Winter Fest OC at the Orange County Fair & Events Center
Winter Fest OC, at the OC Fair Grounds, is Orange County’s entry into the crowded but always fun Christmas activity scene. I am a huge fan of Christmas and all of the unique events it brings, so I try my best to go to every place near me that celebrates it and gets into the holiday spirit. Winter Fest OC feels like a Christmas fair with food, rides, shows and lots of fun light installations. I went in 2022, 2023 and 2024 (it is becoming a tradition) and had a blast with my family, meeting Santa, riding the ice tubing hill, and watching the tree lighting. Here is all the information on this fun holiday event.
Details
- 2024 cost, hours, and new attraction information are available here
- Runs till Jan 5th
- Cost: Ticket prices vary from $30+, and some attractions cost above that (such as ice skating). Parking is an additional $12
- Location: 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
- Check out my Instagram for a video on the visit.
Getting There
The event is located at the OC Fair & Events Center. As you get off the freeway there will be signs directing you where to park for the event.
Winter Fest OC
After paying for parking and finding a spot in the large lot, you will head over to pick up your tickets and enter the event. Right when you enter, you will be surrounded by Christmas trees and may experience some fake snow as you walk past the Winter Fest OC sign!
The lighting installations follow with light tunnels, lit-up ornaments, light up houses, and more. These light-up structures were one of the highlights for me, and they were all over the fairgrounds, especially in the Journey to the North Pole area. They are great for photos of the whole family.
Winter Fest OC basically takes over one of the parking areas for the OC Fair and Events Center, so there is a lot of space to spread out, and it feels like a big event.
Attractions
We had tickets that included the attractions, so here are a few of the things we did.
Snow tubing
Snow tubing was by far my favorite part. It was fast and a total blast to race your friends down the hill. I come back every year just to do this. I could honestly do this for hours!
Ferris Wheel
My kids love the Ferris Wheel, so we rode it here, and it gave an excellent high-up view of the event.
Ice Skating
Ice skating is always a blast and they had a good size ice rink here for you to skate around. You need to buy tickets for a specific time in advance.
The Christmas Light House
In 2024, they removed the previous tree lighting show and added a house that has thousands of lights on it and dances to the music. I thought this was a great addition as my kids loved sitting with some food and just watching the house “dance.”
North Pole Experience
The North Pole Experience is always an event highlight for us. They have tons of decorated areas for photos, a full train set with working trains and an area to write letters to Santa.
At the end they had a spot where you could take photos with Santa and some interactive games like throwing presents into a chimney. My kids loved both of these and I am glad they added them!
Snow Play
This was by far the highlight for my kids in 2024. They spent an hour here and probably could have spent the whole night there. They had two large snow areas for running around and making snowballs, a ride on tube experience and a small snow hill for toddlers. If you have young children this is almost worth the price of admission by itself.
Food
The event also has a bunch of fun food vendors ranging from kettle corn and turkey legs to chocolate chip cookies and curly fries. There is something for everyone and it feels like what you would see at a fair.
These are just a few things you can do at Winter Fest OC, and there are also many places to eat and many more attractions around the festival grounds. My family and I had a blast experiencing the event, and if you are in Orange County, it is worth checking out. Just note that it can be expensive if you have a large family and want to do many of the add on attractions but it is hard to beat finding a fun area for your kids to play in with real snow! Let me know what you think in the comments.
