The Marin County Fair starts Wednesday and discounted tickets are still available through the official website. 

People can visit marinfair.org to buy $20 tickets through Tuesday, after which gate prices increase to $30.

Additionally, entry is free on Wednesday for children 12 and younger, adults 65 and older and military veterans with identification. 

This year’s theme, “Stars, Stripes and Stories,” celebrates America’s 250th birthday with 5 days of entertainment ending on July 5. 

Each ticket grants access to nearly everything at the fair, including live music every night featuring The Family Stone, Steel Pulse, Linda Perry, and Lupita Infante, a July 4 tribute-band fest, 28 carnival rides, the barnyard, grounds entertainment, competitive exhibits and nightly fireworks over the lagoon.

People are encouraged to take advantage of free bus service from Marin Transit, late-night  Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit service and extended bicycle parking at the fairgrounds, which is located on the Marin County Civic Center campus just off U.S. Highway 101.

To help reduce parking and traffic headaches, all Marin Transit fixed-route buses countywide will be free for the duration of the fair and additional buses and extended service hours will be in effect for the same time period. 

The fairgrounds are directly served by bus routes 35 and 49, while routes 71 and 233 serve nearby stops. 

Also, SMART will add extra capacity and provide late-night departures after the fireworks and trains will leave the Marin Civic Center station southbound at 9:55 p.m. and northbound at 10:05 p.m. and 10:35 p.m.

More transit information can be found at sonomamarintrain.org and marintransit.gov.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.