The 2022 OC Fair by the numbers

COSTA MESA (Aug. 17, 2022) – The 2022 OC Fair is a wrap and there were a whole lot of summer memories for fairgoers who wanted to “Feel the Sunshine,” the theme of this year’s Fair which ran from July 15 through Aug. 14.

Advance tickets were required again this year so daily capacity could be limited to provide a better experience for our guests, neighbors and partners. There was no increase in ticket prices again this year.

“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.

Here’s a look at this year’s Fair by the numbers:

• Preliminary figures show that 1,055,173 fairgoers came out to enjoy summer’s most-anticipated event and there were 11 sold-out days. In 2021, OC Fair attendance was 1,055,770 and there were 16 sold-out days.
• 10,000 competition entries from 3,068 exhibitors vied for blue-ribbons. In Home Arts, there were 399 entries, 1,292 entries in Culinary, Visual Arts had 3,754 entries and there were 4,426 entries in Horticulture. Entries were up 20 percent over 2021.
• 2.5 million carnival rides were enjoyed by fairgoers and their favorites were La Grande Wheel XL, Skyride and Rave Wave. The top games were Bottle Up, Big Water Race and Bank A Ball. The most-requested midway prizes were Squishmallows and Ramen Noodle stuffies.
• 70,600 fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies were made from scratch at Mom’s Bakeshoppe.
• 16,682 hot dogs were sold by Pink’s, along with 13,754 orders of fries and 1,272 veggie dogs.
• 5 top food items from Biggy’s were pizza, fried Oreos, Dole Soft Serve, corn dogs and funnel cakes.
• 8,800 pounds of Ten Pound Buns were served up at this year’s OC Fair.
• 20,000 deep-fried Oreos, 2,000 Kool-Aid chicken sandwiches, 9,000 Canadian lobster tails, 5,000 bacon-wrapped pickles and 3,000 fried avocados were served up at the Chicken Charlie’s stands throughout the fairgrounds.
• One new OC Fair Foodie costumed character was introduced this year, Sunny Lemon, who posed for photos daily and paraded through the fairgrounds with the OC Fair Foodie crew.
• 20 piglets, five goats and four peachicks were born at Centennial Farm.
• 13,958 phone calls during the Fair were answered by the Guest Experience team.
• 44,611,100 social media impressions on OC Fair’s various profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
• 231,736 cars were parked in general parking during this year’s event.
• 35 tons of organic waste was diverted from landfills, 55,000 pounds of trash was recycled and 7,500 gallons of cooking grease was repurposed by the OC Fair facilities team.
• $242,967.76 was paid out to agriculture students through the Junior Livestock Auction and this year we saw the sale of 153 animals.
• 13,514 visitors to Heroes Hall during the Fair also had the chance to see a real Huey helicopter and to decorate 1,000 postcards for the troops.
• 12 concerts were sold out in The Hangar, 11 events were sold out in Action Sports Arena and so far there have been eight sold-out shows in Pacific Amphitheatre.

Concerts under the stars are continuing with these upcoming shows in Pacific Amphitheatre:

• Aug. 18 – Boy George & Culture Club / Berlin
• Aug. 19 – Cole Swindell / Honey County
• Aug. 25 – Steve Miller Band
• Aug. 28 – Ramon Ayala / Conjunto Primavera
• Aug. 31 – Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo / Ann Wilson
• Sept. 2 – Jackson Browne

Tickets are for sale on Ticketmaster.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank the community for supporting the OC Fair this year. We’re very proud to provide this great family event each year that means so much to so many,” said OC Fair Board Chair Doug La Belle.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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