OC Fair Entertainment Venues Ranked Top in the World for July-August by Venues Today
Costa Mesa, Calif. (September 25, 2013) – With 28 sold-out events during its 2013 season, the OC Fair and its three headline entertainment venues made it to the top of multiple annual rankings by industry publication Venues Today, beating out entertainment venues from around the world between mid-July to mid-August. The 2013 OC Fair was July 12-August 11.
The ever-popular Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre ranked No.1 for the fourth year in a row for venues of its size (5,000-10,000 capacity) for concert gross, beating out the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and venues throughout the U.S. and the world. The 2013 season was the highest grossing yet for the 8,200-seat amphitheatre. The Alan Jackson performance on July 17 also made it to the No. 10 spot on the rankings for highest grossing concerts from mid-July to mid-August.
Out of the 23 concerts offered on the Pacific Amphitheatre stage this year, the following shows were sell outs: Daryl Hall & John Oates (Aug. 8), Hunter Hayes / Sara Haze (Aug. 4), Rebelution / Matisyahu / Collie Buddz (Aug. 9), Steel Pulse / Iration (July 13), Styx (Aug. 2), The B-52s & X (July 18), The Counting Crows with The Wallflowers (July 21), The Dirty Heads / The Expendables / The Originalites (July 28), The Go-Go’s (July 14), Weezer (July 26), and ZZ Top (Aug. 1).
The OC Fair’s newest entertainment venue, The Hangar, climbed up from the No. 2 spot last year to the top spot for venues with 2,000 and less capacities in the world this year. Of the 26 ticketed events offered during the 2013 Fair, The Hangar saw sellouts crowds for Dead Man’s Party – The Oingo Boingo Tribute (August 10), Heartbreaker – A Live Rock Tribute to Led Zeppelin (July 27), Hotel California – A Salute to the Eagles (July 12), J Boog / Common Sense (Aug. 4), Journey Unauthorized – A Tribute to the Music of Journey (July 26), Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez (July 28), Ozomatli (July 28), and Which One’s Pink? – A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd (Aug. 3).
Also celebrating an accomplishment is the OC Fair’s Action Sports Arena, which offered ticketed, reserved seats and free general admission seating at each of its 31 individual events that included monster trucks, demolition derbies, motorcycle racing, canine agility shows, bull riding, mixed martial arts and dodgeball. The Action Sports Arena earned a No. 3 spot for venues with capacities up to 2,000 and saw standing-room only crowds for all five demolition derbies (Orange Crush, Motor Home and Damsels of Destruction) plus four nights of the new Monster X Tour with monster trucks, Tuff trucks and quad racing. The complete five-night series of the Monster X Tour also earned a No. 5 ranking for individual events.
Venues Today is a monthly publication covering live entertainment and events for venue managers, owners and suppliers internationally and features rankings of attendance and total gross as reported by each venue for the prior 30-day period.
The OC Fair & Event Center 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 on Facebook.com/OCFair, follow us at twitter.com/ocfair or call (714) 708-1500.