Covid-19 Policy

Crawford County Fair COVID-19 Safety Plan

The safety of our guests, staff, and community is our number one priority. Please be aware of and follow our procedures as outlined below. When in doubt, mask up and maintain social distancing efforts.

Please:

• Stay home if you are sick.
• Know that there is an inherent risk of COVID-19 exposure in any public space where people are present. For the most part, it is an extremely contagious and airborne virus that is passed through our breathing.
• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently.
• Avoid close contact with others.
• Wear a mask when not able to social distance.
• Masks are required to enter the grounds.

The Crawford County Fair Association and the Crawford County Commissioners are pleased to bring agriculture, family fun, fair food, entertainment, and blue-ribbon livestock shows in a reduced schedule to you and your family this year. We understand that these are difficult times and there are many concerns about health and safety. Our team is working hard to reduce the impact of the coronavirus on our communities while preparing for the upcoming fair. The County Fair officials and the commissioners continue to be in constant contact with state and county health officials to ensure the safety of attendees and participants.

The following procedures have been set in place to create a safe environment for our fairgoers, volunteers, vendors, and employees, during the Fair:

• The presale of advanced tickets at the Fair Office has been canceled. All fairgoers/vendors/others will be admitted free of charge this year as the fair is largely reduced in scope. Campers, vendors, and exhibitors will be given directions on the revised procedures in June and this will be available on the Fair’s website.
• Training programs have been provided to volunteers and employees instructing them on how to stay safe and keep fairgoers safe. Hand sanitation and handwashing stations have been installed in multiple locations around the Fairgrounds.
• All Employees and volunteers will be instructed to wear face coverings, as appropriate, per CDC guidelines.
• Fairgoers will be required to wear face coverings at all times when not eating or drinking.
• All vendors are required to operate in a “touch-free” environment with single packets of condiments available, sneeze guards, efforts to maintain social distancing of all customers.
• The monitoring of individual staff health will be performed at the beginning of each shift.
• Fairgoers, volunteers, and employees who have been diagnosed or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 will be prohibited from entering the premises.
• Informative signage will be posted at entrances and throughout the fairgrounds to remind fairgoers to adhere to the guidelines provided by the CDC.
• Building entrances and exit points will be established and marked. Fairgoers will adhere to foot traffic instructions to minimize close contact with others.
• Employees and volunteers will be required to monitor guests to enforce social distancing and prevent gatherings.
• Fairgoers will be instructed to frequently utilize sanitation stations that are located throughout the grounds.
• All commercial vendors will be required to wear facial coverings the entire time of the event in compliance with the guidelines that are in place.
• Employees/vendors are required to clean and sanitize all contact surfaces between performances throughout the grounds.
• All high touch areas must under (as applicable) go a deep cleaning and sanitizing procedure prior to opening. This process is repeated throughout the Fair.
• In addition, all high touch areas are sanitized at regular intervals during each day’s operation.
• The usual entertainment areas are being “revamped” into outdoor spaces as appropriate.
• National touring concerts have been eliminated to avoid large crowds in one venue.
• Each entertainment venue will have a specified capacity limitation that will be enforced for each show performance.
• Seating areas throughout the fairgrounds are reconfigured to promote social distancing.
• Anywhere there is the potential for people to stand in a line, queuing instructions (i.e. signage) and devices shall be used to instruct patrons to maintain safe distances from one another.
• New procedures have been implemented to increase cleaning and sanitization frequency.
• The First Aid Station is equipped with an isolation space as well as the trained staff to deal with those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
• Food service areas will adhere to the guidelines set forth by the CDC for restaurants and dining services.

How the Fairgrounds differ from other venues:

Unlike other venues for large gatherings, such as sports arenas or stadiums, the Crawford County Fairgrounds is differentiable along the following lines:

1. The Fair can manage and reduce capacity at more than 30 different physical locations or points on the grounds to allow for appropriate social distancing.
2. Most of the reduced fair’s grounds entertainment for 2021 is outdoors.
3. Fairgrounds dining will occur outside.
4. Exposure time between non-same-household sheltering family members is somewhat limited and is completely controllable by the fair’s guests themselves.
5. The fair’s buildings include several fully enclosed exhibit halls with increased airflow systems.
6. Based on prior surveys, nearly 80% of the fair’s attendance is made up of families who live in the same home and thus do not need to be physically distanced from each other.
7. The fair’s guests freely move throughout the outdoor portion of the fairgrounds as opposed to sitting in a single location for an extended period of time. The buildings, barns, and tents will be set up for appropriate social distancing.
8. The Fair is dependent upon the weather. If bad weather occurs, the Fairgrounds will be evacuated and crowds will not be permitted to congregate in large
   groups.

The principles and considerations outlined in this document were compiled with information from other fairs, outdoor attractions, amusement, agriculture, livestock exposition, food service, and commercial vendor industry trade associations including the Pennsylvania State and County Fair Reopening Plan, the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE), Outdoor Amusement Business Association (OABA), National Independent Concessionaires Association (NICA) and International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), among other state and county sources.

As we get closer to the opening day of the “August 21-28” reduced fair, we will continue to work with health officials to set protocols based on the most recent COVID-19 modeling and data. To learn about the most up-to-date COVID-19 information, please visit the CDC website.