The month-long event—Wednesday through Sunday beginning July 14 to mid-August—will be themed “Happy Together,” to highlight “community inclusion” according to a recent statement from organizers.
This will be the third year the venue will mandate pre-purchasing tickets due to capacity limits of 45,000 daily instituted in 2020 due to COVID.
Tickets are available online including a new $60 “Every Day Passport,” which allows attendees unlimited entrance throughout the fair’s 23-day run. Early purchase of that option is recommended as passports are limited to 10,000.
According to officials, ticket prices increased this year by $1 for general admission—now $13 on Wednesdays and Thursdays—and $15 for Friday through Sunday.
Tickets for seniors 60 and up and children ages 6 to 13 are $9 all days. Parking is $12.
“There is no better way to celebrate summer than to be ‘Happy Together’ at the OC Fair,” said Orange County Fair CEO Michele Richards in a statement. “We’ve been working all year to once again bring the community together for all the special fun and goodness the OC Fair offers – food, rides, animals, entertainment, shopping, exhibits and more. We can’t wait for opening day on July 14!”
New festival hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday—whereas previous years ended at midnight nightly. Hours were changed to limit exposure time and crowd control measures this year, according to organizers.
Also staged at the fair’s Heroes Hall will be “Armed Only with a Camera: World War II” the photography of Stanley Troutman, who was one of the first American journalists to document nuclear fallout in Japan after World War II. The exhibit also includes the history of the Santa Ana Army Air Base. Admission to the exhibit will be free with fair entry.
