‘Taste’ to give fair idea of county festival

Simon Brown

For the first time ever, the entire Orange County Fair is offering a

free sample.

Tonight, there will be a special “Taste of the Fair” at the

Pacific Amphitheatre, giving all attendees a preview of some of the

best entertainment the Orange County Fair will have to offer. The

event runs from 7 to 8:45 p.m.

“Our goal is to get the fair kicked off with a lot of energy and

enthusiasm,” said Steve Beazley, the fair’s chief operating officer.

“We want to make this event a celebration of the fair.”

One of the main attractions will be a concert featuring the Fab

Four, a Beatles cover band from Southern California, and the Pacific

Symphony Orchestra, playing three Beatles hits together.

“Normally, I don’t think an orchestra could play a county fair by

itself because that’s not the type of music people typically go to a

fair to hear,” said Christopher Trela, spokesman for the Pacific

Symphony Orchestra. “But the orchestra playing with the Fab Four

should be pretty amazing.”

While this is the first time the Pacific Symphony has played at

the Orange County Fair, it is not the first time it has performed

with the Fab Four. The two teamed for two concerts in February,

selling out both times.

“I think it’s going to be a great show,” Trela said. “I brought a

few hard-core Beatles fans to the show in February, and they were

amazed.”

The other principal feature of the preview will be a 10-minute

fireworks display, something new to the fair.

“To open the fair with a huge display of fireworks will be

spectacular,” fair General Manager Becky Bailey-Findley said.

The fireworks display is also a major reason the opening of this

year’s fair breaks with tradition.

“Typically our opening ceremonies of the fair have been on Friday

at 10 a.m.,” Beazley said. “But we decided to move them to the

evening after work, so more people could come out. We also wanted to

do fireworks, and that doesn’t really work at 10 a.m.”

Guests also will be treated to light hors d’oeuvres and wine

tastings for $1, in keeping with this year’s theme of “Jammin’ at the

Fair,” which celebrates the grape. In addition, someone will win two

tickets to all 21 of the fair’s concerts.

Beazley is very optimistic about the Taste of the Fair. He expects

3,000 to 4,000 people to attend. If all goes well, “this will be the

first annual Taste of the Fair,” he said.

The fair opens officially Friday at 10 a.m. and runs until August

1. Like last year, the fair will be closed on Mondays. During the

rest of the week, fairgoers can expect the familiar: All-Alaskan Pig

Races, off-beat foods contest, Golden Wedding Ceremonies and a host

of home and agricultural events.

* SIMON BROWN is a Daily Pilot intern.