What to Know
- OC Fair concluded its month-long 2022 run on Sunday, Aug. 14
- The Costa Mesa event traditionally shares some of its reflections and findings in the days after the fair concludes
- Pizza, fried Oreos, and Ten Pound Buns were popular draws at the recent fair
If you and your friends like to download after doing your own various things at a county fair, bringing each other up to speed on what you ate, what you liked, and what you rode, well, you're not alone.
Sometimes, even a whole fair will get in on the whole look-back-and-ponder scene, dishing on what fairgoers snacked on, petted, watched, and enjoyed.
Take the OC Fair, which concluded its 2022 run on Sunday, Aug. 14.
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Longtime fans knew, however, that the extravaganza wasn't done-done, for a round-up of some impressive numbers, and fond observations shared by the fair, would arrive a couple of days after the event closed.
And the numbers merrily materialized on Aug. 17, giving people a sense of just how over-the-top this hard-to-top spectacular really is, year after year.
Over 3,000 exhibitors — some 3,068 in all — submitted 10,000 entries for competition, and entries? They went up, up, up, with 20% more entries made over 2021.
On the food front?
Pizza was popular at Biggy's, as were deep-fried Oreos, and Pink's sold 16,682 hot dogs.
As for chocolate chip cookies? Plenty of sweet-toothers called upon the confection-filled festival, for 70,600 fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies were enjoyed by 2022 guests.
The Ten Pound Bun was a buzzy goodie, and people seeking it out felt the appetizing excitement, for 8,800 pounds of bun-based deliciousness crossed the counter.
There were around 2,500,000 rides along the midway, with Skyride and Rave Wave proving to be hot choices. Over at Pacific Amphitheatre, a dozen concerts completely sold out.
And at adorable Centennial Farm? Oh squeal: Twenty piglets were born and five goats, too, as well as a quartet of cute peachicks.
You can see more of the 2022 round-up on the OC Fair's social pages, which is the very place that early news of the 2023 fair will start rolling out, much like a lemon might roll, before we know it.
Oh, did we say "lemon" there?
We did, because wrapping up a story about the OC Fair's big 2022 events without mentioning Sunny Lemon, the brand-new character in the fair-fun line-up, would make us blue.
How many photos did the ultra-socialable Sunny Lemon pose for over the course of the 2022 to-do? That large number must remain a mystery, but it is no mystery to say that the upbeat character will likely be back in 2023.
"The annual OC Fair is very special and important to the community. It gives us such pleasure to present it every year. It's a thrill for our team to plan and produce an event that resonates with our guests throughout Southern California and beyond," said Michele Richards, OC Fair CEO.
"It's always sad to see the annual OC Fair end each year, but rest assured our team is already working on next year’s Fair. We can’t wait to welcome back all our guests again in 2023," said Richards.
