Step Right Up

Like an Olympics for average folk and barnyard animals, the Orange County Fair offers a wealth of events: best hog contest, pig racing, and a few less formal competitions, such as corn-dog and cotton-candy eating, antacids-popping and parent-dragging.

Of course, many among the tens of thousands of people who will visit the 108th annual event over its 17-day run in Costa Mesa prefer to enjoy the sights as they stroll at their own pace, gawking at the displays and livestock competitions and sitting under shade trees amid lush gardens.

Spectators can see racing Alaskan pigs, bleating baby goats, floral exhibits and antenna ball displays.

There is plenty for everyone to do, including sampling high-flying, hairdo-defying carnival rides and taste-testing everything from churros to chili.

At every corner of the fairgrounds, it seems someone invites you to “step right up,” just like at the circus.

Sometimes, all you have to do is step right up to see glass blowers, karate experts and guitar-pickers.

Other times, you have to pay for the privilege of, say, stepping around a mysterious wall, ensconced in some tent, where a hidden treasure awaits.

In one tent, you can discover Black Jack, a Bunyanesque side of beef weighing 3,250 pounds and standing 6-feet-4 at the shoulder. At first glance, it may seem to be some kind of animatronic hoax.

But Black Jack is very real, just as are the smells, sights and sounds of the fair that come once a year to Orange County.

INFO

The fair is open daily through July 30 at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa. For information, call (714) 708-FAIR.