What to Know
- OC Fair at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa
- July 19 through Aug. 18; Wednesday through Sunday
- $13 general daily entry Wednesday-Thursday; $15 Friday-Sunday; advance ticket purchase is required
OC Fair 2024 opens: It's "Always a Good Time" at this colossal county fair, an event that covers the good-time-having gamut and then some. The Costa Mesa merriment runs Wednesday through Sunday — Mondays and Tuesdays are closed days, keep in mind — and you must buy your ticket ahead of time. Pig racing, mega concerts, quirky contests, and fried goodies, often on sticks, await.
Ice Cream Alley opens: There are a plethora of frosty ways to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, which gets scooping July 21. If you swing by Smorgasburg LA at ROW DTLA that day, you'll be there for the debut of this seasonal favorite, an "alley" of artisanal ice cream purveyors. Entry is free, pups should stay home, and food purchases are additional.
Plumeria Festival: This tropical titan, a fragrant superstar that brings its ombre elegance to gardens across Southern California, is highly cherished. How highly? The flower enjoys its own Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden party each year. Be in Arcadia on the afternoon/evening of July 19 or morning/midday of July 20 for talks, tunes, and oodles of plumeria prettiness.
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Swim with Aqualillies: The celebrated synchronized swimming troupe — you've seen them on the silver screen — is known for its fabulous performances, but here's your chance to take an actual class. It's splish-splashing in West Hollywood and the price, at least for the first session, is free. You'll need to register in advance, but if you can't make it July 20? Three more $20 classes are to come later this summer.
Long Beach Burger Week opens: Dine LA Restaurant Week, the SoCal-big foodie spectacular, is only hitting its halfway point, but burgerists may make some extra time to call upon LBC for this quirky Restaurant Week, which is known for filling foodie deals. Some of the participating restaurants will price burgers at $5 and up (check before you go, of course) while a few patio restaurants will have yummy burger menus created just for our pooch pals.
