The Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival Presented by Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Awards $22,000 Dollars in Scholarships to Local Graduating High School Seniors

Indio, CA, February 7, 2024 – The annual Date Festival Scholarship has awarded a total of $22,000 to outstanding Riverside County graduating high school seniors. With $10,000 contributed from Butler Amusements – longtime carnival provider for the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival presented by Fantasy Springs Resort Casino - $10,000 from Pickering Events – operators of the 91-acre Riverside County Fairgrounds - and a bonus $2,000 from the Bailey-Findley Foundation, eleven students will receive $2,000 each to support their post-secondary school educational pursuits. Competition was particularly fierce this year, with over 200 applicants; a nearly 900% increase from 2023.

Students from 43 high schools participated in the competition, which considered their community involvement, scholastic achievement, interviews, and an essay on "The Importance of Community.”

The $2,000 scholarship recipients are:

NAME                             SCHOOL                               CITY OF RESIDENCE    

Nicolle Aguilar               Cathedral City HS                  Cathedral City

Hayleigh Bracht            Beaumont HS                        Beaumont

Ethaniel Draper             La Quinta HS                         Sky Valley

Adriana Figueroa            Palm Springs HS                   Desert Hot Springs

Carolina Gomez            Beaumont HS                        Beaumont

Elina Kuang                  Murrieta Mesa HS                Murrieta

An Nguyen                    Martin Luther King HS         Riverside   

Lauryn Singh                Arlington HS                          Riverside

Logan Stendel             Palm Desert HS                    Palm Desert

Alana Stoudenmire     Woodcrest Christian HS      Riverside

Katie Xin                       Palm Desert HS                    Palm Desert

"Butler Amusements, Pickering Events, and the Bailey-Findley Foundation are pleased to award scholarships to each of these deserving Class of 2024 Seniors," said Dawn Pickering, Coordinator for the Date Festival Scholarship. "Our goal with the scholarships is to honor and emphasize exceptional student achievement. Recipients will also participate in the Presidents' Day Parade and were provided Season Passes  to enjoy the Fair & Date Fest." All applicants received a complimentary gate admission ticket to the Fair & Date Fest, with finalists receiving a pair of tickets.

To be considered for a Date Festival Scholarship award, students were required to have a cumulative high school GPA of at least 3.0 (unweighted), have completed a Date Festival Scholarship Application online, and have submitted a 500-word essay on "The Importance of Community." Finalists also participated in a Zoom interview.

From February 16-25, 2024, the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival presented by Fantasy Springs Resort Casino will brighten the Riverside County Fairgrounds at 46350 Arabia Street, Indio, 92201. For ten days, feature attractions unique to Riverside County will include exhilarating carnival rides, live music, date cooking demonstrations, Blue Ribbon competitions, cute farm animals, and your favorite fair foods. Tickets are available online at https://datefest.org.

For more info about the Fair & Date Fest, please visit:

https://www.datefest.org/p/about/faqs

To purchase tickets visit: www.datefest.org.

Media Credentials will be required to attend this event. For advance or on-site interviews, and to obtain onsite media credentials, please email Merry@MPowerMedia.com or Maryann@MPowerMedia.com.

Merry Aronson                                                Maryann Spencer

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