MontanaFair Will Go On!

Montana Fair will go on despite the challenges of social distancing and keeping everything safe and clean as required in mitigating impacts of COVID-19-–that is the commitment of Metra Park and the county commissioners.

Montana Fair is planned for its normal annual dates, August 7-15, although the event may have to be scaled back some to meet the regulations being imposed by health officials.

It depends on the phase of the easing of restrictions. Metra Park Manager Bill Dutcher is hoping that the threat of the virus will have diminished enough that Phase Two restrictions will be in force.

Tim Goodridge, Metra Park assistant manager, reported to the Metra Park Advisory Board on Tuesday that in their planning they are working closely with County Health Officer John Felton to get his approval for each aspect of their plans as they go forward. He said that he was cautiously optimistic that they will be able to make it happen.

They are dividing the Fair into three divisions in devising approaches on how to maintain as much as possible the social distancing and hygiene restrictions imposed by Governor Steve Bullock.

The Junior Livestock division, “the kernel” of the Fair, is the first and probably easiest to adapt to a new strategy. Concessions and Vendors are the second division, plans for which may require having fewer entities involved. But, noted Goodridge, food vendors already operate under the auspices of the county health department.

The third division is the Carnival and Entertainment, including possible concerts. The status of much of the entertainment and concerts is up in the air, and what that will look like depends on the decisions of the promoters and entertainers, according to Ray Massie, Metra Park Marketing and Sales Director. Massie noted that one of the biggest stumbling blocks is the reluctance of the entertainers themselves to travel. They have already cancelled some sold-out performances for that reason, he said.

There are many issues and problems to be resolved, but everyone at Metra Park has been engaged in working them out for several weeks now.

It’s not that they are moving to Plan B, said Dutcher; his staff was already into Plan B back in January before they were much aware of the coming COVID-19 threat. It was then that they realized that for the first time in many decades they were going to have to hold the Fair without the use of the Grandstands, which are slated to be removed before the Fair.

They are into Plans C and D, exclaims Dutcher, who (as would surprise no one who knows him) is rather excited about the challenge.

So how do you plan for thousands of people to attend concerts, enjoy carnival rides, view exhibits, play games and eat fair food while maintaining distance and cleanliness?

With lots and lots of planning, and some out-of-the–box thinking,and buying hand sanitizer by the drum.

In a way, Dutcher sees this as being similar to the crisis situations faced following 9-11 or the tornado that took the roof off Metra Park’s arena. In this case, though, there are lots of other people in the same boat. “We aren’t alone,” he says.

But they might be leading the way. There are lots of people watching how they will do it and hoping to gain some ideas. Goodridge said that he believes that Metra Park is in the best position to lead the way in figuring out how to emerge from this “stay at home” mandate. Holding graduation ceremonies at First Interstate Arena this weekend will be an introduction to the process for everyone.

Also, Dutcher and crew will be watching closely what other fairs and similar events do. Fortunately, quite a number of them will have gone through the same challenge long before August rolls around, and Montana Fair producers will be able to pick up pointers from them and maybe avoid some mistakes.

But no one is waiting around. Event managers and fair promoters from all across the country are already talking together, sharing ideas and collaborating. Dutcher and his team have been in conversations with dozens of other fair people and event planners around the country.

In fact, Goodridge helped form a team of other fair organizers in Montana from Gallatin County, Richland County, Flathead County and including Yellowstone County’s Disaster and Emergency Services Director K. C. Williams to help develop guidelines for safe fairs in Montana. In a letter to the Governor’s office, Goodridge offered the group’s input to help establish “a planning framework on which we can move forward.”

Dutcher is happy that they have the firm commitment from John Hanschen of Thomas Carnival that they will be here for Montana Fair. Thomas Carnival had already started their season through February and March, only to have events across the country cancelled in April and May. Hanschen has told Metra Park officials that he can be here with just three weeks notice.

Dutcher talks weekly with Hanschen, who is spending the interim keeping some 40 employees busy cleaning, painting and refurbishing equipment. Initial plans for operating the carnival includes the possibility of scaling back the number of rides so that there is ample room to allow for safe distancing among patrons. Ride operators will wipe down amusement ride surfaces after each rider gets out of the seat. Other workers will move around the midway disinfecting all surfaces, repeatedly. Operators could wear face masks and would be checked each day regarding their health. Spaces could be marked as to where riders should stand when waiting. Other options may be pursued should it be deemed necessary to control crowd size, such as asking people to make appointments for attending the fair and distributing tickets with armbands.

The working assumption for the Fair is that the First Interstate Bank Arena will not be available for performances, so discussions are underway with companies to obtain outdoor stages. Holding concerts outside will address both the scientific concerns and add psychological benefits of increasing people’s comfort levels and confidence about attending. Outside there would be space enough to designate adequate spacing for each person.

The Livestock Committee for the fair has been holding phone conferences working out ways in which exhibits and sales can still be held-–such as the Junior Livestock Sale. Maybe they can move some events outside. Maybe in the Super Barn. It depends. A lot of answers depend on other answers. That’s really always been the nature of his job, muses Dutcher, with his familiar Cheshire smile.

Somewhat uncertain is the interest of the public and people’s willingness to attend. That, too, will be watched in the experiences of other fairs. But, Metra Park’s marketing department has done a survey to determine people’s intent to attend and the most important things to them regarding the fair. “A clear-cut majority” intend to come, and the two most important items cited were being outside and the availability of plenty of hand sanitizer.

So, besides ordering plenty of 55-gallon drums of hand sanitizer from Trailhead Spirits, Metra Park crew is scouring the market for gallon jugs, dispensers and spray pumps, so there will be plenty of hand sanitization stations throughout the fair grounds.

Issues of health and safety are nothing new to fairs, says Dutcher, “We work on public health every year as it relates to hand-washing regarding e-Coli awareness, salmonella and other health issues that can pose risks at public events.

Part of the issue of people attending the fair is that of travel restrictions. One good thing is air fares are very low right now, and Dutcher has already booked flights for judges. Montana Fair pays for the time and costs of many of the expert judges who determine the best of the best at the fair. But, what about those who come from out-of-state to attend the concerts and to enjoy the fair?

The finances of it all is still an unknown–-still has to be calculated. There will be some additional costs, but also some savings. How that comes out in the end will in large part depend on attendance.

There remains a lot of problems to solve and issues to be overcome, but there are a lot of dedicated, knowledgeable and experienced people working on it. Montana Fair is an important event to Billings for a lot of different reasons, not least of which is the visitor spending that it brings to the local businesses, which will need it more than ever this year. And, the Fair is the primary revenue generator for Metra Park, which having had several months of events cancelled already will be in dire need of that revenue.

But maybe most importantly is the reason stated in announcing their commitment to hold the fair: for the morale of the community. By August the whole community will be ready for a good fair, and Dutcher and team will be ready with Montana Fair.