The Los Angeles County Fair runs May 7–31 at the Fairplex in Pomona — Thursdays through Sundays. Theme: 'Play Your Way.' Free concerts, carnival rides, competition livestock, deep-fried everything, and the legendary Rose Show. Forty-five minutes from Murrieta on a weeknight. If you grew up in SoCal, this is the smell of summer — funnel cake, sawdust, and the midway at dusk. Your kids will demand to go back. Tickets at lacountyfair.com.