O.C. Fair organizers invite crowds to be ‘Happy Together’ at start of 133rd celebration
Looking to get a head start on a summer of fun and to simply be “Happy Together,” thousands of spectators flocked to Costa Mesa Friday morning to catch the first day of the Orange County Fair — a tradition now in its 133rd year.
The aroma of freshly grilled turkey legs and sound of music tantalized visitors lined up outside the site’s Main Gate — paper fans in hand to ward off rising temperatures — who poured in to get a fresh crack at the festivities inside.
Waiting at the gate to welcome the first throngs of visitors at 11 a.m. sharp — and surrounded by a cast of characters, including Olivia Orange, Arturo the Churro and Strawberry Jan — was Michele Richards, chief executive of the OC Fair & Event Center, which runs the annual event.
Although Friday is the first day of the big event, which runs Wednesdays through Sundays until Aug. 13, the start of each fair marks the conclusion of 18 months of planning for organizers tasked with overseeing even the smallest of details.
“The planning is done and has been done for a while. Now it’s all about executing on the plan,” Richards said in an interview leading up to opening day.
In no time at all, the fairgrounds were in full swing as children and parents played games for prizes and turned over tickets to ride operators for a chance to flip, spin and careen through the air to dizzying effect.
At Centennial Farms, visitors cooed at groups of baby piglets whose births seemed to coincide perfectly with the opening day merriment that prevailed throughout the fairgrounds. Pristine rows of seemingly every vegetable that ever graced a farmhouse table were on dazzling display.
For Richards, named chief executive in late 2019, just before the start of the pandemic, the excitement of opening day is a feeling that is unmatched by anything else.
“It’s the fair — it’s what we do,” she said. “It’s a big show every year.”
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