What: Placer County Fair

Where: 800 All America Blvd., Roseville

When: 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday; 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday; noon to 11 p.m. Sunday

Ticket prices and more info: placercountyfair.org or 786-2023

Minutes after the Placer County Fair opened on Thursday, Roseville’s Jacob Lyman, 11, and brother T.C. Lyman knew just where to go.

The Super Shot, a 100-foot-tall scream-maker that drops its victims in mere seconds, beckoned.

“It was awesome,” Jacob said after surviving the ride, one of the fair’s most popular. “It came down so fast.”

The brothers had their pick of the midway at the 72nd annual fair, being held on the Placer County Fairgrounds in Roseville through Sunday, with contraptions like the Himalya, the Zipper and the Tornado.

The crowd wasn’t thick at the 5 p.m. opening on Thursday, but fairgoers were trickling in a family at a time. Fair organizers hope staying open later – it’s open until 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday – will help draw out heat-weary crowds.

Of course, frights aren’t the only attraction.

Lincoln’s Todd Santos, XX, was there to show off his pig.

“I’ve been waiting for the fair all year,” the Flatlands 4-H member said. “It’s basically you’re raising your animals and people are going to buy it – hopefully.”

In the corral, younger livestock-raisers kicked off the fair with a traditional favorite: the pygmy goat costume contest.

The miniature chompers were dolled up to look like everything from pirates to train conductors, basketball players and Little Bo Peep.

“I’m a hunter and he’s my hunting dog,” said Jimmy Simao, 6. (His sister, 8-year-old Lauren, was a beekeeper; her goat, Peanut, was a bee.)

But ask a random sampling of die-hard fairgoers why they come out, and one you’ll hear one theme again and again.

Food on a stick.

“It’s the only time of year you can get them,” Roseville’s Steve Arney said, explaining the advantages of fair corndogs as he chowed down on one. “It blows the supermarkets out of the water. I can’t go to the fair without one.”

Earlene Vincent agreed.

“There’s nothing like them,” she said, then added defiantly: “When you get to be my age, you don’t get to feel guilty.”

Roseville residents Wes and Wanda Person had another reason to go to the fair – their grandson’s girlfriend was in the running for the Miss Placer pageant.

Still, they attend every year as a way to support their community, they said.

“It’s like an old-fashioned community fair. They’re wonderful,” Wanda said.

And when pressed, both admitted to another motivation.

“The rides are OK, but you can’t get the food in the store,” Wes said. “I like to make the tour first, walk the whole place, and then make the decision.”