I WOULD BE LYING IF I SAID THAT the idea of camel and ostrich races out in the desert wasn’t my number one reason for attending the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. Plus, it has only been since living in California that I have become acquainted with the wonder that is the date. So when the annual event rolled around this February, I knew that this would be the year I finally make the trek out to Indio.

Indio, California, is high desert country, located just past Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, 125 miles east of Los Angeles. The self-proclaimed “City of Festivals,” Indio hosts the date festival, a tamale festival, Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, Southwest Arts Festival, Cabazon Indian National Pow Wow, Palm Springs Kennel Club’s Annual Dog Show, an annual RV rally and the U.S. Field Hockey Festival. Not bad for a city whose temperature hovers above 90 for more than half the year.

Indio is an interesting locale for a county fair. Daily temperatures average a high of 76 degrees in February. The stark blue sky and lavender San Jacinto mountains looming along the horizon make for quite a memorable setting. The winter winds blow strong down from the mountains here, whistling past the many miles of wind turbines, rustling through the date palms and winding around the fairgrounds, a swirl of grit and dust and the occasional stray ostrich feather.

The Coachella Valley harvests some 35,000,000 pounds of dates each year—95 percent of the country’s supply. The Date Festival began in 1947, held in celebration of its namesake’s harvest. It appears that the date festival part of this event has lessened since its humble beginnings, with the county fair aspect—rickety rides, deep-fried snickers and glow-in-the-dark necklaces—taking over a large chunk of this event. Just one building was devoted to the date, which was one of the most interesting parts of the fair to me. For instance, did you know that only a female date palm can produce dates? Or that it takes seven months for a date to ripen?

The best part of the event by far is the ostrich and camel racing. I’m not sure PETA would approve, but it sure was entertaining. The races are coordinated by a traveling company out of Kansas, who provide Arabian camels and male South African ostriches for the races. A lone cowgirl proudly carrying an American flag trotted out on a pooping horse, and we stood for the national anthem. Then it was race time.

There were three heats of ostrich races. The first race had jockeys riding on the backs of the birds. One feisty ostrich bucked his jockey off, leaving him lying on the dirt track and going on to secure first place (sure getting rid of that dead weight secured that win). I can only hope that a savory ostrich treat awaited him past the finish line. The second race saw the jockeys dress up as gladiators, pulled by the birds in chariots. The third was a repeat of the second, but with different jockeys. Between races, the troupe provided additional entertainment such as a very tame zebra performing tricks and emu herding by children pulled from the audience.

Sadly, there was just one camel race. The camels—known as dromedaries due to their one hump—were huge, and surprisingly fast. It was great fun to see. The performing beasts were taken over to the stands to meet the audience after the race. Frankly, the boys didn’t seem too happy, so I resisted the urge to pet them—I’d like to keep my fingers, thanks—and took photos instead.

Many more animals awaited me at this fair. If you are into animals, you are in luck here. There was a petting zoo with adorable baby ducks, goats and lambs, and exotic animals such as a kangaroo, zebra and water buffalo—and I got to feed them all. Whether the petting zoo was for children or not, how could I pass up the opportunity to be eye-to-eye with a four-horned goat? I was quite surprised that they let the festival-goers feed and pet the animals unsupervised. (For instance, I saw a teenager attempt to put a baby goat under his letterman jacket.) It was much more relaxed than larger fairs I’ve been to, which was both a good thing (I got to pet and feed them) and bad thing (said teenager and the poor baby goat).

Also high on the list of super-cool things here was the Swampmaster gator show. A traveling show out of Orlando, the Swampmaster wrestles alligators in a small plastic pool. Now, seeing a man wrestle an alligator has long been on my personal list of life must-dos—I just never thought he’d be wearing a wireless microphone headset while doing it. He swore up and down that the gators did not mind wrestling him. Yet his brother (an aspiring MMA fighter, they said) kept guard inches from the pool at all times, just in case a gator got too feisty. It was highly entertaining, and as they promised, educational. Can’t wait to try it myself this summer in my backyard—mental note, pick up a plastic baby pool from Target.

Then, on to more animal racing. This time baby pigs. Another traveling group—I would love to know if they all travel around the country on the same fair circuit. The prize that got these piglets tearing around the track? An Oreo cookie on a silver platter. Apparently Oreos are big treats for little pigs. Good to know—mental note, pick up Oreos from Target.

Overall, it was a good time in a very unique location. I’ve been to many county fairs in Southern California, and this one might just be the best. It was a more laid-back and less frantic then the larger Los Angeles or Orange County fairs. It was smaller in size, but I liked that. (How many deep-fried Twinkies or turkey leg stands does one truly need?) And I would love to check out Indio more, I could tell it has a lot of interesting, weird desert potential. Indio might be just my kind of place.