2016 OC Fair Wraps it Up After 23 Days, 1.3 Million Guests, 400,000 Carnival Prizes and 350,000 Pieces of Bacon
Costa Mesa, Calif. (August 15, 2016) – After the last of the 400,000-plus carnival prizes was won, the 350,000th piece of bacon was devoured, the last concert note was played and the 1,414th blue ribbon was awarded, the OC Fair closed on Sunday, August 14, 2016 with 1,344,996 guests for the 23-day event, which represented the fourth highest attendance on record for the 126-year-old event and a more than 3 percent increase from last year.
“This year’s Fair had a great vibe and energy. We enjoyed nice weather on average and our Fairgoers seemed to really love the changes we made with layout and programming,” said OC Fair & Event Center CEO Kathy Kramer. “Our customer service ratings were exceptional and we’re proud to have produced this great community event.”
Themed “Get Your Fair Face On!” the 2016 OC Fair invited Southern California for a month-long celebration of food, fun and fabulous exhibits and entertainment. With newly configured destinations like the expanded Centennial Farm and Plaza Pacifica; crazy new food like French Toast Bacon Bombs, Chicken and Waffles on a Stick and the giant S’moreo donut; intriguing and interactive state-of-the-art exhibits; and 32 sold out performances, the 2016 OC Fair offered something for everyone.
Other interesting facts and figures from the 2016 OC Fair included:
Guests of the 2016 OC Fair:
* Results of the 10-day patron survey showed that Fairgoers’ overall enjoyment of this year’s Fair resulted in an Excellent rating of 4.54 on a 5-point scale.
* As of Saturday, more than 191,000 guests took advantage of free gate promotions, while another 180,000-plus enjoyed discounted admission.
* 47,824 generous Fairgoers donated more than 28 tons of canned food, more than 76,000 children’s books, more than 37,000 pounds of clothing and some 150,000 school supplies as part of the weekly We Care Wednesday donation drives.
* There were 17,969 ultimate Fairgoers in possession of a Super Pass (season pass) this year, an increase of 11.7% over last year.
* The OC Fair Express made getting to the Fair a breeze for more than 72,000 riders before the last weekend for a 14.8% increase over the same time span last year. Each rider enjoyed a $4 round-trip from one of nine OCTA transit locations, and while onboard received a $3 admission voucher for the Fair.
* As of Friday, 13,365 young bookworms submitted a two-book report for free carnival rides through the Read & Ride Program.
* 100 percent of separated parents and children were reunited with an average reunification time of two minutes.
Food at the 2016 OC Fair
* 5,000 pounds of potatoes were baked and wrapped in bacon while 5,500 hot dogs were covered in 20 gallons of homemade Pepsi syrup and served in a glazed donut bun from the Bacon A-Fair booth.
* Chicken Charlie wrapped 12,000 pounds of chicken legs in bacon, served 13,000 waffles stuffed with chicken on a stick and battered and deep-fried 40,000 Oreos.
* Juicys smoked 75,000 turkey legs for that classic OC Fair foodie experience.
* 10,000 French Toast Bacon Bombs from Bacon A-Fair made breakfast acceptable any time of the day or night.
* Biggys Meat Market in the Main Carnival satisfied the pork cravings of Fairgoers with 6,000 Bacon-Wrapped Pork Belly on a Stick while doling out 15,000 pounds of The Big Rib, 800 gallons of barbecue sauce and a rail car worth of potatoes as fresh-cut Curly Fries.
* 3,000 Chile Relleno Pretzel Burgers (winner of the 2016 Concessionaires’ Cup) were sold by Tasti Burger along with 204 tons of potatoes and 509 gallons of cheese sauce sold as Tasti Chips.
* In the carnival, 44,000 pounds of sugar tantalized sweet tooths.
Entertainment at the 2016 OC Fair
* The Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre featured 9 sold-out shows by BOSTON, Chris Young / Ruthie Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jim Gaffigan, Styx, The B-52s / The Aquabats, Train / Midnight Hour, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey / The English Beat / Jo Mersa Marley and Ziggy Marley & Steel Pulse / The Simpkin Project
* The Hangar’s nightly concert offerings featured 12 sold-out shows by original groups Ozomatli, Stick Figure / Common Sense, Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez and Herman’s Hermits featuring Peter Noone and tributes by Dead Man’s Party (Oingo Boingo, two nights), Hotel California (The Eagles), Journey Unauthorized (Journey), Queen Nation (Queen), Which One’s Pink? (Pink Floyd) and Zeppelin Live (Led Zeppelin).
* The Action Sports Arena was a full house for the all of the Monster Truck Destruction Tour events, five of the demolition derbies and one night of the Cavallo Equestrian Arts Present Circo Ma’Ceo.
* The No. 1 ride was the Sky Ride and the No. 1 game was The One Ball, a milk bottle toss game.
* Other favorites in the carnival included La Grande Wheel, Euroslide, Wild River and Rave Wave, and for the smaller thrill seekers popular children’s rides included the Wacky Worm, Survival Island and Pirates Island.
* The Giant Horse and Giant Steer drank 900 gallons of water over their month-long residency.
Competitions at the 2016 OC Fair
* Some 3,500 exhibitors submitted more than 10,800 entries in collections, culinary arts, fiber arts, fine arts, gardening, hand crafts, homebrew, jewelry arts, livestock, photography, woodworking and youth competitions.
* Close to 5,000 prize ribbons were awarded and of that 1,414 were for first place entries.
* More than $398,900 in prize money was awarded to this year’s participants.
* At this year’s Junior Livestock Auction, 293 animals were sold for more than $256,700 benefitting 4-H and FFA youth.
Exhibits at the 2016 OC Fair
* For the first four weeks of the Fair, 15,000 videos were recorded as part of the floor-to-ceiling “We Are One” interactive video animation exhibit by projection mapping artist John Mastri in the Visual Arts Gallery.
* Nearly 250,000 feet of yarn was used by Fairgoers to make more than 3,000 yarn pom-poms and 3,000 yarn flowers at the free crafting area in the Crafts & Woodworking Gallery.
* Some 400 Fairgoers recorded their favorite Fair memories and 800 shared quick answers to “At the OC Fair I want to. . .” as part of the second year of the video time capsule project, Share Your Fair.
* Some 2 tons of clay was molded and shaped during daily, live ceramics demonstrations by Muddy’s Studios.
* 920 speedy and daring youth took on the nightly Fair Food Face-off Eating Contest.
Planning for the next year has already begun with the 2017 OC Fair dates set as July 14-August 13. “Next year, we will continue the focus on integrating agricultural programming and education into the OC Fair experience,” said Kramer.
The OC Fair, held at the OC Fair & Event Center, was July 15-August 14, 2016 and featured 23 days and nights of food, rides, shopping, exhibits, animals and headline performances in the Pacific Amphitheatre, nightly music in The Hangar and adrenaline-inducing events in the Action Sports Arena.
The OC Fair & Event Center is home to the annual OC Fair and Imaginology events plus Centennial Farm, is host to more than 150 events annually and is located off the 405 and 55 freeways at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa. For more information, please visit ocfair.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/OCFair, follow us at twitter.com/ocfair or call (714) 708-1500.