With O.C. Fair fast approaching, here's your guide to 'Farm Fresh Fun'

By Luke MoneyStaff Writer

July 7, 2017 6 PM PT

The 2017 Orange County Fair is going back to its roots.

Don’t worry, the usual staples — the rides, the games, the menu of deep-fried and decadent delicacies — will all be available when the 127th annual event kicks off July 14 at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

This time around, though, the fair plans to honor the county’s agricultural history with the theme “Farm Fresh Fun.”

Plenty of new attractions, demonstrations, exhibits, foods and performances are on the way to the fairgrounds. Here’s a taste:

Attractions

Some of the fair’s biggest additions — with an emphasis on big — are two giant Ferris wheels: The Big Wheel and the even more massive La Grande Wheel XL, which fairgrounds officials say is among is the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

Guests with a need for speed can strap into Endeavor, an open-air ride on which passengers are suspended in their seats and zoomed around to experience 3G acceleration.

Among the new artistic endeavors is a collaborative paper garden where artist Kiel Johnson will invite fairgoers to handcraft additions using construction paper, glue and scissors.

Two recent additions to the fairgrounds — the Heroes Hall veterans museum and the “Table of Dignity” agricultural workers memorial — also will welcome visitors during fair time.

Food

For carnival connoisseurs, the fair is famous for unconventional culinary creations.

New ones include Flamin’ Hot Cheetos pizza, 5-pound barbecued pig legs, fried peanut butter meatballs, fried octopus on a stick, Krispy Kreme ice cream chicken sandwiches and all sorts of bacon-wrapped treats.

Visitors also will be able to satisfy their sweet tooth with mini doughnut sundaes, gelato doughnut sandwiches or a Unicorn Nitro Pop — a cup of kettle corn ringed with cotton candy and submerged in liquid nitrogen.

Competitions will see who can make the best liqueur, salsa or olive oil, and several chefs will offer demonstrations.

Master chocolatier Stéphane Tréand will showcase some of his trade secrets, and the Fermentation Farm will give guests an overview of fermented food and drinks, as well as free samples of kombucha.

Entertainment

This year’s fair features new spins on some childhood favorites, such as nighttime light-up hoop performances and “extreme pogo stick” demonstrations from Xpogo.

Crowds also can cheer as members of the Knights of Valour troupe go medieval during a full-contact jousting competition, and when drivers in the new Minivan Mash-Up Demolition Derby slam the suburban symbols into one another.

The fair also is making a foray into the digital world with the iBuypower GameFest, a video gaming competition and expo.

A collection of concerts featuring acts from across the musical spectrum is set for before, during and after the fair. Here’s the schedule:

Pacific Amphitheatre

Sunday: Steel Pulse/Common Kings/The Simpkin Project

Wednesday: Kenny Loggins/Pacific Symphony

Thursday: Dashboard Confessional/All-American Rejects

July 14: Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias

July 15: Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jeramiah Red

July 16: Happy Together Tour

July 19: Retro Futura

July 20: B-52s/Pacific Symphony

July 21: Slightly Stoopid/Iration/J Boog/The Movement

July 22: Strangelove/Dead Man’s Party

July 23: Pepe Aguilar

July 26: Gavin DeGraw/Calum Scott

July 27: Justin Moore/Tyler Rich

July 28: Roberto Tapia/Larry Hernandez

July 29: Echo & the Bunnymen/Violent Femmes

July 30: Kenny Rogers

Aug. 2: The Band Perry/Alice Wallace

Aug 3: Huey Lewis & the News

Aug. 4: Colbie Caillat/Justin Young

Aug. 5: The Fab Four

Aug. 6: Michael McDonald/Boz Scaggs

Aug. 9: Steve Miller Band/Peter Frampton

Aug. 10: Isley Brothers/Commodores

Aug. 11-12: Rebelution/Nahko & Medicine for the People/Hirie

Aug. 13: Jake Owen/Honey County

Aug. 20: Yurida/Ha*Ash

The Hangar

July 14: Space Oddity

July 15: Which One’s Pink?

July 16: Blue Oyster Cult

July 19: Elton: The Early Years

July 20: Hotel California

July 21: BoStyx

July 22: Hot August Night

July 23 (1 p.m.): Metalachi

July 23 (8:30 p.m.): Trevor Hall

July 26: I Am King

July 27: Wild Child

July 28: Turn the Page

July 29: Sweet & Tender Hooligans

July 30: Marshall Tucker Band

Aug. 2: Queen Nation

Aug. 3: Bee Gees Gold

Aug. 4: Damage Inc.

Aug. 5: Zeppelin Live

Aug. 6: Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez

Aug. 9: True Willie

Aug. 10: Paradise City

Aug. 11: Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular

Aug. 12-13: iBuypower GameFest

For more information about this year’s competitions and performances, visit ocfair.com/oc-fair/things-to-do.

Pricing

General admission is $12 Wednesdays through Fridays and $14 Saturdays and Sundays. Senior citizens 60 and older and children ages 6 to 12 can get in for $7 daily. Kids 5 and younger get in free, as do active and retired military service members with valid identification.

Parking at the fairgrounds costs $10 for cars and $20 for buses and limousines.

Fair admission and parking will be free from noon to 3 p.m. on opening day.

Several other specials and discounts are available — details are at ocfair.com/oc-fair/discounts.

For more information about tickets and event pricing, visit ocfair.com/oc-fair/buy-ticket.