The fair belongs here

Heck no, we won’t let it go.

A couple weeks ago, a discussion resurfaced about moving the

Orange County Fair to the planned Great Park. Otherwise known as the

closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Base in Irvine.

Assemblyman John Campbell proposed that the state-owned

fairgrounds be sold as salve for the hemorrhaging state budget.

It is not a new suggestion, but one that makes us cringe each time

it comes up.

The Orange County Fair is a beloved landmark and rousing success

in its current location, a spot it has called home since 1949, when

it, ironically, took over an old World War II airfield.

That transformation was a boon for Costa Mesa and its residents.

Last time it came up, in 2002, Becky Bailey Findley, the fair’s

general manager, said the site would be a better fit for the fair’s

10-year plan and future expansion of the fair and the equestrian

center.

The current site, in the heart of Costa Mesa, does not leave much

room for that.

But anyone who has attended an Orange County Fair knows that

crowds, just like the pig racing, the square dancing, the luscious

Australian batter-fried potatoes, the cotton candy, the elephant

rides and the Ferris wheel, are just part of the whole fair

experience. Rows of booths and complete sensory overload is part of

what makes it all so fun.

Besides, walking the fairgrounds now tiring enough. More space

would just mean more distance to cover.

And if the fair were to leave, what would the fate of that land

be? Would there be more parks, more space for City Hall?

Even if the fair left, there’s no promise the city would benefit

one iota.

We say it’s too much of a gamble. The fair is too much of a city

tradition and favorite to let it slip away. Watching it leave and go

south to El Toro would be too painful for words.

We urge fair and state officials to find their money elsewhere and

city and fair officials to hold on to tradition and ensure that this

annual event continues to be a part of this town for years to come.