Venue: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
Address: 20 Fairgrounds Bingo Is the place
Town: San Jose, US

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is an event venue in San Jose, California. The 165-acre (67 ha) fairgrounds has been owned by the County of Santa Clara since 1940 and is operated by the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Management Corporation, a public-benefit nonprofit corporation. Since 1941, the fairgrounds has been the site of the annual Santa Clara County Fair. At its peak in the mid-20th century, the fairgrounds hosted over 1.4 million people annually in public and private events. However, attendance declined throughout the 1990s and by 2003 had fallen to around 850,000. The fairgrounds is located in the Spartan Keyes neighborhood of San Jose, California. It is bounded by Monterey Road to the west and Umbarger Road to the south. Tully Road separates the main portion of the site from a large parking lot. Oak Hill Memorial Park is located across Monterey Road from the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds site includes 167,000 square feet (15,500 m2) of indoor and covered space, 20 acres (8.1 ha) of lawn and paved outdoor space, and 40 acres (16 ha) of surface parking. Aside from the annual fair, the facilities host weddings, dog training, and off-track horse betting. There is a paintball arena as well as 16 acres (6.5 ha) of affordable housing. Housing advocates have called on the county to convert the substantial vacant parts of the site into transitional or affordable housing to ease the Bay Area's housing crisis. Summer fairs were held periodically at various sites in Santa Clara County since the late 1800s. On October 28, 1940, with support from the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, the county purchased the Macomber family's 97 acres (39 ha) of land along Old Tully Road for $35,000 to serve as a permanent fairgrounds. By 1941, when the first county fair was held, the fairgrounds had grown to 176 acres (71 ha) plus 14 acres (5.7 ha) of parking on the north side of Tully Road. The next county fair was not held until 1946 due to U.S. involvement in World War II. The first