Young Chang
Promises started sprouting this week at the Orange County Fair.
Promises that your onion rings would be "colossal," that your corn dog
would be "jumbo," that your sourdough bread would be "world famous," at
least for the duration of the 16-day fair, which starts at 10 a.m. today
The signs and their trailers moseyed onto the fairgrounds on Saturday.
By Wednesday, the vendor at Ice Cream Desserts was baking his waffle
cones and rolling them into funnel shapes. His corner of the fair near
the carousel ride smelled the buttery way fairs should.
The gates hadn't even been opened, and the first tickets hadn't yet
been stubbed.
At the carousel, workers polished gold poles supporting the horses.
At the game booths nearby, gargantuan stuffed animals got de-robed of
their plastic bags and hung neatly along the borders of booths.
Some workers hammered away.
Yet others hummed to Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin," blaring from a
portable radio somewhere, while they worked.
"Within a 72-hour period, we kind of go from an empty container to
being a mini-city here," said Steven Beazley, deputy general manager of
the fair. "With all kinds of amenities popping up, including food stands,
restrooms, entertainment venues, . . . we become a mini-city that has all
the support services a normal city would have."
Newcomers to this city include a "Water Drop," which drops riders 100
feet onto a net.
There's also a new ride in the carnival area called the "Mega Drop."
New entertainment features include a Bluesfest, a Lo7 OCf7 als Live!
Music Fest, performances by Weird Al Yankovic and Carrot Top, and a
roster of artists that includes fair opener Huey Lewis and the News and
the Indigo Girls.
New foods include a deep-fried Snickers bar said to be the rage in
England.
"Although it's non-scientific, we try to go by the 80-20 rule,"
Beazley said. "Eighty percent we try to keep the same, and 20% we try to
bring in the brand new because we think that's the formula that the
public likes. And in the 20% new, we also try to see if we can attract
new customers."
Some of the novel attractions every year include theme-related
features. This year's water theme brings the fair two new and decorated
ponds, a Ribbit Exhibit of frogs in a Creature Feature building that
contains everything from snakes to 80-pound water monitors, a history of
swimwear and more.
Everything from the frogs to the fruits were prepped for the fair this
week.
Isabel Barkman, a member of the Orange County Chapter of the
California Rare Fruit Growers, hung informative posters on Wednesday
along the back wall of her fruit booth.
"How does this look? It even?" she asked a passerby reporter while
hanging her Tropical Exotic Fruit Chart.
It wasn't, so she lowered the left side the tiniest bit.
Huy Tran, an employee at Mark Anthony's Nifty 50's booth, folded
collectible T-shirts into narrow strips and draped them along the front
edge of the display. The icons showed everyone from Betty Boop to Batman.
"We hang shirts everywhere," Tran said. "Just trying to make a good
display."
* Young Chang is the features and arts and entertainment writer. She
may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at o7
young.chang@latimes.comf7 .
INSIDE
For all that's happening today at the Orange County Fair, see the fair
schedule, Page 6
