUNTY — Now that the 78th California Mid-State Fair (CMSF) has come to a close, we’re here to celebrate the highlights from the 12 days of family fun, concerts, animal auctions, pageants, and everything in between.

The CMSF opened at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17, with a new tradition of a rope drop, giving fair-goers their very own Disneyland-type experience. The opening day also included the Miss California Mid-State Fair Scholarship Pageant, where 11 local girls competed for the honor of CMSF queen and her two princesses. Megan Pagnini (18 from Paso Robles) was crowned Queen and Miss Congeniality, while Ashlee Holt (18 from Paso Robles) was crowned first runner-up, and Logan Rutherford (21 from Paso Robles) was crowned second runner-up.

This year’s concert lineup included country stars Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Zac Brown Band, and the sold-out Jelly Roll show. Mexican singer-songwriter Carin Leon also packed the Chumash Arena with a sold-out show, and Comedian Nate Bargatze got the grandstand laughing. The main stage also featured shows from TLC and Shaggy, Sublime with Rome, Cheap Trick, and Canadian rock band Nickelback.

Paso Robles Press attended the Nickelback show, and even though it wasn’t quite sold out, the lines for merch were longer than we’d seen them in a long time. The grandstand was packed with fans singing along to every song that the band “Everyone Loves to Hate” played. The energy in the venue was electric, and every audience member fed off the band’s camaraderie and talent.

The band sounded great, from vocals to instrumentation, and the actual show included pyrotechnics, fireworks, and fun visuals on the screen behind them. They even pulled up a singer from the audience to karaoke along with their hit”Rockstar.” Other songs included in the night’s setlist were “Far Away,” “Animals,” “Someday,” “Photograph,” “How You Remind Me,” and they even sang a deep cut of “Hero,” which was featured on the 2002 Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” soundtrack. It made for a memorable night singing nostalgic songs that dropped you right back into the early to mid-aughts.

This year’s Country Rodeo Finals had a sold-out crowd in the stands. The next night, even the Monster Truck Show was sold out, ending the 11 days of fun with a bang.

Kelsey Kunze of Paso Robles told us that this was indeed, not her first rodeo: “My husband and I have been attending for the last several years, and it’s something we look forward to every year. It’s become a tradition for us to attend.”

Throughout the week, our favorite local cowboys and cowgirls from across the Central Coast competed in various ranch rodeo events. On Saturday, July 27, the best of them got to compete in the Grandstand Arena for the finals. Flying U Rodeo Company, founded by the late Cotton Rosser, came back again to put on the big rodeo.

“What stood out to me most this year was the skill of the riders,” said Kunze of her time at the rodeo Saturday night.“Each year, they seem to get better and better, and this year was no exception.”

This year’s top place winners are as follows:

Team Penning

• Mathew Hammond, Brian Evans, Ryan Bognuda

Barrels

• Katelyn Hurl

Ranch Rope & Brand

• Pat Boyle, Lane Karney, Joe Roth, Liam Roth

Mixed Ribbon Roping

• Garrett Davis, Claire Johnsen

Match Roping

• Danny Leslie, Dugan Kelly

Double Mugging

• Edgar Machado, Peter Rincon

Ladies Breakaway Roping

• Lilly Thompson

All Around Cowboy

• Danny Leslie

“My favorite part of this year’s rodeo was definitely the team penning event,” said Kunze of the big finals. “It’s always fun to watch the teams work together to herd the cattle.”

We look forward to seeing you again next year at “The Biggest Little Fair Anywhere.”

Feature Image: (From left) Liam Roth, Lane Karney, Joe Roth, and Pat Boyle placed first in the ranch rope and brand event at the Country Rodeo Finals on Saturday, July 27. Photo by CMSF