California Mid-State Fair planning for summer opening
–The California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles is making plans for its annual festivities this summer. Last year the fair was canceled due to state COVID-19 restrictions.
“We are having discussions on what a 2021 fair might look like,” says fair spokesman Tom Keffury in an email to Paso Robles Daily News. “Safety is, of course, our first priority, but if we are allowed to host a fair in 2021, we will.”
“We are following the state’s color-coded guidelines, and should our county move into the yellow tier, at a date/time that would give us enough time to prepare, we would host the fair, with the yellow tier modifications in place,” he says.
“Governor Newsom has said there is no longer any scenario that a ‘green’ or ‘back to normal’ situation exists for California, so until he changes his mind, we have to move forward preparing for the yellow tier,” Keffury says.
“That being said, we are very confident that San Luis Obispo County is ready to get back to carnival rides, livestock, exhibits, corn dogs, live music and cold beer… done in a safe way,” he says. “We are certainly hopeful that this can happen in 2021!”
State guidelines say a county can enter the yellow tier when it has less than one new daily case per 100,000 population, and less than 2-percent COVID-19 test positivity rate. At that point, most indoor business operations are allowed with safety modifications
The fair has tentatively set the dates for the fair as July 21 to Aug. 1, 2021. No other details are available at this time.
The fairgrounds have been used, up until this week, as a San Luis Obispo County COVID-19 vaccine distribution site for residents 75-years-old and older. It is expected to re-open next week.
The fair first opened in 1946 and was then known as the San Luis Obispo County Fair. The California Mid-State Fair has been an annual local tradition held 12 days at the end of July. “The Biggest Little Fair Anywhere” has hosted several top names in the music industry, including Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Journey, Rod Stewart, Fergie, Justin Bieber, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Kenny Chesney. The fair is located at 2198 Riverside Avenue in Paso Robles.
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