Orange Street Fair: Where International Flavors Intersect

The fare at the annual Orange International Street Fair can be unpredictable, but it can always be counted on to showcase the city’s diversity. In addition to the German oompah band, for instance, the Labor Day weekend food and beer extravaganza featured aging surf band members, wearing Hawaiian shirts and Mexican sombreros, playing rock ‘n’ roll tunes from the 1960s at Polynesian Corner.

The Danish Lutheran Church sold traditional aebleskivers (cooked balls of dough served with powdered sugar and raspberry jam), the Orange County High School of the Arts offered Aussie ice cream and the Olde Towne Preservation Assn. created Irish Nachos.

Asked about the name and idea behind the fries smothered in cheese, chives and bacon bits, association spokeswoman Patti Ricci chortled: “We made it up.”

But why call a product on Irish Street “nachos”? Marketing, she said.

“ ‘Nachos’ is a catchword -- in Southern California you want to bring Mexican food in,” she said.

Such cultural hybridization is increasingly common at an event designed to bring together diverse ethnicities while raising money for nonprofit groups. Fair spokesman Russ Barrios said the diversity was evidence of the fair’s success.

“The mix is changing,” he said. The fair opened in 1910 as a showcase for local products, was held once and was resurrected in 1973 with an international and ethnic theme showcasing food, crafts and entertainment.

“You’ll see different racial combinations,” Barrios said, “like white people working in the Mexican booths and Latinos working with the Italian group. Things have changed dramatically, and that’s good. It signifies an acceptance and a blending.”

Covering six city blocks centered on the town square at Glassell Street and Chapman Avenue, the 2 1/2 -day fair was expected to draw up to 400,000 people by the time it closed Sunday, netting hundreds of thousands of dollars for about 60 participating nonprofit groups.

“We love different cultures,” said Brian Dagen, 42, a Christian missionary based in the Czech Republic who was on extended leave in Orange County with his wife and two daughters.

“Anything to get people together is fabulous -- this kind of thing has a European flavor to it, but it’s not too common in California.”

Not everyone, of course, came just for the culture. “You can get some crazy food,” said Blake Johnson, 21, of Compton, “but I’m here mostly for the booze and the women.”

Some found the range of their experiences expanding.

“We usually just eat Asian,” said Ed Linderman, 51, of Orange, who comes each year with his wife. “This year, I don’t know, we did some Greek, some Danish and some Bolivian. It was different.”

His wife, Sheri, 39, quickly added, “Actually, it was pretty good. We were surprised. We’ll come back next year and have it again.”