Concerts have been held at the venue, such as the Eagles in 2005, RBD in 2006, the Scorpions in 2006, Mary J. Blige in 2007, Luis Miguel in 2007, Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 2009, Alan Jackson in 2012, Aerosmith in 2015, Kid Rock in 2017, & Blake Shelton in 2018.

During World War II, the Salinas Rodeo Grounds was one of the locations used as a temporary detention camp for citizens and immigrant residents of Japanese ancestry, before they were relocated to more permanent and remote facilities.

One of seventeen such sites overseen by the Wartime Civilian Control Administration, the Salinas Assembly Center was built after President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and confinement of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

Most came from the Monterey Bay area and were transferred to the Poston concentration camp, located on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona.

[1] In 1980, the Salinas Assembly Center, along with eleven other former temporary detention sites, was designated California Historical Landmark #934.