The free public festival offered a little something for everyone: families enjoyed a dedicated Fun Zone packed with bounce houses, face painting, carnival games, an obstacle course and a rock-climbing wall, while others competed in a horseshoe tournament, raffles and the annual watermelon-eating contest. Saturday's schedule also featured the return of the crowd-favorite Zucchini Race as well as guided tours of the historic Ranch House. Featuring over 130 vendor booths alongside food trucks and interactive demonstrations, the fair offered a full weekend dedicated to celebrating local craft and tradition.

Among the sprawling rows of hand-knitted goods, jewelry and woodworking, unique artisanal vendors brought distinct specialties to the ranch grounds. Melinda Salgado at Mystic Charm Tack makes horse bridles by hand, a type of harness that helps people handle their horses. She has been running this business for 13 years, as long as the Country Faire has been around. She sources nylon cords and hand sews the bridles and harnesses. Salgado, who has five horses, started her business when she was being charged $200 for the kind of bridles she wanted.

“I realized, I could make that myself,” she said.

 A handcrafted, custom-braided horse bridle showcased on a display model at the festival grounds. Photo by Khushi Salgia

Other vendors with handmade goods included 12-year-old Etta Humphreys whose booth featured a unique take on the ‘blind date with a book’ concept. She curates a variety of books and wraps them in paper with only the book description written on it, so people can pick a book based on their interests rather than judging it by its cover. She also folded her handmade book cover in a way to include pockets where there were little toys and trinkets pertaining to the book’s theme and age range. In addition to her creative approach to selling books, Humphreys has also written a children’s book called “A Chain of Kindness.”

“I was inspired by a Girl Scouts project,” she said.

 Young author and vendor Etta Humphreys presents her children's book, "A Chain of Kindness," at her Cosmic Crafts booth during the faire. Photo by Khushi Salgia

An artist named Allan Brown featured fantasy-oriented art prints that he digitally draws with a stylus. Drawing inspiration from video games and fantasy movies, he has been selling his art since 2022. He has even created a fictional character named Nora who he hopes to write an entire story around one day.

In addition to interesting art, there were also interesting tastes. Shelly and Irine Peters who run The Teastful Store together make custom blends of teas.

“It was hard finding decaf teas that have flavor,” Shelly said.

As a result, they started making their own, where they have turned their kitchen at home into a lab, taste testing their various concoctions. Despite this, they never get sick of drinking tea. Irine said her favorite is sweet orange tea, and the way they come up with new flavors is by mixing different types of leaves that they think will go well together. They also take requests if someone is interested in specific flavors.

One of the most popular attractions of the event was a cannon demonstration hosted by the Rouges of the Golden Coast, a pirate cosplay group who travels around the state, bringing this era of history to life at events such as Renaissance Faires. They have pirate names and make sure to stay in character for the whole event. One of these pirates, who goes by Kaboom, specializes in cannonry and teaches it to those who join the group. They shoot black powder to give it the look of them shooting with actual gunpowder. The cannons, while not actual historical relics, have still been passed down for several generations and have been made in the style of actual pirate cannons from the Victorian Era.

 A collection of fantasy-oriented digital art prints drawn by local artist Allan Brown on display at his booth, including Nora, a character that he designed. Photo by Khushi Salgia

Whether fairgoers came to inspect historic replica weaponry, sample home-brewed tea, tour the ranch grounds or root for a favorite zucchini on the racetrack, the 13th annual event delivered a weekend rooted in neighborhood pride. By bringing together local creators, historical reenactors and generations of families, the Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire continues to preserve the area's rich agricultural roots while fostering a strong sense of community for years to come.