Used batteries mean free admission to Riverside County Fair today

Getting rid of used household batteries in an ecologically safe way could mean more than a cleaner planet; it could mean free admission today to the 69th Annual Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival.

Under today’s Waste Management Wednesday promotion, visitors to the fair can get in free in exchange for 10 used household batteries. Business waste or car batteries won’t be accepted.

On Tuesday, organizers said that while revenue and pet adoptions were up, the number of visitors passing through the turnstiles was slightly behind last year’s pace.

By closing time Monday, attendance for this year’s event was just over 130,000 visitors, said Kimberly Douglas, assistant marketing manager for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency. That’s down about 6 percent from the 139,000 people who visited through Monday in 2014.

“With beautiful weather in store for the rest of the fair, we are hopeful to meet last year’s fantastic attendance numbers,” Douglas said.

So far, revenue is coming in a slightly better pace than last year, Douglas said.

Also doing brisk business is a pet adoption promotion, conducted jointly with the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, where people wishing to adopt can get a pet that is spayed or neutered and has all shots for $20.

By Tuesday afternoon, 127 pets had been adopted. Last year, just 90 pets had been adopted during a slightly longer time frame.

The fair and festival are scheduled to run through Sunday.