The Temptations are celebrating 50 years in the music business this year, and you get to help mark the occasion at the Marin County Fair on Monday night. One of Motown’s most enduring acts — joined by 21 singers through the years — started with the 1963 hit “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and generated 36 more top-10 hits. If you had the radio on during the 1960s and ‘70s, you heard chart-busters such as “My Girl” (from writer/producer Smokey Robinson), “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep,” “Just My Imagination” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” The sweet spot of their career lasted from the early …

Ben Jaffe was born into the family business, and he’s determined to take it to new heights. Jaffe is the musical director and tuba player for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the New Orleans cultural institution his parents founded 50 years ago last month. The group plays two sets today at the Marin County Fair (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.), where they’ve performed for the past 20 years, making the fair and the Bay Area a second home of sorts for the group and its brand of New Orleans culture. “We have deep, deep roots in the Bay Area,” says Jaffe, noting a poster in his office of the band’s 1968 …

A flash mob performed to the Black Eyed Pea's 'I Gotta Feeling' at the Marin County Fair Saturday afternoon. Flash mobs gather at an unknown time and location to do a performance to the surprise of innocent passersby. Fair attendees quickly gathered to watch the choreographed dance at the food court yesterday. Performers included Supervisor Susan Adams and dozens of residents, who had practiced the dance throughout the week before the flash mob performance.

The Golden Gate Pavilion, a 6,000-square-foot area chock full of exhibits and photographs, seeks to educate and inform visitors about the landmark bridge’s history and the current, multi-million dollar earthquake retrofit taking place on it now. Visitors enter the pavilion via a 48-foot-long model of the bridge itself. The photos chronicle the original construction that began in 1933 to the bridge’s opening in May 1937. Bridge workers will be on hand throughout the weekend to answer questions about how the bridge is maintained throughout the year, Farley said.

Did you enter the baked goods contest? The flower arrangement competition? Or, make your own hand-crafted Golden Gate Bridge out of toothpicks? Share your photos of your county fair entries below and let us know what they are! (And, how you did...) Everyone who shares photos of their county fair entries will get a Patch waterbottle. And, maybe you'll even win Best in Show on Patch.

If you take a gander at the stage during Ozomatli’s headlining set at the Marin County Fair tonight, you’ll see a whole host of instruments, including saxophone, clarinet, keyboard, melodica and the requinto jarocho, a traditional small guitar from Mexico. And those are just the instruments Ulises (“Uli”) Bella plays. His six bandmates only add to the sonic stew, blending Latin and hip-hop, funk and reggae into a potent sound that has transformed venues all over the world into a summertime block party. But although Ozomatli have been ambassadors for peace and human rights all over the world …

With a rocking sound touched by voodoo, 7 Walkers brings its swampadelic sound to the Marin County Fair on Saturday.The band, featuring former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and Crescent City rocker Papa Mali, combines New Orleans jazz and blues with classic Bay Area rock. Robert Hunter, a prolific lyricist with the Grateful Dead, co-wrote most of the songs on 7 Walkers debut album with Papa Mali.Papa Mali saw his first Dead concert at age 15 in Dallas and became enthralled in the sound that helped shape his destiny.Kreutzmann's girlfriend introduced him to Papa Mali's talents when she…

Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are considered legends of ska and reggae music. The group brings their unique combination of gospel, ska, soul, reggae and rock to the Marin County Fair entertainment lineup on Friday, July 1 at 7:30 p.m.  Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leader of the group, was born in Jamaica and grew up singing gospel music in a church choir. After nearly 50 years of peforming, the group continues to influence and inspire current music artists. The band won the 2005 Grammy award for best reggae album for True Love, which consisted of re-recorded …

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Three Dog Night kicks off the opening night of the Marin County Fair at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday. The classic band is best known for their hits "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Joy to the World," and "Black and White" -- all of which will be played at the free concert at the lagoon pavilion tonight. The band, lead by founding members and lead singers Danny Hutton and Cory Wells, has had 21 Billboard Top 40 hits and 13 gold albums in the last four decades. According to the band, from 1969 to 1974 no other group sold more records or had more top ten hits.  The name Three Dog Night reportedly …

The celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge will kick off with one heck of a soundtrack. The 66th annual Marin County Fair, which serves as the beginning of a nearly year-long celebration of the iconic bridge’s birthday, unveiled its lineup of entertainment this week for the event, which runs from June 30 to July 4. The lineup includes a host of talented acts with a little something for every musical taste, from R&B legends like the Temptations and the Pointer Sisters to reggae legend Toots & the Maytals and the Latin-flavored sonic stew of Ozomatli. It also features …