Good morning. October just clocked in, and the county answered with jets over Huntington, a pumpkin patch opening in Costa Mesa, and a food weekend that hops from Fashion Island to South Coast Plaza. If your weekend plan involves looking up, looking at a corn maze, or looking at a plate Geoffrey Zakarian put in front of you — you're covered. ☕

This week in OC: Pacific Airshow Huntington Beach launched in 2016. This weekend (Oct 2–4, 2026) is the 10th anniversary edition on the same stretch of sand near PCH and 1st Street. Ten years of beach bars, STEM labs, and four-plus hours of nonstop flying over the Pacific — not a runway show with a long wait for takeoff. The official site bills it as the largest airshow in the U.S. by attendance. Even if you're not buying a ticket, PCH and downtown HB run differently this weekend.

In today's Buzz:

— Kevin

Pacific Airshow turns 10 — on the sand in Huntington Beach. This is the weekend OC looks up. The 10th anniversary of Pacific Airshow lands Oct 2–4 on Huntington Beach — same iconic beachfront format, ticketed precinct on the sand, live commentary, kids zone, STEM lab, performer signing sessions. Even without a ticket, this is the weekend PCH and downtown HB turn into a different town — and the weekend to know which roads (and parking lots) to avoid.

Training noise started as early as Mon Sept 28; louder practice runs land Wed Sept 30 and Thu Oct 1. Plan for pets at home those days.

Here's what to know:

More: pacificairshowusa.com/faq · pacificairshowusa.com/the-airshow

Forward this to whoever still thinks airshows only happen in the desert.

Worth leaving the house for (Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4). Beachhead: HB carries the sky; Costa Mesa carries the fairgrounds + pumpkin open; Newport/Costa Mesa share Relish.

✈️ Pacific Airshow — Fri–Sun (Huntington Beach). The Big Thing. See above. ($) (Tickets) → pacificairshowusa.com

🎡 Saints Simon & Jude 60th Annual Fall Festival — Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4 (Huntington Beach). Classic parish festival at 20444 Magnolia St: carnival rides, games, food booths, live music, kids talent show (Sun 12:45pm), raffle with a $10,000 grand prize drawing Sun 8pm. Hours: Fri 5–10:30pm · Sat 2–10:30pm · Sun noon–9pm. Wear an old SSJ festival shirt → free 60th-anniversary keychain (100/day) at the raffle booth. ($) → ssj.org

🚚 Off-Road Expo — Sat Oct 3 & Sun Oct 4 (OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa). 27th year. Trophy trucks, 4x4s, overland builds, manufacturers, and Proving Grounds demos powered by King of the Hammers — both days. Show hours: Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 9am–5pm at 88 Fair Drive. Tickets at offroadexpo.com (prices go up on show days). ($) (Tickets) → offroadexpo.com

🍷 RELISH Food, Wine & Spirits — Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4 (Newport Beach + Costa Mesa). Year two of Jamie Gwen + Nicole Hirsty's chef-access weekend. Venues include VEA Newport Beach (Fri opening cocktail party), The Park Club Costa Mesa (Sat Culinary Icons Dinner with Geoffrey Zakarian, Scott Conant, Sherry Yard), and AnQi at Bloomingdale's South Coast Plaza. 21+. Check ThunderTix for what's still on sale — some sessions run steep. ($) (Tickets) → visitnewportbeach.com

🎃 Hana Field Pumpkin Patch opens — Sat Oct 3 (Costa Mesa). Opening-day tractor show + mullet contest. See Kids. ($) → tanakafarms.com/pages/hana-field

🍺 Still running: Oktoberfest at Old World Village (HB), Wed–Sun through Nov 8. ($) → oldworldhb.com

(Double-check times before you go — events move.)

Hana Field opens Saturday — and the first two weeks are the deal. Tanaka Farms' Costa Mesa pumpkin patch at 427 Anton Blvd (corner of Sunflower & Anton — not the Irvine Tanaka location) opens Sat Oct 3 through Nov 1. Hours Wed–Sun 9am–6pm (last entry 5pm). Oct 3–10 promo: $23/person every open day + free parking. After that: Wed/Thu $23, Fri–Sun $27; weekend parking $12/vehicle. Kids 2 & under free. Cashless. Jurassic Fright corn maze, barnyard (chickens, sheep, goats, cow, alpaca), flower field, pumpkins off the vine. Opening-day Oct 3: tractor show & mullet contest. Pumpkins & Pups Oct 10 (dog day — the normal animal ban doesn't apply that day).

This is the one I'd take my three to Saturday — new patch, opening-week price, and it's ten minutes from half of Costa Mesa. → tanakafarms.com/pages/hana-field

Pacific Airshow Kids Zone — Fri–Sun inside the ticketed precinct (HB). STEM lab + kids zone on the sand. Bring ear protection. Kids 3 & under free with a ticketed adult. ($) (Tickets) → pacificairshowusa.com/faq

Backups if Hana is slammed: Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch (reservations on weekends) · Tanaka Irvine still open through Nov 1.

Evergreen backups: free miniature train rides at Goat Hill Junction, Fairview Park (Costa Mesa) · Centennial Farm at the OC Fair & Event Center (free admission + parking — and the Buffalo Ranch silo/barn pieces live here; see Remember When) · Crystal Cove tide pools at low tide · Balboa Fun Zone Ferris wheel.

Anton Blvd grows a field. Hana Field (Tanaka Farms) is the seasonal open that matters this week — the first pumpkin patch of the fall that's in Costa Mesa proper, not a drive to Irvine. Opening-week pricing through Oct 10. See Kids.

The CAMP's mezcal patio is real now. Maleza — modern Mexican + mezcal from the Drift Palm Springs kitchen — is open at The CAMP, 2937 Bristol St. E 100, Costa Mesa. Chef Marco Arreguín / TMC Hospitality. Housemade tortillas, moles, salsas; raw bar (aguachile, tuna tostada); mezcal program; patio with the Gravity Windows open to the night. Lunch Wed–Sun 11am–4pm. Dinner Wed–Thu 5–9, Fri–Sun 5–10. Bar Sun/Wed 11am–10pm, Thu–Sat 11am–11pm. The patio is the point. → malezarestaurant.co/costa-mesa

Coming soon, one-liner: DICK'S House of Sport headed to Costa Mesa · Nēsos / The Nice Guy / Uchi still inbound on the Newport map.

Maleza — The CAMP, Costa Mesa (2937 Bristol St. E 100). Costa Mesa is the spotlight, The CAMP is the anti-mall walk everyone already does, and Maleza is the new reason to stay for dinner. Modern Mexican born inside the Drift hotel in Palm Springs, now its first standalone: housemade tortillas/moles/salsas, a raw bar, tacos, big plates, and a serious mezcal program. The patio does the work — ipe decking, fire torches, oversized windows that open the whole room outside.

The move: Off-Road Expo afternoon or Hana Field morning → walk The CAMP → dinner on the patio without leaving the city. Lunch Wed–Sun 11–4; dinner Wed–Thu 5–9, Fri–Sun 5–10. → malezarestaurant.co/costa-mesa

Round one and two did the greatest hits. Round three is the "wait, that's why it's called that" round — things you already hang out near and have never once questioned:

Next issue: Irvine (r2 — still owed since #7) or Seal Beach (r3). Reply and vote.

(angle this week: Gone But Not Forgotten)

There used to be buffalo on MacArthur.

In the mid-1950s, Kansas contractor Gene Clark leased about 115 acres from the Irvine Company on MacArthur Blvd — northeast of what's now MacArthur & Bonita Canyon in Newport. Truckloads of bison arrived in late 1954. The Newport Harbor Buffalo Ranch opened to the public as a drive-through Western attraction: a herd of buffalo (technically bison), Buffaloburgers at the silo window (55 cents), Porter's Western Store in a real barn, an Indian Village, and kids' rides. Staff included Chief Push Ma-Ta-Ha and Chief Geronimo III, a grandson of Geronimo (the plaque still names him). Knott's Berry Farm bought buffalo meat from the ranch twice a week.

Then the land got too valuable. By late 1959 the LA Times said the ranch would close; the herd had shrunk from over 100 to about 17. Buffalo shipped out around 1960. Architect William Pereira turned the barn/silo campus into Urbanus Square (1961) while he planned UC Irvine and the Irvine Ranch master plan — he liked barns. A later owner briefly brought four buffalo back in 1989; by 1994 the road realignment ended that too. Becky the bison went to Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds (and had a calf, Tatonka); the others went to a private ranch.

The kicker: stand at MacArthur & Bonita Canyon today and you'll find a life-size bronze buffalo and a plaque. The original barn and silo pieces were relocated to Centennial Farm — so the Fairgrounds (also this week's Off-Road Expo home, in Costa Mesa) still holds a piece of the ranch.

What vanished OC spot do you still miss? Hit reply — the best ones run right here.

That's the week. Look up on the sand in HB, take the kids to Hana Field before the opening-week deal ends, and drive past the bronze buffalo on MacArthur differently forever.

Three tiny favors:

1. Hit reply with the vanished OC spot you still miss (or any OC memory). I'm collecting for the reader-takeover issue.

2. Refer 2 friends with your link below and I'll send you the OC Insider's Guide (free). It's genuinely good.

3. Forward this to whoever is about to sit in Airshow traffic without a backup plan.

See you next week.

— Kevin

Want your OC business in front of these readers? This spot's open. Reply to this email and let's talk. → [email protected]