 |
||||
In This Issue: The Youth Expo Experience; OC Fair 2012; Winter Events Calendar; New "Fairing Well" Blog; Capital Improvements; A Message from the President & CEO The Youth Expo Experience 2012 In its 32nd year, the Youth Expo Experience, themed “Ewe Rock!” will feature a mix of the annual school projects and exhibits with new competitions and showcases. The free 3-day event is April 13-15, 2012.
Returning competitions include the School Projects, Lil’ Sprouts Jr. Farm & Garden Contest, Orange County Science & Engineering Fair, 4-H livestock and small animal competitions, Home Builders Council (HBC) Design/Build Competition and the Girl Scouts’ GIRLtopia Contest. Entry registration for most competitions is due by March 26. Competition guides and materials are available online at ocfair.com/youthexpo. Other family-friendly activities include the Centennial Farm gardens and animal pens, milking demonstrations, oxen team demonstrations, hands-on arts and crafts, hay rides, Bug Barn, “Thank a Farmer Magic Show,” Gale Webb’s Extreme Sports & Air Show, Wild Science hands-on exhibits, blacksmith and leather-making demonstrations, a worm farm, petting zoo, butter-making demonstrations, a play zone for small children and free family entertainment all day. Youth Expo is open Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free all three days and many activities are free of charge. Parking is $5 on Saturday and Sunday and Friday is Field Trip Day, when schools are encouraged to attend as a group. For more information about Youth Expo, visit ocfair.com/youthexpo. The 2012 OC Fair is “Home Sweet Home” July 13-August 12
Fairgoers are invited to enjoy all the comforts of “home” with their favorite Fair foods, carnival rides, competitive entries, livestock exhibits, headline music performances and more. Applications for the Commercial Exhibits & Food Concessions or Community Entertainment programs are now being accepted online. The Commercial & Concessions Program oversees all the tasty food and beverage vendors in addition to all those intriguing commercial sales booths – including the latest must-have knives, vegetable choppers and more. The OC Fair looks to offer Fairgoers a variety of food and shopping options through a competitive commercial and concessions program and vendors interested in reaching more than 1.4 million people are invited to submit an online application for consideration at ocfair.com/vendors. (Submission of an application does not guarantee space at the 2012 OC Fair.) Larger vendors, such as spa companies and promotional companies are welcome to apply for the Premium Space, Sponsorship or Mobile Marketing programs. Information is available online at ocfair.com. The Community Entertainment Program oversees all the free-with-Fair-admission entertainment including the adorable children’s dance groups, senior performance troupes, exciting acrobatic and martial arts groups, rocking local bands and colorful roaming entertainment. Local performers and groups interested in performing at the 2012 Fair can download an application for consideration at ocfair.com/entertainment. Applications are due by March 2. (Submission of an application does not guarantee a performance date or time at the 2012 OC Fair.) In addition to food, shopping and entertainment, Fairgoers also come “home” to compete and enjoy the various competitive entries on display at the Fair. Available competitions are from the traditional - best cakes and quilts - all the way to the most-innovative mixed media masterpieces. Competition Guides and details will be made available at ocfair.com/competitions around the end of March. The 2011 OC Fair welcomed a record-setting 1,400,280 Fairgoers and earned a No. 1 ranking by Los Angeles Times readers and a No. 7 spot in attendance for fairs and large festivals in North America (as reported by industry news provider CarnivalWarehouse.com). The 2012 OC Fair is July 13-August 12 and is open Wednesday-Sunday. For more information, visit ocfair.com/thefair. OC Fair & Event Center Winter 2012 Event Calendar
For the business professional, OCFEC will once again welcome Orange County's Largest Mixer® IX on March 21, when more than 300 exhibitors will converge for this “mega business expo and mixer.” For the $20 admission, attendees can mix, mingle and network with local businesses, chambers of commerce, business groups and other professionals at this “part expo and part business social event.” Event is open 5-9 p.m. Here are other events being held through March at OCFEC: January
February
March
In addition to a variety of winter events, visitors to OCFEC can also enjoy these events weekly:
Events, pricing and hours are subject to change. Please visit ocfair.com for the latest information. If you are an event promoter or are looking for a unique place to hold your next private event, check out OCFEC’s diverse outdoor and indoor facilities. For a specialized pricing quote for your event needs and desired dates, please submit a “Book An Event” online form today at ocfair.com under Facilities Information. New Fairing Well Blog Invites the Community to Comment & Engage The OC Fair & Event Center is making a commitment to engage with all its audiences. This past November, OCFEC made its first steps to fulfill this commitment with the launch of its new blog, Fairing Well.
Fairing Well readers and followers are invited to comment on the various blog posts. Additionally, the public can subscribe to receive alerts on any new posts to the blog. Visit ocfair.com/blog to read and comment on the new Fairing Well blog. OCFEC Proceeds on Master Plan with
At this past September Board of Directors meeting, renovations of the Main Mall, located at the heart of the property, were approved to proceed as part of the 2003 Master Plan. Approved renovations included the addition of structural steel elements and lighting and landscaping at an estimated cost of $2 million. As the central thoroughfare of the property including The Hangar and the four main exhibit buildings, Main Mall is a central element of the 2003 Master Plan, which included transforming this pedestrian mall into a scenic promenade that celebrates the property’s history as part of the Santa Ana Air Base. This phase of the renovations is expected to run from November 1, 2011 to April 1, 2012. Since beginning the major renovations, crews have removed the grassy center of Main Mall and added drainage solutions, utility infrastructure, garden wall pilasters and the decorative concrete band walkway and pavers on the east side. Next, crews will extend the grade and continue paving to finish another third of the Main Mall area. In addition to the Main Mall renovations, crews have also been focused on the Lot D Tree Line Improvement project which is in the final phase of completion as OC Fair & Event Center landscape crews plant a combination of white roses and lemon wave flax plants as a hedge around the new twin palm trees in the parking islands. Crews have recently completed these other capital improvement projects:
A Message from the President & CEO 2012 — Year of Change?
With the year only several days old, I have either been part of or listened to conversations about 2012 being the year of change. Is there some sort of external reality to this perspective or is it a top-of-mind topic of those ready to instigate and embrace change? Either way, it seems “change is in the air.” In 2012, the OC Fair, for all its past, tradition and history, will be no stranger to change. Be it 2002, 2012 or 2022, the success of the OC Fair will always rest on its ability to change with the times and with our community and its evolving interests. In its now 122-year history in 2012, the OC Fair is better described as a relay race rather than a marathon. It is not a long-distance run, but a series of shorter, communal bursts of baton carrying and passing … it is what makes the OC Fair so special, its generational nature. My grandmother started working at the Fair in 1952 and invited me to work the summer of 1975, at age 12, and in a sense, passed on the Fair tradition to me within our family. She retired in 1982 and I took over the mantle of our family’s Fair representative, which means between she and I, our family has been involved in the Fair for 60 years in 2012. A nice (relay) run. I have encountered countless people whose family has been involved for generations as well. Employee, exhibitor and Fairgoer as mothers, fathers, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren alike, have handed down the tradition of their participation and/or patronage of the Fair. So many stories exist in our community of Fair involvement through the years. So the New Year is here. What new stories will be created in 2012? What new traditions, new experiences and new introductions will the OC Fair serve as the backdrop for? That is the single most exciting aspect of the OC Fair, its capacity, accommodation and even encouragement for evolutionary change in service of the new. Is 2012 the year of change for the OC Fair? Absolutely, and every year after that as well, if the OC Fair stays true to form. And true to form is change as the only true constant in life. While eleven was heaven true, in twelve we delve anew. |
| |||
