Fair board OKs New Year’s party

Plans for a New Year’s Eve bash at the fairgrounds took a big step

forward Thursday when the Orange County Fair board gave the go-ahead.

The event, dubbed Orange County New Year’s Eve, will be promoted by

Richard Goodwin of Richard Goodwin Presents. The board voted

unanimously to let Goodwin go through with plans for this year, said

Mark Entner, fair director of event sales and services.

Goodwin said he hopes to make the event an Orange County tradition

that will continue for the next century.

For now, though, the fairgrounds board will make a deal for one

party and see how it turns out before clearing the way for a string

of events.

“They want to see how it goes, and they want to feel the promoter

out,” Goodwin said.

He plans to drop an oversized orange -- a local take on the Times

Square tradition -- and to book plenty of live entertainment.

According to the plans, there will be venues for headline bands,

country acts, DJs, 1980s performers and other artists.

“We want to put on a great musical event for Orange County,”

Goodwin said.

Solidifying the entertainment lineup is the next step on Goodwin’s

agenda. Thursday, he declined to name which performers may emerge as

the event’s headliners. He did say that one act is a nationally-known

band from Orange County and that the other is a well-known act that

has not visited the area in some time.

In the meantime, musical plans could change slightly. Goodwin said

he and his company are still making decisions, such as whether the

country lineup should have a modern or traditional flavor and whether

more 1990s bands should have a place at the event.

Under Goodwin’s deal with the fair board, his company will

reimburse the fairgrounds for services such as equipment rentals and

fairgrounds employees’ services, Entner said. The fair stands to gain

financially by earning a $5 commission per ticket and a percentage of

food and beverage sales.

Tickets are set to go on sale Oct. 1 and will likely cost about

$65, Goodwin said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

[email protected].