Fair ready for blackouts

Jennifer Kho

FAIRGROUNDS -- Clocks might stop, lights may go out and computers

might crash.

But Costa Mesa residents can be rest assured that even if the power

fails this summer, the carnival rides at the Orange County Fair won’t.

“I’m worried about my refrigerator, because the food will go to waste,

and about my computer, because I won’t be able to do any work on it,”

Costa Mesa resident Tony Henriquez said Friday. “I wasn’t actually

concerned about the rides, but it’s cool they aren’t going to be wasting

our electricity.”

The carnival at the fair has always been run on eight or nine large

generators, not on the power grid, according to a safety information the

fair released this week.

Becky Bailey-Findley, general manager and chief executive of the

fairgrounds, said that people not in the know also could be concerned

that the carnival -- with a “very festive high-energy appearance that is

very reliant on power, with motion, color, lights and sound” -- might be

taking much-prized electricity away from other residents.

“The generators will keep the rides, concession stands and everything

else running, so in terms of the potential for energy interruption during

the fair, the carnival is probably the safest place to be,”

Bailey-Findley said. “The carnival people joke that they hope there is a

power interruption because there will be nothing left for people to go to

except for the carnival.”

Traditionally, the carnival has used generators because the

fairgrounds didn’t have electricity in the carnival fields, she added.

The Arlington Theater also is run by generators and, although the rest

of the fair operates mainly on regular electricity, it is prepared for

potential blackouts with emergency lights, generators and generated light

towers, Bailey-Findley said.

“We are planning and hoping that our fair guests will have just as

much fun as they normally do if the power is interrupted,” she said.

“We’re trying to keep it fun, festive and safe. We think it’s better for

people to stay on the grounds than to leave, if the power goes out.”