Fact check: Can minors be left without supervision at the California State Fair?

The California State Fair is fun for people of all ages — as long as you follow the rules.

The fair has several regulations on personal bags, food, pets and children. In a recent post on online Sacramento community threads, a person asked about unaccompanied kids at the fair.

Here’s a refresher on the rules:

Can children go to the state fair alone?

No.Kids under 18 years old must come to the fair with an adult or guardian that’s at least 21 years old. Organizers cite safety as their priority, according to the fair website.

An adult can only watch over five children at a time and they must stay at the fair while the kids are there. If you have a big group of kids, there will need to be a chaperone for every five kids.

Everyone entering the fair will have to show a driver’s license, identification card or another form of government-issued ID.

Do parents need to be with their kids the whole time?

Parents and children can separate while at the fair, Cal Expo Chief of Police Craig Walton told The Bee.

“The parents just have to be on the grounds,” Walton said. “The idea here is that if the parents are here, then we can contact them if something happens. We want to be able to get a hold of them.”

Bad behavior

Kids need to be able to provide their parent or guardian’s phone number if a fair representative asks for it.

If there are misbehaving children, they will be held and released to their chaperone.

This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 9:26 AM.