{"id":468533,"date":"2026-09-19T01:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468533\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T01:18:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:18:51","slug":"best-of-orange-county-2026-best-fairs-and-festivals-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468533\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of Orange County 2026: Best fairs and festivals \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Each year, we ask Orange County Register readers to choose their favorite places to shop, dine, play and do business in OC.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the top picks for Best fairs and festivals:<\/p>\n<p>1. OC Fair<\/p>\n<p>88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa; 714-708-1500; <a href=\"https:\/\/ocfair.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ocfair.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey really like us,\u201d said OC Fair Communications Director Terry Moore, channeling her inner Sally Field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike\u201d is an understatement for the massive and massively popular OC Fair.<\/p>\n<p>From world-class music to slam-bang sports to carnival rides to old-fashioned county fair fare, OC has it all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really is the best summer celebration,\u201d Moore said of the 23-day annual OC \u201cGranddaddy\u201d event, which has been a summer centerpiece for 136 years, the last 77 at the 150-acre Costa Mesa Fair &amp; Event Center.<\/p>\n<p>Upwards of 1 million visitors attend the fair each year, to enjoy more than 80 shows across three venues ranging from headliners such as Willie Nelson, Nelly and John Fogerty at the Pacific Amphitheatre, to tribute acts at the Hangar.<\/p>\n<p>The Fair After Dark, with dancing and music at Plaza Pacifica, was introduced in 2025 on weekends and was extended throughout the week this year by popular demand.<\/p>\n<p>The carnival offers 65 rides, while 80 food concessionaires serve up a dizzying array of foods, including fried, well, anything. Want to try the deep-fried tiramisu, introduced this year? There is also a new kid\u2019s place, and assorted \u201cvalue bundles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also don\u2019t miss the OC Fair Sports Arena and its ever-growing list of demolition derbies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have something, we will crash it,\u201d Moore jokes.<\/p>\n<p>For those into old-timey fair affairs, about 15,000 entrants vie in competitions for best recipes, livestock and produce, from homegrown tomatoes to rutabaga.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you win a blue ribbon here, it\u2019s bragging rights for life,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n<p>Also see: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2026\/09\/16\/best-of-orange-county-2026-see-all-the-winners\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Best of Orange County 2026: See all the winners<\/a><\/p>\n<p>2. Festival of Arts\/Pageant of the Masters<\/p>\n<p>650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach; 800-487-3378; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foapom.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">foapom.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This was a \u201cGOAT\u201d year for the Festival of Arts\/Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, which remains a perennial favorite of art aficionados, festival-goers and \u201cbest of\u201d voters.<\/p>\n<p>With this year\u2019s theme of \u201cGreatest Of All-Time,\u201d the most \u201cLaguna\u201d of Laguna Beach events had another banner year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat makes our event truly special is the combination of a professionally juried fine art show alongside the Pageant of the Masters \u2014 a world-renowned theatrical production where art literally comes to life on stage. There\u2019s really nothing else like it anywhere in the world,\u201d said Marketing\/Public Relations Director Sharbie Higuchi.<\/p>\n<p>The famed pageant is a 90-minute show of volunteers posing to re-create master artworks.\u00a0This year\u2019s show, which runs from July into September annually, features Michelangelo, Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Rockwell and traditional closer, da Vinci\u2019s \u201cThe Last Supper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are also arts sales, exhibits and music.<\/p>\n<p>3. Orange International Street Fair<\/p>\n<p>Old Towne Orange; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optevents.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">orangestreetfair.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>From the inspiration of a town street fair in 1910, to its revitalization and formal founding in 1973, and into the current era, the Orange International Street Fair continues as a regional favorite.<\/p>\n<p>The event, which can draw upwards of 300,000 over the three-day Labor Day weekend, features music, culture and folk dance. And food, lots of food, from more than a dozen \u201cethnic streets,\u201d\u00a0 such as Greek, German, Irish, Italian, Mexican.<\/p>\n<p>Think of it as Epcot for the taste buds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s our final goodbye to summer,\u201d said Brian Lochrie of the Orange Plaza Board of Directors.<\/p>\n<p>Not only is the weekend event free to attend, but offered at no taxpayer cost. In fact, \u201cwe get a big bill from the city at the end,\u201d Lochrie said. \u201cAll the money goes to nonprofits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Local nonprofits, charities, churches and schools operate the \u201cstreets,\u201d which radiate from the Old Towne Plaza along Chapman\u00a0 Avenue and Glassell Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year, we ask Orange County Register readers to choose their favorite places to shop, dine, play and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,3372,5368,1404,184477,10,17455,17456,184476],"class_list":["post-468533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-costa-mesa","tag-fairs","tag-festival","tag-festival-of-arts-pageant-of-the-masters","tag-laguna-beach","tag-oc-fair","tag-orange-county-fair","tag-orange-international-street-fair"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468533","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=468533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}