Kern County Fair & Bakersfield

Bakersfield is one of the cities that I've heard my friends talk about, but I never really had a chance to visit. The closest I get to Bakersfield is seeing the sign when driving on I-5 from Los Angeles.

But I got lucky! My friend who was from Bakersfield mentioned to me that there would be a county fair in Bakersfield, and as I've never been to any country fairs, nor have I been to Bakersfield, I decided that it's a good time to visit.

Let's start by covering the basics: Bakersfield is a city that's located in Kern county in California. According to Wikipedia, it's the 9th largest city in California, and it is the county seat for Kern county. As my friend puts it, Bakersfield economy is "exporting oil, agriculture, soldiers, and importing prisoners."

We went to a LOT of places and ate a LOT of food, but let's start by focusing on the main entrée of this trip: The Kern County Fair.

Next up, let's explore the culture and economy of Bakersfield.

Bakersfield exports tons and tons of oil, so take a look at the pictures below, you'll see a lot of oil derricks everywhere. Not only oil derricks are put in the desert, but they are seen everywhere, even around the streets in the city downtown area! 

What I also found is that people in Bakersfield are very patriotic (🇺🇸 U.S.A.!!) and from what I've heard, pretty much every 1 in 5 households in Kern county has a gun, so I included a couple of pictures at the gun store ("Second Amendment Sports"), and the soldier's supply store ("The Supply Sergeant").

Let's take a break by looking at what we ate when we were in Bakersfield. A lot of Bakersfield's food culture was influenced by Basque food culture, Southern American food culture, and Mexican food culture. I hope that the pictures below will make your mouth water :)

We are moving on to the Kern County Museum. The museum is composed of a lot of small buildings from the old days of Bakersfield. It really does bring you back to the old days, but not only we got to experience old Bakersfield, the museum also hosts two special exhibitions: the oil exhibit, and the World War II exhibit.

I found that the oil exhibit fascinating. It explains how oil was formed under the earth, how we get them out of the earth, and how we refine them.

Last but not least, I can't forget to show you the infamous Bakersfield sign.

There are a lot more things to explore in Kern county and Bakersfield. I would love to go back again (except probably the part where sometimes it heats up to 100 degrees).

Before I go, I'd have to thank my friends and their parents for their hospitality in hosting me for 3 days there, and I hope you enjoy my brief tour of Bakersfield!