The theme for the 2017 San Diego County Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds will be “Where the West is Fun,” which is a toned-down take on an earlier theme version that was considered “extremely offensive” by at least one local tribe.
It was argued that the earlier theme version — “How the West was Fun” — could suggest that the winning of the American West from Native Americans was “fun.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that board officials with the Del Mar Fairgrounds reached an agreement on Dec. 20 with the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association — which is a consortium of 19 tribes — to proceed with the revised theme.
Angela Elliott Santos, tribal chairwoman of the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, wrote a letter to the fair board and tribal advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown stating that the initial 2017 fair verbiage was “extremely offensive in light of the history and experience of genocide for the Kumeyaay Nation and other Native nations during the so-called settling of the west,” the U-T reported.
Fred Schenk, a board member of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which operates the state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds and runs the annual county fair, told the U-T that the revised “Where the West is Fun” theme will highlight the history of the West and San Diego County in the mid-to late 1800s.
“There’s a new sheriff in town and it’s You, partner. Grab your cowboy hat, pull on your boots, and ride on over to this year’s San Diego County Fair as we celebrate the legendary rough-and-tumble Wild, Wild West,” reads the 2017 fair intro copy, according to the U-T. The fair logo includes a cowboy rearing back on a horse, framed by cactuses, according to the U-T.
The 2017 fair runs from June 2 through July 4.
