It’s just not fair

Noaki Schwartz

The rides are being dismantled, stuffed animals packed and litter

swept away as carnies clean up the remains of the 108th Orange County

Fair.

As expected, this year’s event drew 808,562 fair-goers to the

turnstiles, topping 1997’s record of 785,944 visitors.

And now that the fun is over, the lengthy cleaning process begins.

“There’s a perception and a reality,” said Steve Beazley, deputy

general manager of the Orange County Fairgrounds. “It looks like the

setup is really slow and takedown really fast.”

In spite of how it may appear, as is the case with most activities,

once the fun is over and enthusiasm wanes, cleaning inevitably takes

longer.

Workers started to pack up Sunday, said Beazley, who expects they will

be done by Wednesday.

“They’ve been cleaning all day. But there will be a little bit of

carnival left behind,” he said, adding that from here, the carnies will

move on to other fairs in Ventura and Sacramento.

That “little bit” will include rides that won’t be used at the Ventura

County Fair, which is smaller than Orange County’s. Dismantling the rides

is the most time-consuming task for the workers, with so many intricate

pieces that must be accounted for.

The rides will be stored at the fairgrounds until they are shipped to

the state fair in Sacramento. The state fair is slightly larger than its

Orange County counterpart, usually attracting 900,000 visitors.