Fair rakes in cheese

The struggling economy affected the Orange County Fair this year, but it racked up the second best attendance, finishing just shy of last year’s record-breaker. This year’s fair bested last year’s in terms of food and beverage sales, and in carnival ride tickets sold.

This year’s fair, in its 116th year, drew 1,061,408 visitors, down from last year’s record 1,090,653.

Carnival ride and food and beverage sales are still being tallied from the weekend, but grosses were already record-busting. Carnival ride sales were expected to surpass $6 million compared to $5.4 million last year, and food and beverage sales grossed more than $14 million compared to last year’s $13.3 million.

The economy played a role in purchasing habits and fair attendance, officials said. Many patrons were “price sensitive” and went during the week to take advantage of special promotions, said Becky Bailey-Findley, the fair’s chief executive, who just finished her last year as head of the fair.

“While they might not have taken a vacation to a far-away place, they took a mini-vacation with us,” Bailey-Findley said.

The “Say Cheese”-themed fair offered a number of photography- and cheese-related exhibits and activities, including a giant camera obscura and a man who was creating a sculpture from a 640-pound block of cheese.

“It is nostalgic and I get very sentimental thinking about it,” Bailey-Finley said of her last fair. “However, I have been involved in this organization for most of my life. I will enjoy it far into the future, I am sure.”

Bailey-Findley started as a livestock clerk in 1972 and worked her way up to becoming the chief executive in 1994. She is retiring at the end of August.

Bailey-Findley remembers connecting the fair back to the local community as one of her major accomplishments. The fruits of that labor?

Reopening the Pacific Amphitheater, which now hosts numerous concerts during the fair season, including B.B. King, Sammy Hagar and Fergie in 2008.

“We were able to open it and have it appreciated by the community rather than consider it as a problem,” Bailey-Findley said.

The OC Fair returns to Costa Mesa next year from July 10 to Aug. 2 with the theme “Think. Big.”

BY THE NUMBERS

12,000

Number of deep-fried White Castle burgers sold by Chicken Charlie, which also sold 5 tons of deep-fried frog legs and 8,000 deep-fried Pop Tarts.

800

Roughly the number of people hypnotized by Mark Yuzuik at the Fair, including one Daily Pilot reporter.

30,334

Number of children who attended the Fair for free on the three Kids Days.

30.5

Number, in tons, of nonperishable food items donated by 11,863 fairgoers for the Summer Food Drive on July 23.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].