COVID-19 won’t stop the next Manatee County Fair, officials say. But it could be different

The 105th Manatee County Fair will go on as scheduled in January, regardless of what the coronavirus pandemic looks like at the time, according to fair organizers.

That’s the pledge of fair officials at this point and it would take significant developments to change anyone’s mind, said Brian Williams, a fair director and a member of the Palmetto City Commission.

“That’s the direction we are moving and we are hoping everything will be down to where we are back to normal with no masks and no social distancing,” Williams said.

But there are contingencies, if needed.

“We are still planning, in fact we have about five different plans,” said Danny Alfonso, fair manager. “We just have to be ready to go with whatever it looks like in January, but we are making plans for a possible reduced vendor list to allow for social distancing spacing between them. There are a lot of things we are looking at.”

Alfonso has been visiting other fairs that were not canceled during the pandemic, as well as other large events. Williams said he returned with some solid ideas to ensure that the fair could indeed go on while ensuring public safety if there is still a pandemic.

“I think he’s developed some ideas that will work here in our county,” Williams said. “The main thing is we want to have our fair as it has always existed, but we have to have a backup plan. We are trying to vet it out and they are all good ideas.”

Williams was hesitant to share the specifics because decisions on which precautions will be taken will depend on what the environment is as opening day — the fair is set to run Jan. 14-24 — draws closer.

“We don’t want anything to be misconstrued and for people to think any one thing is the way it’s going to be at this point,” Williams said. “We’re still having meetings and it’s a work in progress.”

Williams reiterated the entire fair board and its directors want the fair to go on as scheduled.

“We were fortunate to get our fair in last year before everything happened and we’ll make sure this year that whatever we need to do to conform to public safety guidelines we are put under, we will do,” Williams said. “The main thing is that everybody wants this and I think everybody needs this.”

Alfonso will ultimately make the decision on whether the fair should be canceled. The fair board’s executive committee would review the decision and a full board meeting would be called for a final vote. Williams said no one believes that will happen and neither does Alfonso.

Alfonso did discuss one scenario under which the number of vendors could be reduced in order to provide social distancing spacing.

Alfonso said a lot of the regular vendors have not worked since March, “So we don’t know how many are still in business. Our sponsors that typically work with us, we aren’t sure how they are doing, so it’s not just one thing. There are a lot of different check marks that have to get done to move forward.”

But they are moving forward.

“It’s safe to say we have several plans in place and we are trying to put on the safest fair possible with all the necessary protocols, whatever they may be at the time,” he said. “That’s mainly the gist of it. We’ll have the safest fair possible and it all depends on where we are with COVID in January.”

Other significant events in Manatee County, like the DeSoto Grand Parade, were canceled earlier in the pandemic as infections in Manatee County spiked. Others, like the Bradenton Blues Festival, have been modified to account for COVID-19.

Palmetto and Bradenton will have to decide by Oct. 15 on whether the February Bradenton Area River Regatta will go on as planned.

A schedule of fair events have not yet been released. For more information visit manateecountyfair.com.

This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM.