The oldie but goodie attraction spins until August 9.

When you see everyone walking down the streets of Orange County this Friday night holding an overwhelmingly oversized stuffed animal, don’t call 911 to report an FAO Schrwarz robbery, just buy your ticket.

Summer wouldn’t be complete without a fair and by the looks of it, this season will be in its entirety starting this weekend.

The Orange County Fair located in Costa Mesa, just a few blocks from Newport’s sandy shores, will be starting up their Ferris wheel and spooling cotton candy as of this Friday and they won't be stopping until August 9th. For a mere ten dollars you can get your fair share of typical Orange County fun. You know, marveling at the giant pumpkin grown on one of O.C.’s many farms and eating deep fried Twinkies, Krispy Creme chicken sandwiches and abnormally large turkey legs—delicacies so sophisticated that not even the finest beachfront restaurants dare put them on their menu. And then there’s the livestock. After all, you can’t spell the O.C. with out livestock. Summer just isn’t summer without the annual Barnyard Fashion Parade. Doesn’t every county have one of those?

The summer nights of ’09 just became a lot less listless thanks to this amazingly weird affair. And while I’m on the subject, Weird Al Yankovic will be leading all carnival goers on a mind-blowing journey through…his brain?

Notorious for being strange, the peculiar Yankovic filmed a 3-D movie and music video that takes viewers on a virtual tour through his bizarre brain. So if you’re at the fair and feeling a little out of sorts or just plain out-of-your-mind, take a cruise through someone else’s over at the Brainitorium.

After visiting the steers, winning a stuffed gorilla or two and eating fair food that is far from average after The Zipper, (and I cannot emphasize the order of the last two activities enough), head to the Pacific Amphitheater for a concert. This year, artists such as Duran Duran, Blondie, B-52’s, The Moody Blues, Black Eyed Peas, and America’s Idol, Kelly Clarkson, will be performing. You can also get your groove on to KC and the Sunshine Band or fly like an eagle with the Steve Miller Band. Whatever your music preference, the Orange County Fair is guaranteed to have a concert that will move your feet as thirty-eight other renowned artists are scheduled to perform.

And for those of you who still get a schools-out-summer-vacay, make sure to visit the fair on Thursdays because kids ages 12 and under get in for free. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, the fair is open from noon to midnight on weekdays and 10am to midnight on weekends.

The Orange County Fair is good, cheap fun, so if you already have something penned in for this Friday, don’t worry—you have an entire month to eat fried Oreos and watch the Pygmy competition. Happy fair-fun, Orange County!