AntSol Travel

Have fun together at the OC Fair! Eat delicious fair food, ride the carnival rides, see the animals of the farm, see who is best in the county with the arts & culinary competitions, shop with local vendors, and take in a concert! You can do all of that and more, all together with family, friends, and coworkers at the OC Fair! “Fun Together” happens to be the theme of the fair for this year. Ironically, I just went by myself.

The Orange County Fair, or styled as OC Fair is the county fair for Orange County, California. It is located at the OC Fair & Event Center, located 14 miles from Disneyland in Costa Mesa, down Interstate 5 and CA Highway 55. For 2023, the fair runs from July 14 to August 13, with off days Mondays & Tuesdays. On Wednesdays & Thursdays from 11 am to 11 pm. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11 am to 12 am. Adult admission is $15 per person, in which there is limited ticketing, which you have to buy on Ticketmaster. Thankfully, processing fees are waived, unless you go to one of their ticketed concerts.

History of the OC Fair

According to the OC Fair’s website, the first fair was held in Orange County in 1890, Orange County Community Fair Corporation in Santa Ana took over in 1894. Then moved to Anaheim in 1911, then in 1916 to Huntington Beach by the Orange County Farm Bureau, and then moved around Orange County in the 30s. It was not held during World War II. After the war in 1949, the current location which held an Army base was bought by the state government to be used as fairgrounds & the first fair started that year. Then the city of Costa Mesa was incorporated in 1953, which now hosts the fairgrounds. In 1980, the equestrian center opened. The Pacific Amphitheater opened three years later in 1983 with a seating & lawn capacity of 18,000 fans, however, it is 900 ft from the nearest residential home, making the theater a target for noise complaints. From the 80s to the 90s the fair expanded 17 days. The first fair cattle drive was driven in 1994, and due to noise complaints, the Pacific Amphitheater was closed.

The OC Fair grew in the 21st century with 21 days of fair starting in 2003, and then 23 days in 2009. Pacific Amphitheater reopened in 2003 with seats only capacity of 8,000. In 2009, The Hanger, a replica of an aircraft hanger of the former Army Base, was opened, it is being used for concerts during the fair. The Plaza Pacifica was opened in 2015 so fairgoers can go directly to the amphitheater. The OC Fair & Event Center opened new daily year-round exhibits to give respect for the served our country & put food on our plates with the Heros Hall, Veterans Museum, the Agriculture Workers Memorial, and Table of Dignity. The OC Fair was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but reopened in July 2021 with a limited capacity as advance purchase was needed, and this was also implemented for 2022 & 2023.

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I am also going to watch the concert that night featuring alternative rock artists Beck & Phoenix, supporting their collaboration single of the summer, Odyssey. Beck is an American artist, known for his first single in 1993, Loser, and his popularity grew over time with 52 singles in 14 albums. Phoenix is a French indie rock band that started in 1995, with the first album in 1999 and is mostly known for their hit 2009 songs, 1901 and Lisztomania, currently with 26 singles in 7 albums. I have followed both bands for the last few years, so I am excited that I can go to Beck & Phoenix in concert.

Tickets to the concert included admission to the fair that day, ranging from $50 at the top & corner sections to $200 for the front row seats. I got $50 for upper-level seats since I just wanted to take in the music since this is my first time seeing Beck & Phoenix in concert and spend more of my money on the fair food & vendors. Then there are the “Service Fee” of $6.85 and an “Order Processing Fee” of $4.50, adding $11.35 on top of the $50 ticket prices. At least if you are just going to the fair, $15 “does not have processing fees” which is passed along to concertgoers. The Pacific Amphitheater has a capacity of 8000.

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Driving to the OC Fair!

With the OC Fair opening for the day at 11 am, it leaves plenty of time to run errands beforehand. At 11 am, I drove from Anaheim to Costco in Tustin to get allergy medication & gas for the SUV. Then headed to Costa Mesa to the fairgrounds. I took partly roadways & the highway to get there. I went on CA Highway 55 south to Costa Mesa, exit to Del Mar-Fair Drive, right on Fair Drive, and then right on Fairview Drive. Then I drove into the OC Fairgrounds & Event Center, where parking was $12 per vehicle, and was directed to the parking spot by the parking staff. I got my sling bag with my newest GoPro accessory, a backpack attachment, so you can see the perspective without holding the GoPro. Since I was using a sling bag, the camera was awkwardly on my chest, otherwise on my shoulder with a two-strap backpack.

First was security where it is the walk-through scanners that only detect dangerous weapons, if it goes off, security needs to check your bag. I walk right on through with my phone, wallet, keys, chargers, go pro, and two types of water bottles, a plastic & a metal water bottle. Then did an RFID scan of my Ticketmaster ticket for the fair & concert on my phone, and then entered the OC Fair.

The OC fair is like most county fairs, it has fair food, carnival midway rides & games, livestock, art & culinary competitions, shopping with vendors, and concerts.

Part One: Food!

From the delicious to the extreme, the fair is where many culinary artists take it up a notch, so much so, the Cooking Channel has a show dedicated to extreme & unique fair food, called Carnival Eats. Unfortunately, the OC Fair was not on the show and there weren’t too many stand-out dishes advertised, except for Chicken Charlie!

Chicken Charlie has the triple stack hamburger between two Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, however, that would be a bit too much for me. It would be the same price at $18 if you took out one or two hamburger patties. Another doughnut sandwich they have is a fried chicken between a Krispy Kream jelly doughnut and glazed in honey. It was delicious between the doughnut glaze & honey. For dinner, I got waffle fries topped with cheese sauce and brisket! It is from the Chuckwagon, their company is Wild Hog Fair Food in Rancho Cucamonga. Cathy’s Cookies, a cookie cart that frequents the Angels & Ducks games, even make an appearance. There were many food offerings from the barbeque, snow cones, Mexican, Chinese, pizza, burgers, and more.

There was no shortage of drinks with booths for Mexican draft beer, and wine tasting, and I even got a craft beer myself with a Churro Pale Ale by Garage Brewing Company in Murrieta, located 66 miles away. If you are getting a drink, you show your driver’s license of 21+ of age and get a wristband so you don’t have to your ID for every drink purchase.

Part Two: The Carnival Midway!

Test your skill, luck, guts, and wallet with the carnival midway. The carnival games & rides are by Ray Cammack Shows (RCSFUN) who operate some of the food stands with their name on it. From little kids’ attractions like Flying Jumbo to the relaxing skyway, and to the extreme with the Joker 360. There is something for everyone, for a price.

Tickets for the attractions come in denominations of four tickets for five dollars. For example, the only attraction I went on was the Skyway at six tickets, about $8.50, so I still had two tickets left that could not be used for any rides as they all had a four-ticket minimum, only the games if they started that low, which I forgot to use. The maximum for the larger roller coasters like the Raptor & large thrill rides like Joker 360 was eight tickets. If you want to go all of the rides, you can buy an unlimited ride wristband for $49 along with two of the midway games. They have pretty much most midway games such as basketball, milk can ball toss, ring bottle toss & more. At one of the big games, you could even get a large Pikachu plush.

They have an information board that shows that the smaller Ferris Wheel in the kid’s area, at 108 ft tall, needs four semi trucks to be transported to each location. There are so many rides & games, I am sure they require a lot of people power & trucks to get everything packed and moving to the next location.

Part 3: Agriculture & Livestock

Agriculture fairs started in the 1800s as a way of competing for farmers to show off their crops & livestock in their area and sell them for profit. This also shows regular people who don’t farm & appreciate where their food comes from, according to the International Association of Fairs and Expos (IAFE).

At the OC Fair, you get to learn different aspects of farming & livestock. The livestock area is a permanent farm area where kids learn to raise their own animals and then put them up for auction during the fair as part of the 4-H & National FFA agriculture programs, then they can compete their livestock throughout the time of the fair as well. The livestock area is part of the Centennial Farm, a year-round farm that holds educates the public about the farm from fruit growing, beekeeping, gardening, and even milking demonstrations.

Part 4: Agriculture, Art, and Culinary Competitions

For people who don’t farm, residents can enter their best pie or photo in the arts & culinary competitions. Competitions for the arts include photography, woodworking, paintings, table settings, clothing, dioramas, and more. Agriculture includes plants, flowers, floral arrangements, produce, and wine. Culinary includes cake decoration, brownies, cookies, pies, breads, preserves, and honey. I only had time to see the arts & culinary competitions.

In the outdoor-covered OC Promenade, it hosted culinary competitions. The refrigerated-baked good will last most of the fair, but if it is outside, it would get moldy and needs to be removed.

As a skilled photographer, I wanted to enter the photography competition, however, entries closed on May 26th, which I have to keep in mind for next year. At least I get to see who I am up against for next year, and get to know how to enter the competition.

How to enter the photography competition: entry deadline was May 26, 2023. Who can enter: in-state residents for adults, young adults from 13 to 17 years old in an Orange County school. Entry limit of ten per adult with a $10 fee & two entries for young adults with a $3 fee. You then upload the photos online with the description of the photo and then sent them in to be judged. If you get to be exhibited, you get to pick up a participation ribbon and drop off the art piece on June 23 & 24. Next is the second round of judging on the framing, hanging hardware, and meeting the size criteria of the piece. If your piece gets an award, you do get cash prizes, ranging from $25 for the judge’s award to $400 for the best in the show. The awards ceremony was on August 13th, and entry pick-up was on the 15th. Now I am ready to enter the photography competition next year!

Part 5: Vendors & Exhibitors

Shop with local artisans & stores, and with large corporate vendors with the shops.

For a rental fee, vendors get to sell their products directly to consumers at the fair, from hand photographs to clothes, and car accessories to showing casing cars by Toyota. However, many fairgoers don’t bat an eye or take a quick glance at the wares & move on. According to the OC Fair, they have a daily capacity of 45,000 attendees x 21 days = 945,000 at max can see your products, so someone has to buy your product, right? Please buy my expensive yet steeply discounted grills!

Part 6: Art of Music Experience

In the Huntington Building at the OC Fair is a new exhibit experience to the fair, Art of Music Experience. The exhibit showcases the art of music album covers with recreations by artists by hand. For example, Def Leopard released the album, Adrenalized in 1992, the original cover art was by Andie Airfix who created album artwork for Def Leopard, and many bands of the era. The original art was a photo of an eye with computer-generated lighting, showing that the eye was on adrenalin. Next to the information plaque are the artist’s renditions of the album artwork, which was just the eye & lighting, no band or album text. There was a recreation of album art from Frank Sinatra to Linkin Park, and @artbyjefflee finished his recreation of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory.

There were vendors inside the exhibit as well with a coffee shop & a bar, but there was one I was interested in a pop-up record store. In the exhibit, Fingerprints Music in Long Beach had a pop-up recorded store there, with artists who are riding the wave of music listeners, including myself who buy vinyl records to listen to albums. I got Phoenix’s 2009 album that put them on the map for me & many other alternative rock fans, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, who has their hit song, 1901 & Litomazina. It was $28 with the record shop vs $18 on Amazon vs. $30 at the concert merchandise booth, I bought it from Fingerprints since I am supporting an independent record store, and they held it for me so I don’t have to risk damaging the record while around the fair. It was a cool experience to see the history & significance of music album art & I even bought a record too in the process.

Part 7: Concerts

Rock out to the teenager garage band, the former teenage garage band who are now in their 60s & 70s, cover bands of famous former bands, and bands still active & rocking out today, there is something to listen to while at the OC Fair. There are two stages around the fairgrounds for the smaller community performers, a larger stage for dance performances & ticketed cover bands during the evening at the Hanger, and headlining touring artists at the Pacific Amphitheater.

The concert for Beck, featuring Phoenix, was held at the Pacific Amphitheater, a now 8,000-seat amphitheater on the southwest end of the fairgrounds. The amphitheater was opened in 1983 and was operated & operated by Nederlander. It opened with a capacity of 18,000 for lawn & seats and was located 900 ft of the parking lot away from the nearest residential home. According to the OC Register, due to the older sound technology, the sound was not as well controlled as it is now, making it a target for noise complaints, and temporarily closed in 1994. At the same time, it was in competition with Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, which opened in 1981 with a capacity of 16,000 lawn & seats, owned by the Irvine Company, and operated by Live Nation. Irvine Meadows was 12 miles away from the Pacific Amphitheater, making it direct competition for large music & performances. Over the decade, competition & noise complaints mounted for the year-round Pacific amphitheater, which Nedlander had to be forced to close in 1994.

In 2003, the Pacific Amphitheater was reopened as the OC Fair bought the ownership & management of the venue. They put in a new precise sound system so the sounds fire forward to the fans in the theater, and not the surrounding neighborhood It worked as I did not hear any music when I was driving out of the fair this year & mostly muffled when I left the theater. Due to agreements to reopen, they can only operate concerts during or right after the OC Fair. The OC Fair also took out the lawn area capacity of 10,000, to now 8,000 seats, due to the coincidence of the fair. The lawn seats are now used as a grazing area for the fairground’s livestock. There are four events that are after-fair events at the amphitheater that you just buy the tickets. In 2015, the Plaza Pacifica entrance was opened as direct access to the amphitheater from the fairgrounds as you entered from outside the gates before then.

I went to see a concert that night featuring alternative rock artists Beck, featuring Phoenix, supporting their collaboration single of the summer, Odyssey. Beck David Campbell is an American artist, known for his first single in 1993, Loser, and his popularity grew over time with 52 singles in 14 albums. Phoenix is a French indie rock band that started in 1995, with the first album in 1999 and is mostly known for their hit 2009 songs, 1901 and Lisztomania, currently with 26 singles in 7 albums. I have followed both bands for the last few years, so I am excited that I can go to Beck & Phoenix in concert.

With the concert starting at 7:30 pm, I finished eating my briquette plate dinner at 7 pm and then headed to the Pacific Amphitheater. I entered the Pacific Amphitheater at the Plaza Pacifica entrance, on the way up, there were posters for the artists lining up the ramp, including Beck & Phoenix’s tour. Plaza Pacifica is a most modern style entrance building made of all glass & concrete with exterior window panel supports that look like a basket. Inside, Toyota did the only sponsorship that they could do just short of buying the naming rights, as they did to the Concord Pavilion, Toyota bought space for a car inside as their ad. The merchandise booth was front & center, but I decided to wait to buy a tour poster as I left the concert since I did not want to deal with holding it. Past the booth was the 8,000-seat amphitheater, I was in section 8, all the way to the right-hand side on the upper deck. Along the way to the right were the concession carts and the retaining wall holding up the former lawn seating, which a llama was grazing there at the time. Past the seating were the restrooms, along with the full concession stands if you forgot to buy dinner from one of the fair vendors and for post-fair events.

I got to my seat at section 8, row N, seat 39, at the very end of the seating since I did not want to get up constantly and try to pass by 20 people to go to the restroom, and I much rather be a revolving door otherwise. There weren’t too many people at 7:21 pm when I sat down, but then everyone rushed down from going to the restroom and getting their not-fair food as Phoenix took the stage at 7:36 pm, then I became a revolving door.

Phoenix kicked it off and ended with their two popular songs respectively, Lisztomania & 1901. Then they finished their set by having their lead singer, Thomas Mars, jumping rows of the lower half of the amphitheater seating at 8:45 pm. Next, the roadies reorganized the stage & equipment for Beck, and he was ready thirty minutes later. At that point, the fans who were there for Phinox just left, leaving the fans that were there for Beck. At 9:15 pm, Beck started off with Devil’s Haircut from his 1996 album, Odelay. At 9:30 pm, after Beck finished playing his 2005 single, Girl, I had to get going since I had work starting in nine hours. On the way out, I bought the tour poster, went to Fingerprint Music’s popup shop to pick up my Phoenix album, and drove up CA 55 back to Anaheim.

The OC Register had a great review of the concert, and apparently, both Beck & Thomas Mars of Phoenix were distracted by the llama on the former lawn seats as it was moving and grooving to beat.

I had an amazing and expensive time at the fair, but it was worth it as got to go to the OC Fair for the first time, hyper analyze it for my blog, indulge in fair food, see the farm animals, see the best artists & culinary chefs in the county, see the new Art of Music Experience, buy a record from a local record store, and take in a concert! I definitely want to go again next year!