Orange County Fairgrounds

OC Market Place — It’s a great atmosphere here. Tons of local vendors, plenty of good deals. People often come here just for the fresh fruit and vegetables. Best deals in town for produce. Find clothing, furniture, niche shopping, and more.
Market Place is usually open every weekend, bring down the family. Food and drinks available, come hungry. Fairgrounds often hold a verity of events, this review is strictly on the OC Market Place.

I’m looking forward to the fair this year. I always enjoy eating things that are inconsistent with healthy lifestyle choices, and last time around was no different. Every year the prices do seem to climb a little, and pieces that were free before start to find a premium attached or are replaced by more profitable vendors. That said this is a big tradition.
The food: Deep fried pizza, triple-​decker doughnut hamburgers, deep fried bacon, etc. Don’t come unless you are prepared to open your wallet for some greasy grub. As a pro tip about the beer, steer clear of the concession stands and hit up the beers of the world, where there is a much better selection of fringe beers.
The sights: Make sure to check out the art and craft exhibits towards the center of the grounds as thre are plenty of cool wood sculptures and amateur paintings. Last year we partook of the live karaōke and had a blast. The rides are extremely overprices, but I might be a bit jaded from the plentiful amount of parks in Orange (and in full disclosure I am one of those filthy Disneyland passholders so take this word of caution with a grain of salt).
The lows: Last year we were all set to see Willy Nelson when his concert was rained out. Keep that in mind if you see bad weather heading in. The park in general is not setup well for such inclement weather as the dirt roads turn muddy and very little of it is covered. But on the bright side the park was nearly barren that night.
Definitely check out: The destruction derby. I was kicking myself last year for not finding a good seat for that. It is a must see and many of the seats are free. Be sure to tag one of your friends as the beer gofer as you hold down your seats though. If there was a second thing to recommend, I would have to recommend the fancy chickens, which my wife loves to death.

Who doesn’t love fairs??? Parking may be hard to find but then again what do you expect? It would be sad if there are plenty of parking in an OC Fair. that means it’s no fun. Fair is about different crowds and having diverse amount of food in your mouth no matter unhealthy it can be hah you can hit the gym the next day or run by the beach. You don’t go to an OC Fair and ask for greens and grass! You ask for thwir biggest turkey leg, their AMAZING BALLZ funnel cakes, caramel apples and beers (only for hubby cuz I can t drink alcoholic cuz I JUST CAN’T OKAY. I JUST CAN’T!!) I love that they have mexican music going on, country music on the other side and Pop music by the rides.
I love the zoo cuz I get to imagine I am squeezing those little munchkins against my cheek in my mind… cuz supposedly you can’t touch them (boo!) They got those farm animals of all kinds, kudos for all the people that takes care of them it’s hard always cleaning up after the animals. Great job! The people that works at the fair are from different countries. We met this cute girl with her Aussie accent, so cute! She was very nice and gave us free game, girl was sweet! Great ambiance with live music and just full of color! I will be back again next time! :) Great job with giving OC something to do for summer!

Love speedway and Harley races here fun lil bar as you walk in cheap happy hour drinks nice lol snack variety tri tip to hot dogs

The fair is a tradition since my son was born and it falls during his birthday. going on five second day tomorrow. Besides the fair. Swap meet, food trucks, race track, concerts… Fun all year…

The OC fairgrounds are not just for the summertime’s annual Orange County fair which runs during July each summer.
I spend a lot of time on the weekends here during the winter months demonstrating Square Dancing to the area locals.
Cool Note Tip:
Save those water bottles you buy here. There is a free pass on the label which you can use next time.
Sure, the hotdog you buy here is a little pricier than the one you can snag at CostCo, but the ambiance is more fun.
Great swap meet quality level of stuff, flea market style. You can walk your kids’ energy off and let them run laps while you stroll and shop.
Super family friendly venue. Whatcha doing this weekend? See you @ the OC fairgrounds, that’s what!

Love this place… I used to live down the street from here in 2007. Whether it was the street fair each weekend or the oc fair each summer or the cool special events they have. There’s always something going on over here. I love the swap meet, great bargains, good food and nice produce available. Tickets for entry are cheap and parking is plentiful. A great spot to take the whole family. If you have kids I recommend the little farm on the fairgrounds property. It’s free and there’s lots of animals to see.

Thursdays are free kid day and $ 30 unlimited ride wristband. Fried Doritos, fried oreos, fried snickers, roasted corn, smoked turkey leg wrapped with bacon. OMG I’M A FAT ASS. SO delicious. Lemonade in the souvenir cup, $ 3.00 refills. The best thing ever was the bubble thingy for $ 8.00. My kids loved it. Not as big as L. A county and no horse race. I had a good time though

oh how i miss this place. i can just go to look without buy but of course that doesn’t happen. on the first aisle in the food section the fresh roasted peanuts are delish. parking is plenty and the best time to go is 8ish. cost is $ 2 to get in. this time i got the stick people stickers for my car and love it. easy to put on. lots of fruits, veggies and other food stuff. spent a couple hours here.

We are so lucky that to have the Fairgrounds. Speedway, the Swap Meet, the OC Fair and now off road racing because of Robby Gordon.

Home of the best Fair I’ve ever been to. Which is only one month of the year. Don’t miss it; it is great.
Meanwhile, what happens the rest of the year? The Orange County Antique and Flea Market; that’s what happens. Not at the grand scale of the Fair, but still quite large, you will find hunderds of vendors with tons of products that you can’t find in stores and mostly things that you really don’t need but really want. If you plan on a return trip, then it’s worth to buy the book of 10 tickets for $ 10. Be prepared to spend a minimum of a few hours and spend some cash. Not all the vendors take credit cards, so make sure you carry some cash with you. Food vendors suck. But such is life. Get a good lunch to eat before arriving and have some fun perusing the market.

Went to the OC Fair, Thursday had good time seeing the animals and watching the demonstrations. Food prices are outrageous and was a big let down, $ 30.00 for 2 burger and one order of fries, they give you a slice of tomato and a piece of lettuce in a baggie and 2 cold buns the proceed to next station for a cold patty of rubber meat patty when I asked if this was correct the cashier told if I dont like it go to Carls Jr.
. Juicys was a rip-​off. Eat before you go take your own water and just enjoy the exhibits.

This is seventh year in row that I have visited the Orange County Fair. I am there to hang out with my family in Orange County and to eat the high calorie food. The first item is bbq beef brisket sandwiches with my special request of extra caramelized fat. OMG, fantastic every time. Next is the blooming onion. Basically you have to share this fried piece of goodness. A new addition to the list was the bacon wrapped shrimp. It was just ok. Chocolate covered strawberries are awesome. Though they needed to injected with Grand Marnier. The last item is the funnel cake. Frankly deep fried awesomeness. Awesome food experience. The only downer is that there was a lake of buses taking you from the Experian parking lot to and from fairgrounds. We had to wait 45 minutes and me having a conversation with some supervisor get the buses working.

I always spend way too much money when I go to the OC Fair, but it always manages to bring me back.
Parking:
It seems to be much better organized this year. Parking was free at Orange Coast Community College, which was right across the street from the entrance. I had no problem pulling in and getting out.
Admission:
Tickets are $ 10 to get in for general admission, but veterans and active duty military get in for free! Just wave your ID at the front, and they let you in.
Inside:
This year, the big craze was getting the «it’s so fluffy!!» unicorn from Despicable Me. Too bad it was only available at the hardest games at the fair! Lucky for me, I was able to get a lucky toss on the ring toss and snagged me a unicorn pillow pet for my girlfriend!
Food:
The food has not changed since the first time I went to the fair. Deep-​fried everything! I think the garlic fries and the bacon-​wrapped pickles are a must, but the zucchini fries, deep-​fried hamburger, and hotdogs are good choices as well. Don’t forget to grab a lemonade! I wouldn’t recommend the Aussie potatoes though.
Good luck!