Starting the fair game

The biggest show in town arrives on Friday and will stick around

through Aug. 3. The Orange County Fair has some changes this year,

the biggest of which is the reintroduction of the Pacific

Amphitheatre. Its return has been able to entice some larger named

performers to come to town.

The fair will be open an extra weekend this year, but will be

closed on Mondays.

Orange County Fair and Exposition Center General Manager Becky

Bailey-Findley met with City Editor James Meier at the fairgrounds on

Thursday to discuss the new additions and amphitheater’s return.

The biggest change at this fair has got to be the Pacific

Amphitheatre’s return. How important is it to the fairgrounds’

success this year?

I think the Pacific Amphitheatre reopening will be a tremendous

enhancement to the fair experience. Though I think the fair has been

successful without it, it’s just the ability to be able to take it up

a notch will make it a better experience for the fair goer who

chooses to participate in those concerts.

I also think the Pacific Amphitheatre Concert Series is

introducing the fair to a new audience. Some of the initial survey

work that we’re doing on those people who bought concert tickets is

48% of them have either never been to the fair or haven’t been here

in three years. So it’s bringing some new people and some returning

people back to experience the fair.

Now, you were able to attract bigger names, including Bob Dylan

and Duran Duran. Can you tell me some of the other names that were on

the wish list?

We tried really hard to get No Doubt because they are an Orange

County band. Others on the list were a lot of the country acts that

didn’t come west. The Moody Blues.

Other changes to the fair this year are the added weekend and dark

Mondays. Do you plan for this to be a permanent change?

I think we’ll probably stick with the 21 days for at least another

year. My feeling is it’s going to be successful. We’re watching

closely the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. They’re doing the same

thing and this is their second year. It’s going really well.

The dark Monday will be an important communication challenge for

us. We need to make sure. But we’ve had some good support from Costa

Mesa businesses. They have sent us fliers and discount coupons, so

we’ll have ready for any guest who happens to come on Mondays some

Costa Mesa alternatives.

We hope there won’t be a lot. What they found out in San Diego was

after the first [Monday], word got out really quickly after that. I

think the only person who they had unfortunately last Monday was one

of our employees, who we forgot to tell and we sent her down to the

see the Del Mar fair and it wasn’t open. It’s embarrassing.

What else will be different this year?

We have a fabulous new ride. Ray Cammack Shows is back. They’ve

got several new rides, so I don’t want to take away from any of them,

but the most spectacular that you can see going up right now is a sky

ride. It’s like a ski lift that will from the livestock area all the

way to the kiddie carnival area.

It’s an eight-minute ride. It will give you a different view of

the fair, but you also, on a clear day, will probably be able to see

the ocean and maybe Los Angeles. I knew that was coming, but it

wasn’t until these really, really brightly painted colored poles had

gone up when I said, “Oh my gosh.” It’s going to be really beautiful

and high in the sky. It’s going to add a lot.

We also have the Orange Groove museum going in. It’s a fun

historical look at the music scene in Orange County. It’s going to

look at venues that have been popular in Orange County. It’s going to

look at bands and there’s going to be different memorabilia. I

understand Dick Dale’s guitar is going to be in there. Rickenbacker

and Fender guitars are both helping with that, so that should be a

lot of fun.

And it’s not new, but because we’re having the Pacific

Amphitheatre concerts and that’s a paid ticket, we have the return of

the 7 and 9 p.m. concerts that are free to the public. That’ll be a

nice balance. Something new balanced with tradition.

And there’s new foods. We have a chocolate tortilla factory, a

crepe concession stand and a Mexican seafood stand. And the new items

that are fried and on a stick are deep-fried Twinkies, Oreo cookies

and Snicker bars, like we had last year. We also have fried green

tomatoes and pickle chips. I’m not too sure what those are. And

everyone’s favorite foods are here because you can’t get rid of

anything.

What are you personally looking forward to at this year’s fair?

I’m personally looking forward to the Pacific Amphitheatre being

seen as a community asset. I think the blend of the different artists

and different types of concerts that are going to be there provides

something for everybody and I’m looking forward to integrating the

amphitheater into the total fair experience, which we haven’t been

able to do before. And I would just feel so happy if the amphitheater

was seen as an asset, that people in Costa Mesa especially were proud

that it was in their city.

And it has been quieted down since it closed in 1995, right?

We’re not using the grass seats, so we’re not pumping sound up

there. Technology is helping us because we can have a better sound

system that’s more directional. We’ve written into all the contracts

that the bands have to comply, so I think there’s an understanding

from the beginning. We have a good sound engineer who’s very

confident that he’s going to make it a good concert experience for

those who are in the concert and that the neighbors are not going to

be hearing it.

I would love for the neighbors to call and complain that they

can’t hear it, that they’re sitting on their front lawn and had

anticipated enjoying Steely Dan from their front lawn and they can’t

hear them.

Any final thoughts?

I think the Orange County Fair is the premiere and largest

community gathering of the summer and nothing pleases me more than to

hear the various groups in the community excited about coming to the

fair and planning their outings and exhibit booths. A lot of family

traditions are here. It’s like a reunion for many people who see

friends they don’t see at any other time. So that’s the fun part for

me because of that energy.