Get Ready for a Hot Rod Summer at the Fair

The San Diego County Fair made a brief visit to Lemon Grove on Wednesday morning. Not for barnyard babies, deep-fried Twinkies or carnival rides, but for photographs of the hot rods and custom cars that will be featured on a series of banners promoting the fair this summer.

The photo shoot for Lemon Grove's banners took place at Civic Center Park, with the as a backdrop. One by one, drivers carefully maneuvered their vintage rides onto the grass and posed as photographer Roger Tertocha got the shot. The brightly painted and polished vehicles spanned a good deal of automotive history, from Model A to muscle car.

This year’s fair theme is “Race to the Fair,” and will feature plenty of souped up, chopped up, hot wheels. The fair is producing banners for cities in the county to help promote the annual event, which last year drew a record-breaking attendance of 1,338,500 people, according to fair officials.

Once the banners are available, they will be placed downtown in advance of Opening Day. In addition to the hot rods, Lemon Grove's banners will also feature the Big Lemon.

The San Diego County Fair runs June 10 through July 4. The concert schedule includes Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Bruno Mars, Randy Travis, Switchfoot, the Beach Boys and many other acts sure to draw crowds. Admission is $13 for adults,  and $7 for children age 6-12 and seniors age 62 and older. Children 5 and younger get in free.