PERRY, Ga. — As festivals, concerts and celebrations were canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, many were left wondering what would happen to the Georgia National Fair.
Well, in October, you should be able to eat your favorite fair food and jump on the Ferris wheel.
The Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter will be open July 1st and starting October 8th, the fair will start, but there will be some safety precautions.
Angela Whitehead says her family never misses the fair.
"We took our kids every year, and now, we have grandkids that we go with."
After some uncertainty, when she heard they would able to go this fall, she was thrilled.
"We love the concerts, we love the exhibits and we love the food, but just the atmosphere of being out there -- just walking around out there is fun," says Whitehead.
The fairgrounds schedule says they will kick off the reopening with a barrel racing horse show on July 2, and Keaton Walker, the fairgrounds Marketing Director, says says all of the fair's fan favorites will be back in the fall.
"Of course, all of our entertainment, our acts, our concerts, the rides, we’re planning and moving forward as everything being a normal fair -- food vendors, of course, all of the crowd favorites," says Walker.
She says after reviewing the CDC guidelines, they feel it is safe to reopen.
"We're a lot of open air here, so we've got the flexibility to have events outside, keep people social distanced, while also abiding by all of those new CDC regulations."
She says they recommend people wear masks, practice social distancing, and personal hygiene. Walker also says the restrooms will be cleaned, sanitized, and restocked with antibacterial soap regularly.
She says as of now, they have discussed limiting the number of people inside at a time, but they have not made an official decision.
Walker says people will get to enjoy the fair, the same way they have for 31 years.
"Unless something happens, unless we get more information that comes around, you know, we are making plans to move forward with that event like it is normally run."
Reithoffer Shows provides the rides for the fair and Walker says are working out a plan to make sure the rides stay clean while the lines keep moving.
She says the safety of their employees and everyone who comes out to their fairgrounds is their number one priority.
As we get closer to October, they will release more health and safety guidelines.
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