The purpose of the Santa Cruz County Fair is two-fold:
- To create and present an annual Fair that highlights the talents of local residents
- To be ready to respond to any local disaster/emergency that requires housing people or animals
To accomplish these two requirements of the State of California, the fairgrounds must be ready at any time to accept those in need resulting from an emergency in our local area.
The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is also the best and largest facility to house an event that requires building space and convenient parking. More than 300 events are held at the Fairgrounds annually. It is also home to the Agricultural History Project, Watsonville Speedway and numerous equestrian events.