Continuing to fine tune the fair

Orange County Fair General Manager Becky Bailey-Findley, the fair

board and the staff are settling into a new skin of sorts this year.

This was the second year of a new fair schedule -- going from 17

days to a 21-day event, with Mondays off. It’s also the second year

of bringing the Pacific Amphitheatre more into the fair fold after an

eight-year hiatus. And officials have made important but subtler

changes in marketing entertainment and making the fairgrounds more

convenient for customers.

As the 112th Orange County Fair comes to a close today,

Bailey-Findley seems pleased with the fine tuning, especially coming

off last year. Many of the changes began under the cloud of an

auspicious start last year, when in separate incidents, only hours

apart, two woman were injured on the fair’s carnival rides.

Bailey-Findley and her staff are breathing a collective sigh of

relief this year. No major accidents have occurred, revenue and

attendance figures are up compared to last year and the governor

topped it all off with a visit Friday.

In the meantime, officials are planning for the future of the

event. Included in that future is a renovated Pacific Amphitheatre,

with construction scheduled to begin in October.

The Pilot’s Ryan Carter sat down and talked with Bailey-Findley

about this year’s fair and what could be in store for future events

on the state-owned fairgrounds.

What are your thoughts on how the fair has gone this year?

We’ve been very pleased with the results and how the fair has gone

from a couple of angles. For those of us who work on it all year, to

see some of the operational or logistical changes work gives you

satisfaction.

What I hear when I walk around in the grounds, from the vendors,

the entertainers, the people who are part of this little mini-city we

create, is that they say they see a lot of smiles on a lot of faces.

I guess that’s really the end result you are looking for -- that

people come, they enjoy themselves, and the variety of things you’ve

offered, whether it’s a fun retail experience or entertainment, the

rides or the food, that they have found something that’s enjoyable.

In the wake of last year’s incidents on the rides, were you guys

holding your breath, hoping that something like that would not happen

this year?

Sure. You know, there was a lot new last year. It was the first

year we did the 21 days. That was very different. It was the first

time we closed on Mondays. It was the first time in eight years we

had used the Pacific Amphitheatre, and the concert series last year

of a paid ticket was very new. There were so many additions to our

fair culture that last year, the whole year felt, I guess a word

could be, unsettled.

There is a certain rhythm you get into. You bring all these

different pieces together that aren’t necessarily with us all year.

And you have to make that into one unit and present it to the public.

So, this year, the rhythm is much more in place. Our customer is used

to the 21 days. They know about the Pacific Amphitheatre and the paid

ticket -- that the admission to a show there includes fair admission.

Ride safety is always something that we stress. We hire

independent ride inspectors. The state inspection team is involved.

The other concern that was top on our list, too, has been safety

after Sept. 11. We work closely with the sheriff and have our bag

inspections continuing. So we’re pleased that has proved effective as

well.

Has the fair been successful this year in terms of revenue,

vendors and ticket sales?

Quite honestly, they are exceeding our expectations, compared to

last year. At this point our turnstile -- our overall attendance --

is up about 6% or 7% as of Friday night. Revenue is up about 10% in

terms of admission. We have more paid attendance than last year. Food

and beverage revenue is up about 10%, and carnival revenue is up

about 20%. That’s really good. It means people are enjoying

themselves and probably have a little bit more money to spend this

year than they did last year. I don’t think it’s just Orange County

necessarily. Del Mar Fair in San Diego had a good run and their

revenue was up. It may just be a statewide trend we’re seeing.

Were there any features that made this year’s fair unique?

Internally we called this a year of refinement, of looking at our

responses from the patrons last year and looking at where we need to

refine and where we need to tailor our programs to meet their

expectations. We worked hard in a couple of areas, one was just in

customer convenience. I know that’s not a sexy answer, but shaded

seating, cleanliness, janitorial, more parking -- not a fancy answer

but in terms of guest experience, that’s important to us. The other

change was to try and provide as much value for your dollar once you

are in. So, for instance, the entertainment at Citizens Business Bank

Arena was refined. We changed some of the way we did our grounds

entertainment, bringing in some very spontaneous groups that start

performing at different areas on the grounds, not necessarily on a

specific stage. That helps create a fun, festive mood.

Was there anything missing this year, or even in recent years,

you’d like to see come back?

We’d like to bring in a very special exhibit of some kind,

something that is unique or not in this area. We don’t know what that

is yet, but that’s our goal next year, is to start trying to bring in

a very special exhibit or attraction. In the past, we did a Lucille

Ball exhibit, in 2002 we did a special Weird Al Yankovic exhibit that

corresponded to his performances. So we want to try to bring

something like that back, not necessarily something from pop culture,

but something perhaps from science, which could be educational.

One of the enjoyable things I’ve found about the fair is that it

does seem to entertain while holding on to its mission of promoting

California’s agricultural heritage. How do you maintain that?

First of all, it’s a huge commitment for us. Maintaining

Centennial Farm is an important part of who we are and our place in

this community. But it’s at least a half-a-million-dollar investment

for the staffing and the supplies. It’s a financial commitment and

philosophical commitment. It also is what keeps us unique in our

community. I think the public not only enjoys that, but they need it.

It’s a connection point for them, whether it is gardening, crops,

animals. We try to make sure the fair is for everyone. It also ties

into our heritage. Farming was how we all started in Orange County,

and there is a commitment by the fair board and the staff to also

uplift the heritage of our community. It’s a connecting point.

Is the fair changing?

The fair as the event will always evolve and change because it is

a reflection of its community and its different interests. I think we

have to stay connected to our roots, but you always have to have

something new. We laugh internally because we are sometimes

criticized because we don’t have anything new, but God forbid we get

rid of people’s favorite food stand. When we added the Amphitheatre

to the fair culture last year, that was something new. This year it’s

much better integrated into the fair culture. People are loving it.

Change happens, and just as in any community it’s not always accepted

readily, but it does happen.

What’s next for the fair? Tell me a little about the fair’s Master

Plan and why it’s important?

We’ve had a team working on finalizing drawings for the renovation

of the Pacific Amphitheatre. The goal is to make the Amphitheatre a

community jewel, so it can provide outdoor concert entertainment as

it has during the fair. But also, the renovation is also going to

make it very usable in smaller settings. We are also looking to build

a new exhibit hall.

Prior to this fair, we did some paving and created some parking

area down along Newport Boulevard. That has created about 700 new

spots down there. We’re also working with the city on a couple of

projects.

There’s been some talk about the state unloading the fair property

to save money? What do you think about that?

The fair board has not discussed this in any formality at all. We

know that there is a statewide look at the idea of selling surplus

property. Quite honestly, we don’t consider ourselves surplus because

we are very self-sufficient and continue to make improvements, and we

feel we are a pretty strong economic engine in our community and in

the county.

We have always talked, though, about looking for expansion

property. We’re a year-round event center, and some of our uses are

more community-based. For instance, if we wanted to have a summer

camp or even summer day camp, how do you do that when the whole month

of July is taken up by a fair? So we’ve looked at opportunities at El

Toro Marine Base to see if there are some opportunities for us to

enhance that with programming or move some of our programming there.

We’re not moving Centennial Farm.

Do you ever see the fair eclipsing the Los Angeles County Fair in

terms of attendance?

We’ve never really set our sights on that. Both fairs have very

different cultures. The Los Angeles County Fair is, in size, much

bigger. We’re a small fair, 155 acres. They are like 450 acres. The

compactness we like because there is energy and synergy that’s

created. But there comes a point when you get too many people on the

grounds. That’s why we went to the 21 days. You start spreading the

attendance.

Why or how is Costa Mesa an important site for the fair?

We’ve been here over 50 years. For many people, especially in

Costa Mesa, the fairgrounds provides their first job. It’s part of

what you do in the summer, you go to the fair. If you are one of our

neighbors, you are involved with us throughout the year because of

different events. It’s a part of what happens in Costa Mesa. We like

to be involved with the city. There’s tradition, there’s connection

in terms of being a good neighbor.