RETAIL / ATTRACTIONS : 5-Day Extension of O.C. Fair’s Run Brought Attendance Up to 34th in U.S.

While a county fair might seem obsolete in a place that has lost much of its agriculture to development, the Orange County Fair continues to improve its popularity rank in the nation, a new report shows.

The fair was listed as having the 34th-highest attendance last year of any in the nation, up from 41st in 1991 and 48th in 1990, according to the survey by the trade journal Amusement Business.

A factor in the fair’s rise in the ranking was an extension of its 1992 run, to 17 days from 12 days the previous year. As a result, attendance last year was 685,240, a 7.6% increase over the 637,014 for 1991.

“Our goal in 1992 was to spread out the strong crowds that continue to attend our event,” fair manager Norb Bartosik said. “We were successful in both efforts.”

This year, in addition to the usual agriculture motif, the fair plans to salute the 100th anniversary of the debut of the Ferris wheel with the theme, “It’s a Wheel Thing.”

The 1993 fair is set for July 9 through 25.