O.C. Fair Reports Record Revenue

Setting a revenue record, the Orange County Fair posted the second-highest turnout in its 104-year history, officials said Monday.

“We’re very happy with this year’s fair,” spokeswoman Lynn Howe said. “Although the total attendance was down” from 1995, she said, “there were no major incidents or accidents.”

Fair officials report that a total of 686,428 attended this year’s 17-day event, which ended Sunday night. That was down 12,548 from last year’s attendance.

But despite the slightly lower turnout, total admission and parking revenue netted nearly $3 million, compared to $2.7 million last year.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which policed the fair, reported 71 arrests, more than double last year’s 28 arrests, but fair officials attributed the increase to a “zero tolerance” policy for rowdiness and safety infractions.

Ray Cammack Shows, the fair’s carnival operator, reported a record $2.1 million in revenue, up more than $100,000 from the previous high reached in 1994. The Grand Wheel Ferris wheel and Looping Star ride proved the two most popular rides this year, officials said.

Howe said larger numbers of families with children turned out for the fair this year than last. She attributed the increase to the event’s theme, “Best Pickin’s in California: We’re Puttin’ A Bug In Your Ear,” a tribute to farming and insects.

The youngsters, she said, “had much more fun with it this year,” lining up for the Bug Barn exhibit and for Ron Taylor, the “Bug Chef,” who cooked up Beetle Bread for standing-room-only crowds.

“He ground up the beetles,” Howe said. “You couldn’t even taste them.”--JOHN DIGRADO