With deep roots in the Central Valley, regional California grocer Save Mart is celebrating its 17th year of sponsorship with the 2024 California State Fair & Food Festival by offering attractions and experiences for fairgoers of all ages. Save Mart’s uniquely-California offerings highlight and celebrate the state’s rich agricultural history, including lively cooking challenges, interactive farm exhibit and an extensive wine garden featuring more than 70 varieties of award-winning California grown wine and multiple flavors of wine slushies.
The California State Fair & Food Festival runs through July 28 at Cal Expo in Sacramento and includes a variety of food and wine selections, agriculture and technology exhibitions, livestock competitions, horse racing, talent shows, carnival rides, live music and more. This year, select Save Mart stores in the region are offering discounted State Fair tickets for use on any day during the fair.
“For the 17th year, Save Mart is proud to celebrate the state’s renowned food, wine and agriculture at the California State Fair & Food Festival,” said Donovan Ford, chief operations officer at The Save Mart Companies. “We are thrilled to showcase the exceptional products we feature in our stores every day and want to thank the hundreds of Save Mart associates who volunteer their time to make it happen. We couldn’t do it without them.”
The Save Mart Wine Garden is the nation’s largest public tasting of Gold Medal-winning California wines. With the purchase of a commemorative glass, guests can choose from more than 70 varieties of celebrated California wines include selections from Bogle, Delicato, E&J Gallo, Fetzer, J. Lohr, O’Neill Family Wines, Treasury Wine Estates, Trinchero Wine Estates, Wagner Family of Wines and many more. Save Mart’s fair-favorite Wine Slushy Bar, features four different icy blends of flavors for the perfect afternoon refreshment. Fairgoers can also learn about the wine-making process and experience the diversity of award-winning wines from the featured Winery of the Day. All tips from The Save Mart Wine Garden will be donated to The Save Mart Companies’ philanthropic non-profit organization, The CARES Foundation, which provides vital resources for children and families in our local communities.
Save Mart’s California Kitchen is dedicated to California’s cultural diversity and lifestyle of the health-conscious consumer. The centerpiece of the exhibit is SMUD’s Energy Efficient Cooking Theater whose cooking stations will offer culinary demonstrations and exciting cooking competitions throughout the fair. The exhibit also features the Taste of California Classroom and several “Taster’s Row” sampling booths that allow guests to try foods they have never experienced, along with many other interactive exhibits and educational displays.
Curious fairgoers are encouraged to tour The Farm, Presented by Save Mart, a working farm with interactive stations featuring California grown produce and a functioning greenhouse. Here, guests can view more than 70 specialty crops, learn about pollinators and their importance in California agriculture, as well as pet a live sturgeon in the aquaculture display. The Farm is an essential part of mobilizing interest for young minds to pursue a career in agriculture and to sustain the industry.
For more information about the California State Fair & Food Festival, visit https://calexpostatefair.com/.
