The OC Fair Closes August 16 — Here's What We'd Prioritize
By Simir Shah
Updated August 9, 2026
Heads up — this one has passed
This post was about a dated event that has since ended. We've left it up for reference, but check the events calendar for what's on now.
Quick one this week: the OC Fair at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds closes for the season on August 16. If you've been meaning to go and haven't yet, this is the reminder.
It's open Wednesday through Sunday, and it's not cheap — figure around $13–15 for an adult ticket — but kids 5 and under get in free, which takes the sting out of it if you've got littles. The usual mix is there: carnival rides, the livestock barns (still our girls' favorite part, somehow), concerts, and fair food that's exactly as over-the-top as you'd expect.
One real tip
If you can swing a weekday morning instead of a weekend, do it — it's genuinely a different, calmer fair, and tickets tend to run cheaper than peak weekend pricing.
Still running after the fair closes
If you miss the window, the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach is open daily through August 30. It's a smaller, quieter thing — a woodsy village of artist booths — but the hands-on kids' workshops (glassblowing, ceramics) are worth the trip on their own, and it's about $10 for an adult with kids priced lower.
More of what's on right now is on the events calendar, and the festivals & fairs page tracks the rest of the season.
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