Carolyn Lewis, the manager for the Fulton County Fair, released a statement Friday announcing the cancelation of the 2020 edition of the fair due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the full statement from Lewis below:
Due to the evolving COVID-19 situation and the impact it has on community health, the Fulton County Fair Board of Directors voted at a meeting last night to cancel the 2020 Fulton County Fair as it is normally held. We are 8 weeks out from the opening date.
The board of directors did not make this decision without a lot of discussion on what our options under the current circumstances are of limiting attendance and sanitizing all facilities after use, and maintaining social distancing, do the contact tracing that is required and have the financial support to meet the guidelines and have a traditional county fair. Sponsors provide a major portion of the expense to have a county fair. Carnivals are shut down and many do not plan to open this year.
Our hearts are heavy to not have the “Best Week of the Year” at the Fulton County Fair with our traditional events. We will miss our kids and families, our volunteers, our veterans and seniors and the help we get from our business community each night of the fair. The health and safety of our participants and our community is our highest priority. Our mission is to provide entertainment and education for the people of Fulton County and Northcentral Arkansas and Southern Missouri, but we must do so in a safe environment. Fair officials have been on conference calls with the Secretary of Agriculture, Arkansas Health Department, and Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission, Arkansas Fair Managers Association, the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, and our elected officials on our options with the current COVID-19 situation and have received daily updates from Governor Hutchinson.
In the next few weeks, we will be contacting our commercial exhibitors and sponsors with some options for fees that they paid for the 2020 fair.
We encourage everyone to join our Facebook page and check our website for updates in the coming weeks as we explore our options to have some events that are usually held at the fair before the summer is over.
We look forward to brighter and better days in 2021 when we can celebrate all that is exceptional about the Fulton County Fair and have our traditional week-long events. Stay safe and support each other.
#FairStrong
To visit the Fulton County Fair’s website, click here.
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