Wednesday, July 22, 2020 (2:00 pm)

Ten Pound Buns wants to show you how to make their delicious Avocado Toast! Big thanks to our friend Schuyler. His food stand is typically located over by Centennial Farm during the annual OC Fair. 

Bonus video: Find out how to make the original Ten Pound Bun! Go to ocfair.com/oc-fair/virtual/videos-galleries/ and click on Food & Drink.

Thursday, July 16, 2020 (9:58 am)

The 2020 OC Fair is going virtual! While fairgoers may not be able to hop on their favorite carnival ride or enjoy crazy Fair food in person, we are keeping the spirit of the Fair alive on social media and ocfair.com.

Starting tomorrow, July 17, several Virtual OC Fair elements will be highlighted for 10 days on social media, through July 26, with lots of fun content on ocfair.com all summer long.

Videos of your favorite performers, photo galleries of summer memories, family activities, special contests and more will bring that OC Fair connection to people no matter where they are. Even the OC Fair Fun Run 5K is going virtual and the prizes are terrific!

Virtual fairgoers can learn how to create Fair-style crafts at home, get the skinny on making deep-fried Oreos, take a tour of Centennial Farm, decipher a magic trick, get the best garden pesto recipe and more from OC Fair staff and partners. There is even a virtual dance party in the works.

Plus, there are ways to win virtual ribbons this year with contests and the public can vote on the winners starting July 17 on ocfair.com. There are 33 unique categories this year, including Doughmestic Baking, Home Landscapes, Best Hen House and photography categories like Bedhead, Empty Streets and Essential Workers.

In a twist to the virtual theme, We Care Wednesday will take place July 22 with our nonprofit partner Goodwill of Orange County. Participants can donate gently used clothing items at specific Goodwill locations instead of at the fairgrounds. Donors will receive a ticket to the 2021 OC Fair and a coupon for a free Wahoo’s taco as thanks for giving back to the community.

Through this year’s Virtual Market Livestock Show, 49 agriculture students who raised 82 animals to show at the Fair had the opportunity to be matched with buyers. Usually 4-H and FFA students can sell their animal projects at the Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction, but with that not possible this year, OC Fair staff wanted to help the students recoup costs and devised a virtual way to make that happen.

For more information on the 2020 Virtual OC Fair, visit ocfair.com or follow @ocfair on Facebook and @oc_fair on Instagram.

Monday, April 27, 2020 (9:52 am)

The OC Fair & Event Center Board of Directors voted unanimously today to cancel the 2020 OC Fair, one of the most anticipated and enduring summer celebrations in Southern California for 130 years. The Board considered ongoing guidance and updated information from State and County health care and government officials about the status of the coronavirus pandemic and the improbability that mass gatherings like the OC Fair could safely and responsibly take place this summer.

In addition to the regularly scheduled monthly meeting, the Board called a second April meeting specifically to review all options and discuss whether or not to move forward with the 2020 OC Fair. The action comes amid unprecedented community stay-at-home and social distancing orders and will protect guests, vendors and staff during the COVID-19 crisis.

“The decision to cancel the 2020 OC Fair was not taken lightly by the Board. As Governor-appointed representatives the Board has a responsibility to provide a safe experience to the community-at-large, the hundreds of people who depend on county fairs for their livelihood, fairgoers and OC Fair staff,” said Board Chair Sandra Cervantes. “While many of our guests have expressed extreme disappointment over the idea of the 2020 Fair being canceled, we strongly believe it is the right thing to do in this current situation. However, we will keep the spirit of the OC Fair alive with virtual fair concepts such as contests, competitions, entertainment and concessions to bring the fair experience to guests through ocfair.com and social media.”

The 23-day OC Fair welcomes more than 1.3 million fairgoers each year and has an estimated economic impact of $350 million annually. The Fair was canceled 1942-1947 during wartime, but otherwise has been a summer staple since 1890. Information on refunds for concert tickets and Super Passes that have already been purchased can be found at ocfair.com/refunds.

“We love the OC Fair as much as our guests do. And, while it’s disappointing that the Fair can’t take place this year, we fully support the Board’s decision,” said Michele Richards, OC Fair & Event Center CEO. “But please know OC Fair & Event Center will still be here to serve the community as we plan for the next OC Fair and the eventual return of our wonderful events.”

Tuesday, April 7, 2020 (12:40 pm)

We are sad to announce the cancellation of our Homebrew and Wine Competitions slated to be part of the 2020 OC Fair. These competitions are important to our program and we look forward to their return in 2021.

For further information about the Commercial Wine and Home Wine Competitions, see a note from OC Wine Society’s president Bill Redding.

At this time, we will continue to plan for the annual Fair and accept entries for other competitions.

Thursday, March 12, 2020 (7:16 pm)

(Updated June 11, 202o) 

Out of an abundance of caution and to help stem the spread of coronavirus, OC Fair & Event Center announces a full public closure of the facilities, including Heroes Hall Veterans Museum, Centennial Farm, Equestrian Center and the administration building lobby until further notice.

OC Fair & Event center will continue to follow public health directives.

The following events previously scheduled to take place at OC Fair & Event Center have been impacted: 

• Orange County Market Place – weekends, canceled until further notice
• Farmers Market – Thursdays, canceled until June 18
• OC Wine Fest – June 13-14, canceled
• BrideWorld – June 14, canceled
• OC Market Place Taco Fest – June 20, canceled
• Costa Mesa Speedway – June 20, canceled
• FamFest – June 20-21, canceled
• Pacific Symphony – July 4 & Aug. 21, canceled
• 2020 OC Fair – July 17-Aug. 16, canceled
• SoCal World Guitar Show – Aug. 22-23, canceled
• Irish Festival – Sept. 5-6, canceled

The following is a list of events originally scheduled for earlier this year that have been rescheduled for a later date: 

• AAOC Trade Show and Conference – March 26, postponed to Sept. 10
• Mom Made Market – March 28-29, postponed to Oct. 10-11
• Fight Club – April 9 & June 11, postponed until Oct. 15 & Nov. 12
• OC Marathon – May 1-3, postponed to Nov. 6-8
• OC Night Market – May 8-10 & May 15-17, postponed to Oct. 23-25 & Oct. 30-Nov. 1 

For a complete list of upcoming scheduled events, please visit ocfair.com/events. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020 (4:47 pm)

OC Fair & Event Center was honored with 16 awards for innovation and excellence by the Western Fairs Association (WFA). 

OCFEC received six first-place honors, four second-place awards and six third-place awards.

OC Fair’s 1st place awards: 

• New Animal Competitive Exhibit: Clean Barn Award program
• New Idea in Maintenance: Hand-washing station pump and wagon innovation 
• Theme Program: Acres of Fun
• Fair Logo
• New Innovative Use of Technology for Patrons: PrimoWind charging stations
• New Event, Exhibit or Program: Heroes Hall exhibit “Victory from Within”

OC Fair’s 2nd place awards:

• Fair-time Event: “Love is in the Fair” wedding contest
• Self-Promoted Non-Fair Event: Boo Ha Ha – A Haunted Oktobeerfest 
• Fair Pocket Program/Schedule
• Agriculture Programming: Agriculture-themed lounges (Avocado Pit, Orange Grove, Strawberry Patch and Beef Corral)

OC Fair’s 3rd place awards:

• Give it Your Best Shot, People (photography): Little girl with pink balloon in fountain (pictured above)
• Fair-time Advertising Poster
• Foreign Language Printed Marketing Campaign
• Digital Marketing Campaign
• Any Other Advertising Campaign: Promotional items
• Non-Profits: Big Brothers Big Sisters workplace mentoring program

Many prize categories were specific to the 2019 OC Fair and others were related to year-round events and programs. The Western Fairs Association presented the awards for 2019 achievements at its annual conference last week in Reno, NV. WFA is a nonprofit trade association serving the fair industry throughout the western United States and Canada. 

Thursday, November 21, 2019 (2:42 pm)

Next year’s OC Fair will celebrate the community coming together to enjoy the best of summer: All for Fun!

Monday, August 12, 2019 (12:01 pm)

COSTA MESA (Aug. 12, 2019) – The camels are heading home to their dairy, the stilt walkers are back to their normal heights and the blue ribbons have all been handed out. That means that the 129th annual OC Fair is a wrap.

By the time the clock struck midnight last night, the Fair had welcomed 1,393,482 guests, including 40,042 who entered free between noon and 3 p.m. on Opening Day and 59,069 children who received free admission on Kids Days or were under 5 years old. Some 11,143 members of the military received free admission as did 2,071 first responders.

The total number of guests came in just under last year’s record attendance of 1,470,636. Final revenue numbers are expected to be released in October.

“We are extremely happy with the numbers for this year’s OC Fair. We had fantastic weather, several new events, a great entertainment lineup and all the Fair favorites that keep people coming back year after year,” said OC Fair Communications Director Terry Moore. “We are pleased that so many people chose to spend part of their summer at the OC Fair and that they went home with many happy memories.”

Through its community programs, the OC Fair collected 87,300 school supplies, 25.69 tons of food, 82,984 childrens books and 31,069 clothing items for local charities through the We Care Wednesday program during which guests received free admission with their donation.

The Friends of the Fair program welcomed 3,363 guests with special needs for a free experience while the OC Fair Kids Club brought 1,185 children from local Title 1 programs to the Fair where they enjoyed free admission and rides, a gift card and bus service.

Fairgoers munched on so many Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on top of so many things that Ray Cammack Shows concessions used an entire truckload of the crunchy treats. They also used more than 9 tons of sugar to make cotton candy, candied apples, funnel cakes and deep-fried desserts. Enzo’s Pizza tossed 4 tons of pizza dough and Ten Pound Buns dished up more than 7,200 pounds of their sourdough bread with toppings.

Some 15,000 ICEES and 20,000 Hot Dogs on a Stick were sold and an entire grove of lemons was used to make Squeezers lemonade.

In the Culinary Arts building, more than 1,200 fairgoers ate their way through the Culinary Crawl. There were 29,000 olive oil samples handed out and more than 125 culinary stage demonstrations.

This year the OC Fair held its first-ever Out at the Fair Day and welcomed hundreds of LGBTQ guests and friends to a day of family-friendly events and classic Fair fun.

Also new was the Love is in the Fair Contest which was won by Leslie Leong and Michael Nguyen who were married at the Fair on Aug. 10 in front of their friends, clowns, entertainers, fairgoers and farm animals, including Best Ox, Patches.

The Brew Hee Haw craft beer celebration was expanded and moved to The Hangar and a new Viva El Mariachi festival was held in Pacific Amphitheatre featuring Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez, Ana Barbara and more.

The OC Fair does have an artistic side, and a quarter of an acre was devoted to the Visual Arts Gallery where 72 hours of demonstrations were held while 4 tons of clay was used to make pottery over at Muddy’s Studio. And at the Home Arts Craft Table, some 73,000 yards of yarn was used to teach guests to make 4,000 pom poms.

There were more than 1,600 entries in the culinary arts competitions, including pies, cakes, jams and breads, and $12,490 was paid out in winnings. Garden and floral entries totaled 5,830 this year and winners were paid $13,615.

The annual Jr. Livestock Auction featured the sale of 257 animals, bringing in a total of $279,476 for the 4-H and FFA students who raised the animals as agriculture educations projects.

And Centennial Farm welcomed a calf and 10 piglets who were born during the Fair.

Heroes Hall, OC Fair & Event Center’s veterans museum, welcomed 16,328 Fair guests who created 3,670 postcards for veterans while 2,125 children enjoyed a special scavenger hunt. Another 1,600 kids had fun at the Thursday Kids Day scavenger hunts in the Explorium tent where 3,600 balloons were popped at Pitch Burst and 920 people chomped their way through eating contests.

Saturday, August 10, 2019 (10:45 am)

When: Saturday, Aug. 10, at 1 p.m.

Where: In front of Millennium Barn during the OC Fair

The winning couple of our Love is in the Fair wedding contest have been chosen and they’ll say “I do” in front of 20 of their guests — plus the entire OC Fair! The wedding will take place at 1 p.m. on Aug. 10 and will include the ceremony, special entertainers and an unforgettable OC Fair experience.

Meet the couple!

Names: Leslie Leong and Michael Nguyen

Professions: Leslie is a veterinary assistant/nursing student; Michael is a behavior analyst for children with autism 

How/when did you meet?

“In 2002, we met online in a music chat room, where Michael was trying to promote his high school band. We were internet friends for a long time. We didn’t meet in person until college. We lost touch for awhile but reconnected through social media and started dating four years ago.”

What do you like to do as a couple?

Camping, traveling, visiting national parks and laughing uncontrollably. 

Tell us about your engagement.

Michael: “I had several plans since January of this year, but our vacation plans kept getting cancelled for various reasons. On July 1, the day before our 4th anniversary, I decided I didn’t want to keep postponing it because it didn’t matter if we were on a mountain or by the ocean, as long as we were together. I cooked her dinner. Afterward, I let her “open her anniversary gift” early. Leslie collects rocks and crystals, so I hid the ring inside of a geode. After a short engagement, we finally got to take a short camping vacation. When we got reception, we learned we had won the contest!”

Why is the OC Fair special to the two of you?

“Our anniversary is July, so the OC Fair was one of the first public places we attended as a couple. We’ve been every year since 2015.”

What was it like trying to pull this all together in just a week? 

Michael: Vows are “til death do us part” and we managed to not kill each other. 

Leslie: It’s been stressful trying to get everything put together in a week, there’s so much to do and so many phone calls to make!

What do your friends and families think of this unusual wedding?

“Our family is more traditional so they think we’re crazy. Our friends say it’s a perfect fit.”

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 (9:00 am)

The OC Fair respects so much the first responders, emergency personnel, law enforcement and those who assist that we’re devoting an entire week to them!

Active-duty and professional staff of the police, sheriff, fire and emergency services departments will receive free Fair admission from Wednesday, Aug. 7 to Sunday, Aug. 11. Those will also have the opportunity to purchase up to 4 half-price general admission tickets for guests. Respective agency ID is required.

In addition, active-duty military and veterans get free admission each day of the OC Fair. Members may purchase up to 6 half-price, general admission tickets for guests. Military ID is required.

For all the latest OC Fair discounts – including carnival ride and wristband deals – visit ocfair.com/deals.