Fair finds attendance down 15%

Deepa Bharath

Attendance is down 15% at the Orange County Fair this year, which

officials attribute to the event being spread over more days.

Numbers show that as of Day 12 in 2002, more than 603,200 people

had come to the fair. But this year, that dropped to about 510,600.

That’s 92,600 fewer people.

“A lot of people could have a lot of different reasons for the

decrease in numbers, but I believe that the decrease is because the

fair is spread out over more number of days,” said Becky

Bailey-Findley, the fair’s chief executive officer.

There was also an “overcrowding” trend last year, Bailey-Findley

said.

“There was one middle Saturday last year when there were about

81,000 people,” she said. “But this year, the most crowded day was

July 19, when there were 63,000. That’s still a lot of people, but

it’s a more comfortable number.”

But lower numbers have not affected the fair’s revenue so far,

Bailey-Findley said.

“Our new attractions, like the Skyride and the Orange Groove, have

received great response,” she said.

The fair’s parking revenue has burgeoned, with 700 new parking

spots on the fairgrounds.

“It’s also convenient for fairgoers because they haven’t had to

park off-site, maybe with the exception of one day this year,” she

said. “Last year, we had to use Costa Mesa High School and Orange

Coast College parking lots six or seven days.”

Officials are also pleased with the response to the concerts at

the newly reopened Pacific Amphitheatre, Bailey-Findley said. Only

one concert, Duran Duran, has been sold out so far, but she said that

these concerts involve tickets, so lower numbers were expected.

But, Bailey-Findley said, fairgoers are happy with the concert

experience.

“They like the fact that they are able to experience it in a venue

that is designed for such an event instead of the Arlington Theater,

which was put together with chairs and bleachers,” she said.

Also, fair numbers often have a way of going up toward the end,

Bailey-Findley said.

“We have a number of strong events this weekend and we expect to

see the crowds grow as we near the end,” she said.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.