Got your fair face on? O.C.’s 126th annual party is getting ready to roll

This summer’s Orange County Fair is themed “Get Your Fair Face On,” and, indeed, everyone who attends will get an opportunity to be the face of the event.

Part of the face, anyway. Or, rather, the two faces.

With the fair’s 126th go-round scheduled to begin July 15 in Costa Mesa, its staff has purchased a software program that plugs photos into mosaics. Patrons can submit photos of themselves through social media or the fair’s website at ocfair.com/ocfairface, and each image — provided it’s appropriate — will be uploaded to the site. The hashtag on social media is #ocfairface.

Every night at 8:30 during the month-long fair, the massive video screen in front of The Hangar will show an image of two people on a ride. Look closely, though, and you’ll realize that the image is made up of hundreds, or maybe thousands, of smaller ones of visitors enjoying the fairgrounds.

So what constitutes a “fair face”? According to Michele Richards, the fair’s vice president of business development, there aren’t many limits.

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Kids enjoy the giant bean bag slide at the 2015 Orange County Fair.

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

“We wanted to put a theme out that really expressed the look of the fair when people come to visit the fair — that look of excitement when someone walks through the gate or the look of joy when someone sees a newborn baby piglet,” she said. “Even the look of fear when someone is riding a gnarly ride in the carnival, or the look of happiness when they’re eating some really amazing food.”

The video presentation will last about six minutes before a musical act takes the stage at The Hangar.

Richards said staff has already uploaded photos from promotional events earlier in the year, and as fairgoers submit new pictures, none of the old ones in the mosaic will be replaced. The new ones will just be squeezed in, making each image a little smaller.

Spam, but no smoke

Regardless, a mosaic requires different colors and shades to work. That shouldn’t be an issue at the fair, which will bring back longtime favorite Peking Acrobats, plus performances on the new Heritage Stage.

Foodies will have more than the usual concession stands to look forward to this year. The opening weekend includes the Brew Hee Haw, a three-day craft beer event featuring tastings and demonstrations. On July 30, the Great American Spam Championship will feature live judging as participants try their hand at recipes featuring the classic processed meat.

Then there’s the collection of culinary concoctions the fair has become famous for, and the list is expanding this year with, among other things:

• Chicken in a Waffle on a Stick: fried chicken tenders in a waffle served on a stick with a side of maple syrup

• French Toast Bacon Bombs: sweet dough stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, deep fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar

• S’moreo Texas Donut: large doughnut topped with chocolate drizzle, Oreo cookie crumble, graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow cream

• Bacon Nutella Pickle: dill pickle filled with hazelnut cocoa Nutella spread, wrapped in bacon, dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried

• Pork Belly Bacon Dog: two feet of bacon wrapped around a slow-smoked pork belly that is dipped in corn dog batter and deep fried

• Deep-Fried Pizza Log: mozzarella cheese and pepperoni inside thin deep-fried pizza dough and served with marinara sauce on the side

• Kool-Aid Hot Wings: breaded wings tossed in new slightly spicy Kool-Aid sauce

• Bacon-Wrapped Baked Potato: 1-pound potato wrapped in a half-pound of bacon, slow-cooked in a smoker oven and topped with butter, sour cream and either grilled vegetables or crumbled blue cheese and Buffalo sauce

• Lord of the Rings Dog: all-beef hot dog encircled by fried onion rings and topped with barbecue sauce

Whatever the calorie level of many of its food offerings, the fair has a new health-related initiative this year: Patrons will no longer be allowed to smoke on the grounds, although cigarette-butt dispensers will be provided just outside.

Richards said she doesn’t expect the new rule to be a problem.

“I don’t think a lot of people smoked anyhow,” she said. “I think our attendance at the fair reflects the greater community, and most of our guests who smoke are happy to just step outside the gates to have a cigarette and then step back into the fair.”

‘An agrarian society’

Though the fair is a countywide attraction, it has been housed in Costa Mesa since the city’s incorporation in 1953.

Paulette Lombardi-Fries, president of the city’s Conference & Visitor Bureau, said hotels on the city’s Westside have their highest occupancy in July and mid-August, during the fair festivities.

For Mayor Steve Mensinger, the event offers something more: a chance for Orange County residents to rediscover their roots. Fairgrounds institutions such as Centennial Farm, he said, help to remind fairgoers of the history of their area.

“We were an agrarian society, so that’s a big part of it,” Mensinger said. “The equestrian center is a wonderful place for people to learn how to ride horses.”

“And the events they’re doing seem to get better and better every year,” he added, “like the concerts and the other venue-based entertainment.”

This summer’s musical offerings — the Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre and a lineup mostly composed of tribute bands at The Hangar — include past favorites such as Ziggy Marley, Styx, the Offspring and the 1960s-themed Happy Together Tour.

However, perhaps the oldest act on the bill is a new one for the fair: Frankie Valli, 82, whose nasal falsetto graced the Four Seasons’ classics as well as the title song from “Grease” and other solo hits. Valli and the Four Seasons will play the Pacific Amphitheatre on July 27.

Lisa Sexton, the talent buyer for the amphitheater, said performers such as Valli often inspire family get-togethers in the stands.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite things about my job — looking out in the audience and seeing the history getting passed along to a younger generation. It’s really neat.”

But at least one performer on the amphitheater schedule may evoke history in the making rather than nostalgia: Rachel Platten, whose “Fight Song” has been adopted as a theme at Hillary Clinton rallies, will share the bill July 21 with Andy Grammer.

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What: Orange County Fair

Where: OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

When: July 15 through Aug. 14. Noon to midnight Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and Sundays

Cost: $12 general admission; $7 for senior citizens 60 and older and children ages 6 to 12; free for children 5 and younger

Information: ocfair.com or (714) 708-1500

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Miller is a contributing writer to Times Community News.