{"id":420138,"date":"2026-07-31T23:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420138\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T23:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:36:19","slug":"oc-fair-2026-winning-stuffed-animals-and-giving-to-children-in-need-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420138\/","title":{"rendered":"OC Fair 2026: Winning stuffed animals and giving to children in need \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a familiar sight at the OC Fair<\/a>: Children beaming, arms enclosed around oversized stuffed animals won after tossing a ring around a bottle or popping a water balloon.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s fair, which runs through Aug 16, is no different.<\/p>\n

The 2026 OC Fair<\/a> features 60 games on its carnival midway, said Ben Pickett, vice president of Ray Cammack Shows, the fair\u2019s longtime ride and game provider. The lineup includes fan favorites such as beer pong, balloon pop and water races where participants can shoot streams of water at moving targets.<\/p>\n

Up for grabs is a coveted collection of carnival prizes, always a barometer of current pop culture: Pok\u00e9mons, Highland cows and Hello Kittys, even the special edition variety in green dragon costumes. Or fun new prizes such as dumpling-shaped squishy toys \u2014 a viral trend this year, Pickett said.<\/p>\n

Last summer, visitors took home more than 430,000 prizes \u2014 enough to fill 78 semi trucks, Pickett said.<\/p>\n

For the first time, under the new OC Fair & Share program, fairgoers have the option to gift their winnings to children in need by dropping them off at collection bins near the fair exits.<\/p>\n

\"Marley<\/p>\n

Marley Catian, left, of Lakewood congratulates Ray Terrones of San Pedro after he won a giant capybara stuffed animal from a game booth during the opening day of the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fairgoers<\/p>\n

Fairgoers carry several stuffed game winnings as they walk to the parking lot after visiting the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fairgoers<\/p>\n

Fairgoers shoot water at targets as they play a water race game at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A collection box near an exit to the OC Fair offers fairgoers an opportunity to donate surplus game prizes under a new initiative between the fair and local Lions Clubs, collecting stuffed animals and other prizes for children in need, in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Stuffed<\/p>\n

Stuffed animal prizes, including Cookie Monster, Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, hang on a wall above a game booth at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fairgoers<\/p>\n

Fairgoers carry their stuffed game winnings as they walk through the fairgrounds at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A fairgoer shoots water at a target as she plays a water race game at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fairgoers<\/p>\n

Fairgoers shoot water at targets as they play a water race game at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A pile of donated prize winnings lay in a collection box at the OC Fair, where fairgoers have an opportunity to donate surplus game prizes under a new initiative between the fair and local Lions Clubs, collecting stuffed animals and other prizes for children in need, in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ezekiel<\/p>\n

Ezekiel Lich, 4, of Fontana plays in a splash pad on a hot day at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Stuffed<\/p>\n

Stuffed animal prizes hang on a wall above a game booth at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Barrett<\/p>\n

Barrett Brown of Mission Viejo wins a pair of stuffed gum ball machines for his two kids at the Ring-O-Bottle game at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A collection box near an exit to the OC Fair offers fairgoers an opportunity to donate surplus game prizes under a new initiative between the fair and local Lions Clubs, collecting stuffed animals and other prizes for children in need, in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 13<\/p>\n

Marley Catian, left, of Lakewood congratulates Ray Terrones of San Pedro after he won a giant capybara stuffed animal from a game booth during the opening day of the OC Fair in Costa Mesa on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe see it every year when people come and win stuffed animals,\u201d James Canfield, CEO of the OC Fair & Events Center, said. \u201cThey\u2019re carrying them out, and there\u2019s not enough space in the car, so they don\u2019t know what to do with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A half dozen Orange County Lions Clubs are coordinating the toy drive, said Jennifer Kelder, a member of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club who\u2019s leading the project. The other chapters include Costa Mesa Goat Hill, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Stanton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so excited the fair did that,\u201d Kelder said. \u201cI\u2019m not even quite sure what to expect. I\u2019m just excited we\u2019re able to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelder said she\u2019s planning on picking up the first two weeks\u2019 haul on Saturday, likely in a friend\u2019s truck. Fair organizers have told her to expect at least 1,000 toys, Kelder said, thanks to a donation from a group of YouTube content creators on opening weekend.<\/p>\n

The toys will be cleaned and distributed evenly among the participating Lions Clubs, Kelder said. Each group will then deliver the prizes to local nonprofits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a familiar sight at the OC Fair: Children beaming, arms enclosed around oversized stuffed animals won after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,3372,23,17455,611,136],"class_list":["post-420138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-costa-mesa","tag-local-news","tag-oc-fair","tag-orange-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}