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The OC Fair, the county’s monthlong annual extravaganza, returns Friday, July 17, with towering rides, thrilling exhibits and decadent culinary pleasures prone to make the million potential guests salivate between points of interest.
This yr’s theme is “Your Adventure Awaits!” Choosing your individual path, your individual sort of enjoyable, is strictly what organizers are difficult fairgoers to do.
“A big part of what we pride ourselves on is that there’s something for everyone here, whether it’s a competition for who gets to make the best pie, our livestock auction, our educational programs or entertainment shows,” stated James Canfield, CEO of the OC Fair & Events Center.
“You define what your adventure is,” Canfield stated. “You come here, and you’ll be able to find it.”
For adrenaline seekers, that might come within the kind a heart-thumping new rollercoaster: The Air Raid hoists riders up a 118-foot tower in gondolas that tilt and tumble at forces as much as 4G, 4 instances the pressure of gravity, in widespread parlance.
And these in search of milder thrills can discover plenty of family-friendly carnival staples, together with the Balloon Ride and the Frog Hop.
Nearly 100 distributors shall be serving up acquainted and experimental bites, together with many indulgences “wrapped in bacon or around bacon,” Canfield stated. Take, for instance, the bacon-wrapped churro or the bacon cheeseburger with peanut butter and jelly.
Fairgoers can even discover new creations, resembling fried tiramisu and Dutch fries with black truffle mayo.
The in style $5 Taste of Fair menu will once more give price- and health-conscious guests the prospect to pattern completely different truthful treats at every stand till 5 p.m. Vendors bought greater than 200,000 of these offers final yr, Canfield stated.
For the primary time, the truthful will supply particular children’ meals for $10.
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Crews assemble the sections of the Wave Rave trip on the OC Fair & Events Center in Costa Mesa on Thursday, July 9, 2026, as they put together for the opening of the 2026 OC Fair on July 17. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Crews assemble the sections of the Wave Rave trip on the OC Fair & Events Center in Costa Mesa on Thursday, July 9, 2026, as they put together for the opening of the 2026 OC Fair on July 17. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
This yr’s occasion, which runs from July 17 to Aug 16 — however is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays — additionally options expanded leisure and academic programming.
The Pacific Amphitheatre shall be internet hosting 35 exhibits and live shows, up from 27 final summer time, Canfield stated.
The marquee exhibit is the immersive, nostalgia-soaked “REWIND: VHS Comeback” that pays homage to retro popular culture with hand-painted replicas of classic film posters, soundtrack shows, a Eighties arcade and extra.
Added to a packed annual competitions lineup is the homebrew contest, the place novice brewers will showcase their most interesting beer and cider recipes.
Other contests have been expanded. Competitive desk setting, which has seen a surge in reputation lately, can have two competitions as an alternative of 1 this summer time.
The All-Alaskan Racing Pigs, a perennial crowd pleaser, shall be held at Plaza Pacifica with 25% extra seating capability and broadcast on out of doors screens so visitors can cheer on the piglets from the garden.
The wildly in style Fair After Dark returns with karaoke and DJ-led dance events each night time, the place fairgoers can discover ways to swing and line dance from skilled instructors.
Other returning fan favorites embody the monster truck present and the demolition derbies, occasions full of what Canfield described because the inexplicable thrills of “watching people crash anything on four wheels.”
The truthful is teaming up with native Lions Clubs to debut a brand new program distributing carnival prizes to youngsters in want. Guests will be capable to donate surplus toys they received on the truthful at assortment packing containers by the exits.
“We see it every year when people come and win stuffed animals. They’re carrying them out, and there’s not enough space in the car, so they don’t know what to do with them,” Canfield stated.
Beyond creating lifelong recollections for households, the OC Fair is a key financial driver for the county that generates $109 million in wages and sustains almost 2,200 jobs a yr, in line with an industry study launched in May. Canfield stated {that a} majority of Orange County residents employed by the truthful are highschool and school college students working their first jobs.
“That’s a significant amount of investment that goes back into the community,” he stated.
The multi-week occasion attracts greater than 1 million guests a yr.
Under the limited-capacity mannequin carried out through the pandemic, truthful tickets should be bought on-line prematurely. Daily attendance is capped at 55,000 guests a day — a ten% uptick from 2025 — and tickets have typically bought out in earlier years.
Organizers have integrated know-how to gauge every day fairground attendance in actual time, Canfield stated, in order that further tickets will be launched as guests go away.
“We’ll be able to make adjustments to those (attendance) caps on the fly if that’s appropriate,” he stated.
On weekends, OC Fair Express buses will decide up fairgoers at six places each half-hour. Fare is $2 every approach and free for kids. For extra data, go to OCFairExpress.com.
General admission is $13 on Wednesday and Thursday and $18 from Friday to Sunday. Seniors and youngsters ages 6 to 12 pay $9 daily.
Nights are the busiest on the occasion. To increase daytime attendance, $11 discounted tickets can be found between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The truthful shall be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and from 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
More details about performances, experiences and ticket gross sales will be discovered at ocfair.com.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/07/13/2026-oc-fair-returns-with-a-big-new-rollercoaster-nostalgia-soaked-exhibits-and-nightly-dance-parties/
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