The OC Fair, by the numbers

COSTA MESA - After 23 days and nights, the Orange County Fair has turned off the deep fryers, taken down the carnival rides and given out all the blue ribbons for its 119th year, which saw more than 1 million in attendance for the fourth time in five years.More than 9,400 people purchased the first-ever OC Fair Super Pass, a season pass which granted 23 days of admission plus other discounts, coupons and front-of-line access. Fair visitors enjoyed some 11,000 boxes of chocolate-covered bacon and 12,000 deep-friend zucchini weenies. More than 250,000 guests took a tour through the human brain with the world premiere of "Al's Brain: A 3D Journey Through the Human Brain starring 'Weird Al' Yankovic." Yankovic, incidentally, was born in Downey. Other numbers from the fair: •700 multi-layered jumbo Mexican funnel cakes were eaten and only two people met the challenge to consume one alone. •4,400 feet of jumbo pretzels were consumed while 13,200 giant blooming onions and 20,000 orders of Tasti Chips were devoured. •4,256 entrants submitted 13,925 entries which received 2,949 first place ribbons and more than $105,000 in cash awards. •258 livestock entries were sold at the Junior Livestock Auction, earning local youth more than $168,000. •38,096 people donated 32.6 tons of food, 17,166 new children's books, 3,884 new children's toys and thousands of school supplies for a community donation drive. •Born into the Centennial Farm this year were 24 piglets and two kids (goats). •Survey results showed that, on average, fairgoers made 2.7 visits to the Fair and averaged 5.5 hours per visit.

********** Published: August 14, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 17

NewsEric Pierce