OC Fair 2026 begins 23-day with thrills, competitions and goats

Meatball and Juniper, a pair of 5-year-old Boer goats, were happily munching on hay as they awaited their turn to compete in an obstacle course race on the opening day of the 2026 OC Fair.

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Their handler, Shelmarie Main, said both goats placed on the podium last year, but winning is hardly the point. The fair’s various livestock programs and judging contests, which continue throughout its 23-day run, help nurture a new generation of young farmers and honor the county’s ranching history, she said.

“They’re part of what’s keeping the legacy of ag alive,” said Main, founder of the nonprofit Legacy Barn, which operates out of Tanaka Farms. “This is what it used to be like in Orange County.”

Whether it’s to wander the livestock barn or play games on the nearby midway, the OC Fair is expected to draw more than 1 million visitors through Aug. 16.

This year’s theme is “Your Adventure Awaits!” and many of the fair’s early visitors after its 11 a.m. opening Friday morning understood the assignment.

Brothers Parker, 9, and Jackson, 8, began their adventure on the fair’s new attraction: the Air Raid, a towering rollercoaster that spins riders at forces up to 4 times the Earth’s gravity.

“It was super fun,” gushed Parker after he came off the ride. “At first I thought it was nothing …”

Jackson interrupted excitedly: “Then you felt like you’re going to fall!”

Steph Simusa, an actor from Minnesota who’s in town to perform at the OC Improv Fest, was enthralled by the “REWIND: VHS Comeback” exhibit, which pays tribute to old movies with hand-painted replicas of vintage posters, soundtrack displays and more. Simusa said he was particularly impressed by the reproductions of movie set pieces, such as the neon dance floor from “Saturday Night Fever” and the iconic bow from “Titanic.”

“I thought they did a really good job,” Simusa said.

Pro tip: Located in the Huntington Beach Building off the fairground’s Main Mall, the exhibit is great to save for the hotter part of the day — the building is air conditioned.

An after-dark dance party introduced last year returns to the Plaza Pacifica — every night this year instead of just three times a week. Fairgoers will be able to enjoy live karaoke and learn how to swing and line dance.

Yvonne Winter, the 1955 OC Fair Queen, attended the opening day flag-raising ceremony at the Hangar. Winter, who won the pageant when she was 16, recalled the fair being much smaller and more agricultural.

She also remembers participating in the baking and weaving competitions with her mother, who once made a king-size bed cover with 17 miles of thread, she said.

Her anointment as fair queen led to a brief stint in Hollywood: newspaper coverage of the pageant caught the attention of legendary film producer Howard Hughes, who signed Winter to his RKO Studio.

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Winter said she still visits the fair each year; these days, since she as begun to grow her own food at home, she’s most drawn to the gardening exhibits, she said.

“After all I’ve done, I just want to be around love and kindness,” said Winter, 87. “That’s what the fair is.”

This year’s Miss Orange County said she is excited to share with fairgoers what might be an unexpected interest. Lainie Shield, 20, of Huntington Beach, has been collecting law enforcement challenge coins since she joined the Huntington Beach Police Department’s student police explorer program roughly five years ago.

“Each coin represents a different place that I’ve been or a different person that I’ve met,” Shield said of the collection that is displayed among the various contest entries.

Shield has sourced her collection from across the nation, trading coins with family, friends and others in her department, from weathered veterans to up-and-coming officers, she said. Some coins, like the first she ever received, commemorate her participation in a series of law enforcement training challenges, she said. Others represent a cause that the pageant queen supports, such as the one she received for her contribution to the Matt Ward Exploring On Association, which provides financial assistance to student police explorers.

Among her collection of nearly 40 coins, one holds a particularly special memory — her SWAT coin from the Costa Mesa Police Department, where she now works.

“It was (from) the police sergeant who hired me on at the department I’m at now,” Shield said. “I had commented on his coin collection, how I thought it was really cool, and he just handed me a coin of his. He didn’t ask for a trade or anything. That was the start of my paid employee journey in law enforcement.”

For first-time contest participant Roxane Harberts, 85, of Huntington Beach, the craft competition shed a new light on the beauty of the art form, she said. Looking at her piece — a vibrant nature scene with intricately sewn animals — on display with other entries, Harberts said it’s the first time she’s really admired her craftsmanship.

“I like to do all kinds of quilting styles,” she said. “The comfort (quilting) provides, the peace of creating — you just get lost in your own little world.”

Harberts said she hails from a family of quilters — she learned from her aunts, uncles and mother many years prior — but she didn’t make the hobby her own until she created her first quilt for her granddaughter. Twenty-six years later, this is the first project Harberts has submitted to a competition. The quilt took Harberts roughly four years.

What to know if you go

Hours: The fair is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Cost: General admission is $13 on Wednesdays and Thursdays and $18 on other days; seniors pay $10 and children $9. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Daily attendance is capped at 55,000 people, and many days are expected to sell out.

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Location: The OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Information: ocfair.com