Orange County Fair promoters are hoping that rumors of the annual event’s death will be enough to save it.
“I do believe the awareness of the fair with the possible sale (of the fairgrounds) has been keeping the fair on people’s minds,” said Steven Beazley, chief executive of the OC Fair & Event Center. “That is helping to drive people to come out and enjoy it.”
The fair, which runs through Aug. 15, saw 49,134 people on its opening day on July 16. That was down 3% from a year earlier.
But fair officials said they expect attendance to pick up throughout its run, largely because of the schedule of performers at the Pacific Amphitheatre.
This year, organizers expect a record 1.1 million fairgoers, based on early demand. Last summer, during the worst of the downturn, the fair drew 1.07 million people, its second highest attendance.
The record for attendance was set in 2007 with 1.09 million visitors.
General admission is $10 and carnival rides cost extra. A season pass costs $30.
“The uncertainty of the fair seems to have caused people to feel like they have to get out there,” Beazley said. “We joke we should treat every year like the last because it raises the intensity and enjoyment.”
This year’s fair comes at a time of change for the OC Fair & Event Center, which is owned by the state and is being sold as a result of Sacramento’s budget issues.
The fairgrounds have been involved in a public tug-of-war between the state and the city of Costa Mesa that included two state-held auctions.
The fairgrounds now are set to be sold for $96 million to Costa Mesa-based Facilities Management West Inc., a group of business men who are hoping to increase the number of events at the fairgrounds.
Facilities Management West is buying the fairgrounds with the city of Costa Mesa.
The company originally lost in a state auction in January to Newport Beach-based developer Craig Realty Group’s $56.5 million bid. After the state declined the outlet mall developer’s offer, Facilities Manage-ment West came forward with its $96 million offer.
The city of Costa Mesa plans to lease the OC Fair & Event Center to Facilities Management West.
Under the terms of the deal, the state would receive a down payment of $20 million from the investor and payments for the next 40 years.
The city is set to receive nearly $1 million in rent annually during the lease with Facilities Management West.
The sale still requires approval from the state Legislature to be finalized.
The pending deal stands to preserve the fair—the future of which was put in doubt amid the auctions.
There are no plans to discontinue the fair, said Guy Lemmon, a spokesman for Facilities Management West and chief operating officer of Newport Beach-based Fait Family Trust, the key player behind the company.
The annual fair—the ninth largest in the nation—accounts for $17 million of the OC Fair & Event Center’s annual revenue and about half of its $2.5 million in yearly net profits.
The fairgrounds generates revenue from the fair, other events and the Orange County Market Place swap meet, which recently renewed its lease at a lower rent.
The fairgrounds are evolving to stay relevant and compete with the Great Park in Irvine, which is looking to attract similar events.
A 31,000-square-foot centerpiece building dubbed “the hangar” recently went up at the site.
“We introduced our new hangar building, which has tribute bands playing every night,” Beazley said.
The hangar building most recently was the site of the automobile auction held by Scottsdale-based Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. last month.
The OC Fair & Event Center landed Barrett-Jackson a year ago after spending $16 million to upgrade the fairgrounds.
It drew some 58,000 auto enthusiasts and others to the fairgrounds, kick-starting the OC Fair & Event Center’s new plan for the 150-acre site.
Barrett-Jackson is known for big auto auctions in Arizona, Las Vegas and South Florida. The Costa Mesa show is expected to be an annual event.
The auction is set to be the largest event at the fairgrounds besides the OC Fair, according to Beazley.
The event saw $15 million in sales, well above the $10 million originally estimated for the debut show.
Fairground officials have seen an increase in inquiries following the auction.
“Other events have started to contact us because they see that Barrett-Jackson is at our venue,” Beazley said. “It becomes a marquee event, which puts us on the map in terms of outside promoted events.”
Big Events
Big events are more profitable and hold the potential to double the site’s $28 million in annual revenue, according to fair officials.
Last year, fair officials took a gamble on a big project—the $2.5 million Al’s Brain project, a 10-minute, 3-D movie featuring comedian Weird Al Yankovic on a journey through the human brain.
When the exhibit is done here, it’s set to go up to the Western Washington State Fair and other festivals.
The fairgrounds’ operator is in early negotiations to ship the project out to the Shanghai Science Museum for a year stint in China.
Another draw is the Pacific Amphitheatre, an outdoor concert hall at the fairgrounds, which has seen a surge of ticket sales, according to officials.
The July 18 concert for Train drew a record 9,870 people, according to Beazley.
“It’s the most we’ve seen since the Pacific Amphitheatre reopened in 2003,” he said.
The concert venue was closed in the early 1990s after numerous noise complaints by nearby residents.
Facilities Management West wants to stage year-round concerts at the amphitheater, but says the group will work within court-imposed noise and parking restrictions. The agreement with surrounding residents only allows concerts during the fair’s run.
“I think we have a way to mitigate” noise and traffic, Lemmon said.
Facilities Management West plans to add events, ramp up marketing and build a conference center.
“Private enterprise has a better ability than a state agency to drive things on a profit motive. We’re going to take risks,” Lemmon said.
