The Spring Fair has arrived in Puyallup. Here's your guide to parking, tickets

Yahoo

10-04-2025

It's time to celebrate spring. The annual Washington State Spring Fair has arrived — and this year, it has some new surprises.
Residents can go to the fair from Thursday, April 10 to Sunday April 13 and again from Thursday, April 17 to Sunday, April 20.
The Thursday hours are 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., the Friday and Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
If you're buying tickets online, general admission on Thursdays and Fridays costs $13 for adults and $11 for children between 6 and 12 years old. On weekends, those tickets are $15 and $12 respectively. Children 5 years old and under are admitted for free, and on Thursdays, all children under the age of 18 get free admission.
If you plan to buy tickets at the gate, adults can get in for $14 on weekdays and $17 on weekends. Children between 6 and 12 can get in for $12 on weekdays and $13 on weekends.
'Another way to save is if people come on opening day, they can get in for free from 2 to 4 p.m. by bringing a food donation,' fair spokesperson Stacy Van Horne told The News Tribune.
General parking in the Gold, Blue, Red and Green lots is free on Thursdays and $15 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Guests can also splurge for reserved premium parking in Lot B (across from the Red Gate) which is $25 on Thursdays and $30 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Several projects are underway at the fairgrounds ahead of the 125th Washington State Fair this fall — including a renovation of the M Barn, a new rooftop bar and a new festival street along Ninth Avenue Southwest. Van Horne said that the construction projects for the State Fair won't impact the Spring Fair — but it will take a few extra minutes to walk from the Red Lot to the Red Gate.
'Ninth Avenue is closed right now,' Van Horne said. 'Red Gate will be open — all four of our gates are open — but the only access to Red Gate is off of Fourth. So, people can still park in the Red Lot, they just have to walk around and there will be lots of detour signs that the city is putting up.'
Van Horne said one of the Spring Fair's new projects is a goat playground. There will be 12 to 15 goats, including two babies — known as 'kids.'
'That kind of celebrates spring, and that's what Spring Fair is about,' Van Horne said. 'There will actually be 'kids' on the playground! I've seen it, it's amazing — there's swings, there's teeter-totters, all kinds of things.'
The goat playground is a free exhibit, Van Horne said.
There is also a new restaurant called Miss C's Chicken Shack, where guests can get biscuits, fried chicken, chicken and waffles and more.
Van Horne also brought up 'The Collection,' a new shop near the Gold Gate that honors the State Fair's 125th anniversary. Guests can buy clothing, candles and more — almost all of them emblazoned with the 'Do the Puyallup' slogan.
'It benefits our Washington State Fair Foundation, which benefits scholarships for students all over the state,' Van Horne said. 'You go in there, you want to shop, you can shop the nostalgia.'
The best weekend to visit depends on what you want to do. The BBQ Playoffs are this weekend only. Roughly 35 teams will be competing for $25,000 in prize money — and guests will be able to taste all the flavors of spring.
On the second weekend, The Fair is shedding light on its future.
'We actually have an exhibit called 'Building the Next 125 Years' and we will have big pieces of equipment and photo renderings and things like that,' Van Horne said.
Guests will be able to get an in-depth look at the construction projects happening, Van Horne said. The event will also have a sand sculpture artist.
Van Horne said that most exhibits will be available for both weekends, though there may be different animals on display or different exhibits in the grandstand. For more information, visit thefair.com.
The Spring Fair will have rides, various restaurants and cute animals to meet.
Guests can watch racing pigs or DockDogs, dogs that jump remarkable distances.
'[The pigs] are so cute — they run around the track and they get fed at the end,' Van Horne said. 'DockDogs is another fun animal adventure, where dogs run around a dock and jump as far as they can or as high as they can. These dogs go far — some jump almost over 30 feet. That's done around the country and it's fun to see the champions out here.'
The Dinosaur Exhibit is open for all ages, with tickets costing $8. Residents can also celebrate Easter with a Golden Egg Scavenger Hunt or take a ride on a Monster Truck (tickets are $10).