The World's Ugliest Dog Contest crowned its 2026 champion Friday night in Santa Rosa. But the Sonoma County Fair runs through Sunday — with free ice cream, a grape stomp, and a demolition derby still on the schedule. Here's how to make the last two days count.

If you were hoping to meet the World's Ugliest Dog in the fur, you've missed it by a day: the contest picked its 2026 winner Friday evening in Santa Rosa, and the AP wire images are already everywhere (SFGATE ran the gallery). The fair around it, though, is still going. The Sonoma County Fair wraps up Sunday, Aug. 16, at the fairgrounds on Bennett Valley Road — two more days on the calendar.

The basics. Gates open at noon. It's a weekend, so a general ticket runs $22 for adults and seniors; kids 7–12 pay $13 on weekdays, and anyone 6 and under is free, per the fair's ticket page (external source, opens in a new tab). Set aside another $15–$16 for parking on-site. No BART, no Muni reaches this one — plan to drive, figure about an hour up 101 from San Francisco when traffic cooperates. Carry cash for the parking booth so you're not stuck in the card lane.

What's still worth the drive. The dog pageant is the loud headliner, but it caps a 10-day stretch with plenty left in it. Under this year's "Festivals, Fiestas and Fun" banner, the Press Democrat (external source, opens in a new tab) lists a returning roster that includes the Hall of Flowers, a PRCA rodeo, the tractor pull, a Destruction Derby, BMX stunt riders, sheepdog trials, and the World Championship Grape Stomp. The new addition is Cirque Ma'Ceo, an Italian horse show heavy on acrobatics and aerial work. One thing that won't be there: live horse racing, which the fair retired last year.

The free move. Clover Sonoma's cone giveaway is back after a few years off the menu — the Press Democrat notes the scoops go out each afternoon, roughly 1 to 6 p.m., until the day's supply is gone. Show up early in that window and it's the best deal on the property. It also plays nicely against the heat: arrive at noon, knock out the flowers and the animal barns before the sun's at its worst, then line up for ice cream at 1.

On the contest, for the record: the World's Ugliest Dog Contest is run by the Sonoma-Marin Agricultural District (external source, opens in a new tab) and spent years as a June tradition at the Sonoma-Marin Fair down in Petaluma before shifting north to the Santa Rosa fair last summer. The champion walks away with $5,000, a trophy, and a New York trip for a "Today" show spot. As of Saturday morning, the fair still hadn't posted this year's winner by name.

If you've only got two hours: aim to be through the gate by 1 p.m., grab the free cone, wander the Hall of Flowers and the livestock barns, and plan your exit around whichever big-arena event — Destruction Derby, grape stomp — is running that afternoon; check the schedule board (external source, opens in a new tab) at the entrance, because those rotate by day. Skip the midway games. Put the money toward a turkey leg.