OC Fair & Event Center Reviews

Swap meet is a bust these days. Seems 90 percent of the vendors are gone. Like a ghost town. Sad... used to be a fun place to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

It's a large Fairground and great place for big events with plenty parking and clean too. We had a great time at the Tet festival and celebration there!

Love going here always so many venders and things to choose from would love to see Black Flys sunglasses there but all they had was t-shirts and hats.

The sun glasses guy was selling Black flys but they were total fakes. So hopefully the real ones will make it to the swapmeet.

OC Fair & Event Grounds host all types of events throughout the year. Located in Costa Mesa right off the fifty five freeway. In the middle of July the fair comes to town and runs till the middle of August. The fair grounds has a swap meet that happens almost every weekend of the year, except when the fair is in town. Live shows are put on throughout the year at the amphitheater located on the fair grounds.

Here on vacation and this place is amazing. We had so much fun.

Super over priced, rides last 5 second and expensive. Most of the food vendors have bad customer service. Waste of money and time.

Organic Gardening Club meeting, had Fermentation Farm as speaker. Learned a lot.

OC Night Market Great place to try different foods.

Big place- a little confusing trying to find your way around but a good spot.

Visit Centennial Farm, see the cows get milked at 2:30PM everyday

Visited swap meet on my bday! Yummy foodies, awesome vendors. Still dreaming of those cutco knives.

I've been to the OC Fair on opening day for 25 years straight. The fair has gotten progressively more commercialized and less about OC. You still have locals baking cakes and raising livestock, but the majority of the fair is commercial endeavors from out of town. Even the local organizations that used to have booths have vanished.

Parking was a nightmare. City thought it was good to hold chargers practice at the same time.

It's a lot of fun although they did not have any rides for my 3 year old. Good food

Fun. Good food. Rides are so expensive for fair quality. Stores are plentiful.

Came here to see a model train expo with the family. Parking was close to the building and plenty of coverage from the rain.

We visited here for the first time yesterday, and while (overall) they did a really nice job hosting the OC Fair, they really screwed-up a few things.

First, maybe it's not "fair" putting this on the "Fair & Event Center."

Maybe it's just management of the fair, itself?

The concessions are a total rip-off. My wife and I had a hot-dog, some grilled mushrooms, and a lemonade, and it came to more than $40!? Talk about screwing a "captive audience" with few other options. Made at home, that would have been a $3 meal. There are (apparently) no restrictions on what vendors can charge. If you have a family, with kids, be prepared to take-out a loan.

Another thing that really rubbed me the wrong way, was that the first vendor we stopped-at sold us a "souvenir mug," claiming we could use it for discount soft-drinks the rest of the day.

Every other vendor, the rest of the day, told us they weren't aware of that - That they're "just souvenirs."

Clearly, nobody was policing (or penalizing) the vendors.

Another thing that was really annoying was that all of the "designated smoking areas" are outside the grounds, which wouldn't be a problem if you could get your hand stamped, and come back in, but the wait lines to get back in were upwards of 45 minutes.

Clearly, nobody thought that through.

Other than those (logistical? management?) problems, the grounds were well-maintained, and the events all seemed to go-off without a hitch.

They host many things, most popular (I believe) the OC Fair. The rides are cool, and my favorite is probably Alien Abduction, or Zero Gravity. But most of the rides will give some people motion sickness.

My favorite fair in southern cali, I'm looking forward to it starting back up again this coming month.

A very nice paradise for family to play with. They have zoos, botanical gardens, and festivals and special amusement parks. The toilet is also clean and tidy. The colored lights in the evening are very good, as well as the roller skating and indoor skiing, the children can sit on the air cushion and slide down the slide.

First year going! It was sooo much fun. Pro tip take cash I took $150 came back home with $30

Treasure Island is fun. LOVE the fair every summer.

OC Market Place great place great deals and the Fair is Awesome

The swap meet just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Sad this place used to be huge.

Great place. Many cool events there, just Google and check out their schedules and events. I've been to the fair there of course, the swap meet, the Gem show (if you like jewelry and or making jewelry don't miss this), the gun show, motorcycle races, big name concerts, the cool food trucks on Wednesday nights, and on and on . Check this place out. Literally something for everyone

I have been a fair folk for 20 yrs. And a smoker.. this year was so DISCRIMANATION against SMOKERS. Our money is just as good!! I should not have to walk to MY CAR then back to SECURITY to be told we don't allow smoking!! Loud .. I spent $400 single person.. won't EVER GO BACK

Had a great time at the fair. We took the shuttle from the parking garage they had. Which was such a bad idea. We were on the shuttle for almost an hour (5 min drive typically) so much congestion from traffic. There definitely was not enough shuttles running to cover all the people waiting. The line was so long. It was insane. Atleast we now know for next year. No shuttle. But the fair atleast was fun, good greasy food. Yummy desserts. Fun night besides parking.

Great way to spend your weekend, there's something you will enjoy there.

2 year old couldn't ride any of the baby rides there. She is just at 32" tall which allowed her to ride just 4 rides and those 4 were all the same. She couldn't even get on the Dumbo or teapot ride even with an adult, yet at SeaWorld and Knott's she can easily get on with an adult. Couldn't believe it and she was very disappointed, will go to Knott's instead from now on.

Went sand show on sat.Got there at 10:00 was in line to park for an hour and a half. T hey we're letting some people in closing and moving cones it was horrible. Won't be going next year .We spent about a 1000 dollars there .

It's so fun I'm actually going on Saturday witch is July 15

We got there pretty early for a concert so we were able to enjoy some of the amenities without the crowd.After the concert was a different story. Super busy at 10 p.m If crowds are not your thing,its best to go early.

I looooooove it for the scenery, entertainment, all the colorful rides and excellent choices of food............ Can't wait for The LA County Fair to Arrive Sept. 1, 2017

Awesome venue for concerts. We enjoyed the Michael McDonald, Chaka Chan concert here!

The 1st day of the fair is always FREE until 3pm love it had a fun time,also ride tickets are at a cheaper price

Recommend it, but come loaded with cash cause tickets go fast.

Family and I had fun today at the OC fair. Lots of food and lots of rides. Lots of different vendors trying to sell things. If you plan to eat bring lots of money price has gone up. Turkey legs are $15 this year. It was really good and so was the ginormous corn dog. $20 for 40 ticket rides pass was enough to satisfy the little ones. $5 souvenir cup with $3 refill was well worth it on a hot day like today. OC Fair 2017.

Prepare for crowds and a lot of walking. Its a lot nicer since the renovations.

Parking lot attendants need to be able to accept debit and credit cards

I always love the oc fair. I came here to see cirque du soleil and the parking went smooth and the show was great.

A fun place for the family
Opens from 11 am to 12 am
It is a group of sections
A section for the family with children's games
The farm section has pets that can be viewed and touched
The carnival section contains sweet and dangerous games
The shopping section and all stores and products
Plaza section
The life stock section includes shops, shows, pony rides, parrot, crocodile and snake watching
Entry is at a nominal price for adults who are not children and non-adults
Entry for children under 5 years and soldiers is free
Inside, each game has a price that varies according to the games and their severity
And in the middle there are games for carnivals with prizes ranging from 5 to 6 dollars, which equals 10 to 12 tickets
Diverse restaurants but make sure to ask before you get most of the pork
Spaced and clean bathrooms, places to rest and sit everywhere
Suitable for families and groups

Perfect way to end a day at the beach; Go walk around see all the attractions then get on the 91 when traffic and sun are way down

Petting zoo, fried twinkies, monster trucks, and squeaky roller coasters that feel like they're about to fall apart any second? COUNT ME IN! Weekend tickets were $14 :)

Very disappointed in the parking situation. There is no organization whatsoever and the signs are not helpful at all. It's basically one large traffic jam that goes in circles without any of the attendants giving any guidance or direction. Plenty of police presence in the streets but no help to the parking attendants. One of the attendants almost got hit by a car. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for an entire hour after exiting the freeway and with disorganized traffic that literally led us in circles. Needless to say we got frustrated and ended up going elsewhere. Very disappointed!

Always a good time at the OC Fair. Tons of great rides, good fair food but it's always over priced as is the beer.

It was not worth the $83.00 wich I paid on a Tuesday advertised for 60.00

They've some great food and all kinds of activities for adults and kids!

So fun but if you go get the unlimited wristband its gonna be woth it

Saw a Cirque du Soleil performance in their own traveling Big Top tent. Parking was surprisingly easy to get in and out of. Very convenient freeway access.

Great location in Costa Mesa. Swapmeet, OC County Fair, Cirque de Soliel, etx

Fun in but too crowded for my liking. Traffic in and out of Fair is a nightmare.

I loved The OC Fair. We want to come back next year.

Great family fun at oc fair in summer. Recommend before evenings for smaller crowds and loud guests. Use octa fair express to get a $4 ticket and no parking cost too!