Gov. Mike Dewine said on March 11, county fairs have the green light for the upcoming season. Those who fund and organize these fairs pushed for some answers by giving Dewine some advanced information on health and safety measures for these events. The measures include the following:
- Everyone will be required to wear masks at an event and follow social distancing guidelines as suggested by the CDC.
- Grandstand capacity must be at maximum 30% for outdoors and 25% for indoors.
“Each fair and animal exhibition shall designate an on-site compliance officer, for all hours of operation, whose responsibility is to ensure compliance with the Order.”
Fair Directors’ Order
Last year was hard for anyone who relied on fairs to make money. The Ohio Expo Center, for example, made $17 million in revenue in 2019 but saw only $3 million in revenue in 2020. This is all while operating with only seven employees.
The first fair up on the list is the Ohio Beef Expo, the first event at the Expo since March 2020. Organizers hope fairs like this will bring in some revenue that might get lost if the state fair does not have a good turnout.
Things are looking up as there will be some sense of normalcy with these fairs.