College Baseball: college action begins in January and continues through until June each year. There are a number of area teams to choose from, if you’re considering taking in a game during your visit.

Santa Ana Artists Village Open House: on the first Saturday of each month there’s an Artists Village Open House held in nearby Santa Ana, which is open to the public. This event that attracts up to 1,500 visitors from around Orange County, who tour more than 150 art galleries and studios participating in the open house.

African Heritage Festival: is a good chance to enjoy African-American foods and learn more about ethnic arts and crafts. This annual celebration of African and African-American cultures is held in Long Beach, at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Lincoln Celebration Historical Re-enactment: at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, an annual event is hosted in February that focuses on the events around the signing of important documents by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

Annual Festival of the Whales: a pancake breakfast, art fest and carnival are all on offer as coastal residents celebrate the annual Festival of the Whales.

Return of the Swallows: every year in March, swallows return to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano in force. To celebrate their return, the local residents hold a festival, at which you’ll find plenty of food and entertainment as well as arts and crafts displays.

Major League Baseball: the yearly professional baseball season begins in April and is considered by fans country-wide to be the beginning of spring. You have a choice of major league teams in the greater Los Angeles area, there’s the local Anaheim team, known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres.

Fabulous Fords Forever Car Show: Knott’s Berry Farm is the venue for this event that has been drawing Ford enthusiasts here for two decades. At the attraction’s Independence Hall parking area you’ll find hundreds of Ford Mustangs and other classic models looking showroom-fresh.

America’s Family Pet Expo: just about every type of animal that could be considered as a pet appears at this Expo. You’ll see a myriad of cats, dogs, birds and fish, goats, llamas and pot-bellied pigs.

Anaheim Children’s Art Festival: is a day-long event that’s been held for ten years at the Center Street Promenade. It was founded by the Anaheim Arts Council and features art projects for children to try in booths staffed by helpful and creative artists and craftspeople.

Cinco de Mayo: is an important Mexican holiday and is celebrated in many parts of the US. The celebrations here are held on the first weekend in May, featuring a full day of festivities marking the Battle at Puebla when Mexican militias successfully defeated invading French forces.

Flower and Garden Festival: in mid-June, the Tree of Life Nursery brings in special exhibits on native plant life and local artists hold demonstrations. There’s a unique children’s garden created for the festival as well.

Taste of Anaheim: a growing number of restaurants participate in this annual culinary tradition. Each year, this event not only gets bigger, but tastier as well as the Center Street Promenade fills with vendors of foods of all sorts.

Summer Food and Wine Festival: samples from the menus of more than 30 highly-rated restaurants from the South Coast Plaza are available for tasting at this special event held on a weeknight in June. Along with the mouth-watering cuisine is a selection of fine California wines for tasting.

The Orange County Fair: takes place throughout the month of July and is held on a 160-acre facility. County fairs are an old-fashioned American tradition and filled with shows and entertainment, games, rides and agricultural competitions.

Anaheim Hills Fourth of July Festival and Parade: this event has been held annually since 1978 at Peralta Park and features a number of fun events: a breakfast, both a 5K and a 10K run or walk, a parade, and a dog show. There is plenty of food as well as game booths and all kinds of entertainment. A spectacular night-time display of fireworks caps off the festival.

Fiesta Street Fair: San Clemente is the venue for this fiesta that features food, games, live music and a Salsa Challenge. The day is organised for family fun and its continued annual success has shown that it delivers on the promise.

College Football: college football is probably as popular as the professional version of the sport. The season begins with the start of the college and university year in September and all of the region’s educational institutions have teams playing in a variety of leagues.

Taste of Newport: Fashion Island in Newport is the venue for this well-attended annual three-day extravaganza of eating and wine tasting. Over 30 restaurants and 15 wineries take part and there’s plenty of live entertainment to make this even more festive.

Anaheim Fall Festival and Halloween Parade: local residents celebrate Halloween with a parade along Harbor Boulevard, as well as a number of other activities that are geared to keep everyone busy and entertained all day. A pancake breakfast at Pearson Park in the early morning starts the day off before the art contest winners are announced. This is followed by a costume contest and a parade. You’ll have the chance to enjoy roving entertainers and dance performances, a variety of foods, a kiddie carnival and a petting zoo.

Calabasas Pumpkin Festival: this annual harvest-time event makes for a fun-filled weekend for the family with the pumpkin taking centre stage. The festival is held at the Paramount Ranch and features entertainment, food and games, all around a pumpkin theme.

Holiday Trees at Richard Nixon Library: the presidential library in Yorba Linda is the venue for this display of decorated holiday trees. On the first weekend of November each year, visitors can see beautifully-decorated trees that include the presidential tree, the first lady’s tree and a tree honouring Orange County soldiers who died in the Vietnam War – known as the Hometown Heroes Evergreen.

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade: over 200 boats decorated for the Christmas holidays cruise around Newport Harbor for a week before Christmas. This is longest-running and largest marine parade of its kind in southern California.

Nutcracker Festival: the very popular, ‘Nutcracker’ is performed at the Center Street Promenade on the first Saturday in December. There’s a festival that’s held in conjunction with the event, drawing visitors from all over the region to this traditional celebration of the season.