A Recap of The First Ever BIG ADVENTURE Festival Held in Orange County!

For 48 hours (Nov 3 & 4), the Orange County fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California were turned into a music, comedy, cosplay, gaming, sci fi, fantasy, comic con festival called Big Adventure. Hosted by Alt 98.7 (LA’s new alternative station) this cosmic wonderland was attended by people of all ages. Since it was on the OC fairgrounds, many of the fair food stands were open for business throughout the festival. Of course beer stands and major liquor sponsors were in attendance too.

Many festival goers were dressed up in costumes cosplaying their favorite Marvel, Anime and other characters.

Just next to the festival entrance, an exhibition hall was packed with pop culture art, booths filled with clothing, hats, pins, toys and other comic book themed paraphernalia. Along with all this, there was also tabletop gaming.

Once outside this space, music was heard coming from two main stages and the official Alt 98.7 DJ area. The majority of the entertainment took place outside in an airplane hangar called The Hangar Stage and on a indoor stage called The Adventure Stage. There was also the Artist Alley Stage where all the comic book panels were held.

Across from the pop culture area, there was another space for old school arcade games like Mortal Kombat, The Simpson’s and more. This section of the festival was hosted by Machinima.

During the afternoons, a variety of comedians could be seen performing on The Hangar Stage. A few of the comics that brought their stand-up routines to Big Adventure were Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal, Jim Jefferies, Natasha Leggero, Ron Funches, Rhys Darby, Maria Bamford and many others. Marcella Arguello hosted these hilarious comedians.

At another part of the festival grounds, entertainment and comic book panels were going on. Festival goers could enjoy the panels Wrecked, American Satan, Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, Nerdin’ Out, Superfight LIVE!, Stan Against Evil, Image Comics Presents: Breaking Into Comics, Music Influencing Comics and several others.

As far as the music goes, the line-up for Big Adventure was stacked with heavy hitters of all kinds of genres. Once the sun started going down on Saturday night, the bands Nvdes, Echos, Phantogram and then finally Empire of The Sun wrapped up the shows on The Hangar Stage. Meanwhile, DJs were still blasting the tunes over on the Adventure Stage until at least midnight. Sunday night saw the groups Party Nails, Allie X and the alt-rock bands Cold War Kids and Modest Mouse closed out the festival.

In its inaugural year, Big Adventure is sure to be a can’t miss Southern Californian festival for years to come!

Learn more about Big Adventure here- https://bigadventurefest.com/