As I ate lunch Sunday at a restaurant in Montclair, the couple in the booth behind me were talking about one of my favorite events. The man asked Siri, “What are the dates of the Los Angeles County Fair?”

I considered turning around to say “May 2 to 26,” then going back to my salad. But I let Siri handle this one.

No matter where you live or spend time, you may have become aware that the fair is fast approaching. Its marketing reach can be surprising for what, for many of us, is a local event.

I was walking on downtown L.A.’s Bunker Hill last week when I saw banners advertising the county fair on lampposts only a block or two from The Broad and Disney Hall.

The next day on Riverside’s University Avenue, a city bus braked to a halt near me. Its exterior was wrapped in an advertisement for the fair.

A fair spokesperson told me the locales of distant advertising have varied depending on which ZIP codes are targeted that season, but Palm Springs, the Victor Valley, L.A.’s Westside and Ventura have all been pitched in years past.

I toured the fairgrounds Monday to get a sense of what’s coming.

Much was left to do. Animals would begin arriving Wednesday, April 30 for competitions, exhibitions and petting zoos. Fresh flowers and plants would likewise not show up until people were there to appreciate them.

Thrill rides looked ready to go. They include what’s said to be the biggest roller coaster the fair’s had, The Raptor, and a vertical ride named Aviator that would whisk people 160 feet in the air. Not me, but other people.

Then there’s the Heidi Coaster. “It’s German-themed,” spokesperson Renee Hernandez explained with a chuckle. “You sit in a barrel. They play oom-pah-pah music.”

The 2025 fair is so brat — as in bratwurst.

Because the Grandstand will undergo renovations, the home arts exhibits have been moved to Exhibit Hall 5, and concerts will take place in an area named The Fields. The stage has been erected there. But at The Fields, you won’t be stretched out on blankets on a lawn.

Instead, interlocking rubber pavers have created a level floor on which seating for 6,500 has been set up, mostly rows of chairs but also bleachers. Food stands and portable restrooms are near.

“I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised. It’s going to be comfortable,” Hernandez said. “It’s floor seats, but because the stage is high, there are no obstructions.”

(However, the fair can’t be held responsible for the tall person sitting in front of you.)

“Art Unleashed” is the fair theme this time. Participating are LACMA, the Getty Center, Center Theater Group, LA Opera, LA Plaza de Cultural y Artes and Bob Baker Marionettes.

“We wanted partnerships with different iconic L.A. arts groups,” Hernandez said. Some of them, she said, are geographically far enough from Pomona and the Inland Empire that many locals do not have ready access.

(Sadly, plans for Center Theater Group to create an original play starring cheerful fair mascot Thummer had to be postponed to 2026 due to the short time frame. Did CTG’s playwrights suffer writer’s block? I wanted to see the pig mascot ham it up.)

Also illustrating the “Art Unleashed” theme is the Flowers and Gardens building. It’s a riot of color even before the plants show up.

Painted vignettes on the walls pay tribute to the creative arts. The building’s soaring centerpiece is an octagonal, funnel-shaped mural by Lucretia Torva, who was applying some of the final brushstrokes from her perch on a lift.

Exhibit director Robert Ramirez called its theme “whimsical steampunk,” with gears and pipes depicting “the creative machine of art.”

By Friday, the building will have 500 plants and 5,000 flowers, which will change out weekly.

As always, I hope to visit the fair and produce at least a couple of columns, although with only four weekends, the end of the fair always sneaks up on me. After opening at 5 p.m. Friday, the fair is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each Thursday to Sunday, as well as Memorial Day, the last day.

For more information, ask Siri.

Goodnight Saigon

In the parking lot of an East Holt Avenue shopping plaza in Pomona that’s home to several Vietnamese shops, about 45 people gathered Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

It was overcast and cold, fitting symbolism to mark a day — April 30, 1975 — known by some as Black April.

On a temporary stage across from Hoa Binh Market, speeches were made, certificates were exchanged and songs were sung.

Most of those in attendance were old enough to have come here as refugees following the collapse of the South Vietnamese capital and the end of the Vietnam War.

Four old men wore fatigues and carried prop guns. Two other men were monks in orange robes. Flags of the United States and the former South Vietnam were displayed and waved. Some remarks were made in both Vietnamese and English.

The sponsor was the Vietnamese Community of Pomona Valley, an organization led for most of its existence by Huu Vo, a family practitioner in the neighborhood.

“I can talk for a long time,” Vo said in his remarks, “but today is very cold, so I say short.”

Vo shared the personal story of how he’d taken April 29, 1975 off from work — he was an intern at a Saigon hospital — because it was his 25th birthday. He went home to find his brother packing, preparing to leave immediately for America by ship. In a snap decision, Vo joined him.

“The next day, Vietnam fell,” Vo said.

His organization favors free elections and freedom of religion, which he said today’s Vietnam doesn’t have. But the refugees still have hope for a better Vietnam.

Vo thanked the 58,000 U.S. soldiers who died in the war and those who survived but may have wounds, either physical or mental.

A singer took the stage to sing in Vietnamese. That seemed like a good time to leave. Still, I paused to take photos of the Pomona Square center’s two flags, American and South Vietnamese, high atop twin flagpoles.

A breeze kicked up, and both flags were unfurled, waving.

David Allen writes Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, freely. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, and follow davidallencolumnist on Facebook, @davidallen909 on X or @davidallen909.bsky.social on Bluesky.