EVEN THOUGH THE MID-POINT OF SUMMER... is still a number of weeks away, the end of June, and the Fourth of July holiday, can feel like the pinnacle of the calendar, time-wise. Maybe it was the recent summer solstice, or that June 30 is Half Year's Eve, but we can be forgiven for viewing this stretch as the halfway point of the summer season, in some respects. The good news? It's still early in summer's run, and you have oodles of time to eat ice cream (in a cone, natch, instead of a cup, because cups prevent drips, and you want a little hand-ice cream drippiness in the summer) and to ride carnival rides (the kind covered in blinking bulbs with a rocking soundtrack, of course). To address your halfway-along-the-summer-of-'17 hankerings, there is the Marin County Fair, a five-day stretch of blinky-bulb'd attractions and live concerts and other touchstones of a classic county hullabaloo. But there's an added dimension, and "dimension" is the delightfully operative word. The theme of the fair is...
LET THE FUNSHINE IN, so you can be there'll be heartfelt nods to the Summer of Love's 50th anniversary. Cheer on a tie-dye competition, or root for people competing for best macramé. There's a Psychedelic Liquid Light Show, too, to lend some awesome illuminations to the proceedings, as well as a host of crafty, vibeful doings that hearken back to the days of '67. And be on the lookout for the daily '60s-stylish fashion parade to saunter through the June 30-July 4 fair. On the concert stage? Ann Wilson, UB40, The Commodores, and The 5th Dimension are just a trio of the rock-out, feel-good acts. As for the fireworks show? It isn't just on the Fourth of July, no sirree. The sky sparkle is a nightly occurrence at the Marin County Fair, so stay through to 9:30 p.m. to behold some pyrotechnic pizzazz, pizzazz that'll cap off a day of ice cream drips and rockin' tunes and blinky rides and tie-dyed escapades.
