2009 Orange County Fair

Yesterday evening, my friend and I visited the Orange County Fair. The fair is held every summer at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. This year's event is being held from July 10 - August 9. The first few weekends are usually the busiest, so with that in mind, I waited a while before attending. :-)

Here are some things you can expect at this county fair: entertaining shows, carnival rides, street artists, games, giant stuffed animal prizes and lots of fattening food. Some of my favorites are below:

• Peking Acrobat Show is a MUST SEE in my opinion! This show is free with admission and it is worth so much more than the admission cost of $10. A team of acrobats, called the Peking Acrobats, boggled our minds with their gravity-defying feats. My favorite stunt was one that involved an acrobat stacking chairs 50 feet in the air on top of four Champagne bottles before climbing over the chairs to balance herself at the top in a one-armed handstand. My heart was pounding!!!! Here are some photos.

• The Sky Ride Gondola is a relaxing and neat ride. The cable car took us from the front to the back of the entrance of the fairgrounds. It's especially nice to ride it at night for the sky view. We could see the brightly lit fairground from end to end.

• When we entered the fair, we first headed to the Main Mall to visit “Weird Al’s Brain," a 3-D comedy show featuring Weird Al Yankovic. Before entering the show, we were provided with a pair of 3-D glasses and a wet napkin to clean the glasses before putting them on. The show is educational. Al gives insightful facts about the brain like the length of the brain when it's stretched out. I think he said it was more than 2 street blocks long (I forgot) :-) Also, during the show, random people and celebrities ask Al questions about how the brain works. The best question was from Fabio, who asks Al, “Is it true that I use only 10 percent of my brain?” Al replied "YES! YOU only use 10 percent of your brain, BUT THE REST OF US use all of it!" haha. Al also sings in a fancy 3-D music video teaching kids about the brain at the end of the show. I don't have any children, but if I did, I would defintely want to take them to see this show.
  

Admission costs $10 per adult and $5 per child. Not bad for an eventful evening filled with entertainment! It's less than the price of a movie ticket and Ralph’s offers a coupon if shoppers purchase more than $10 worth of groceries. The coupon is good for five admission tickets for only $5. Parking costs $5 at the fair parking lot, but the price is definitely worth it. All shows (except the music concerts) are free, but the games and rides cost tickets which are about 50 cents a ticket.

For more information, visit www.ocfair.com.

Overall, we’re glad to have gone to the Fair. I'm looking forward to visiting again next year.