Winter Fest is back and bigger at O.C. fairgrounds
Winter Fest OC was already big, but when it returned to the Orange County fairgrounds Thursday evening to begin its 18-day run, it featured even more attractions.
The festival, in its fifth year, brought its usual wintry spirit to the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, with snow, ice tubing down a 150-foot mountain and an ice skating rink. But this time it also has a 1,500-square-foot candy maze, animal racing and a Victorian village.
People can walk through the candy maze while filling baskets with 300 types of treats, from today’s top sellers to nostalgic varieties.
Andrew Kirschenmann, owner of the maze, said, “Kids love candy, obviously. But the adults love the candy more and go more crazy in there than the kids because of the nostalgia and old-fashioned candy that we sell.”
The festival features daily animal racing shows, with goats, sheep and piglets from All Creatures Barnyard Entertainment trotting to Christmas tunes. There’s also a chance to take a photo with a piglet dressed in a Christmas sweater.
In the Victorian-themed village, festival-goers can walk side by side with famous characters like novelist Charles Dickens and his fictional Ebenezer Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol.” They also can dine from a menu of English dishes such as fish and chips, meat pies and sticky pudding.
The festival runs daily through Jan. 5. Adult general admission starts at $18; admission for children ages 3-12 starts at $13.
Hours and tickets, along with schedules for live performances and meet-and-greets with cartoon characters, are available at winterfestoc.com.
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