OC Fair Celebrates 125th Birthday With 'One Big Party'

COSTA MESA (CBSLA.com) — Deep-fried coffee and ice skating in July? It must be the opening day of the Orange County Fair.

The Orange County Fair opens Friday, celebrating its 125th birthday, with the theme "One Big Party" to mark the fair's quasquicentennial.

A staple of any county fair is the fried food fare, and the OC Fair has its fair share, including deep-fried birthday cake, the new deep-fried coffee and, for those counting calories – a deep-fried Slim Fast bar.

"I sampled it in San Diego and I was pleasantly surprised," the fair's Chief Executive Officer Kathy Kramer said.

Fairgoers will get a chance to ice skate and watch ice sculpting at the new "Fairenheit 32 Degrees," and see cowboys and cowgirls on horseback drive a hundred head of cattle through Costa Mesa to the fairgrounds on Aug. 8.

The fair drew 1.3 million visitors last year, about the same as in 2013. Kramer said she expects to top that because of the 125th anniversary.

The fair runs Wednesdays through Sundays until Aug. 16.

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