ALVA, Oklahoma – The Woods County Fair Board voted not to have commercial booths in the Merchants Building for the 2020 Woods County Fair. The board met on July 14 and voted to have the majority of the Woods County Free Fair regular divisions open for entries on the traditional dates following Labor Day, Sept. 10-12, but to not have the commercial booths.

“The exhibits in the Merchants Building are a longstanding tradition that many fairgoers look forward to each year,” stated Kevin Pingelton, Woods County Fair Board president. He went on to add, “however, with over 60 booths and hundreds of visitors in the building at one time, there is no feasible way to practice social distancing and keep the public safe.” In addition, there will be no inflatable bounce houses, outdoor games or community meal at the 2020 Woods County Fair.

Because the Merchants Building will not have commercial booths, some divisions in the fair may have a new home.

“The fair will have a different look this year,” stated Brock White, Woods County Fairgrounds manager. The floral, photography, 4-H and the agricultural divisions will all be moved to the Merchants Building for entry and display. White emphasized, “This will give us much more space and make room available for social distancing.”

The livestock show and the horse show will be held in the main barn as normal following Oklahoma Department of Agriculture exhibition guidelines.

Other modifications have been made to the fair which exhibitors will want to review before delivering their entries. Susan Holliday, Woods County Extension educator, FCS/4-H, stated that “All entries in the food divisions will be judged visually only, no tasting of any entries and some classes have been canceled for this year.”

Holliday added, “We are sad to announce that we are canceling the Death by Chocolate and the Ice Cream Crank-off for this year’s fair.” In addition, there will be no sale of pie slices by OHCE members in the fair kitchen. Fair exhibitors are encouraged to closely read the Fair Book when it is printed in the Newsgram July 29. Some divisions have been modified or deleted due to issues related to COVID-19.

Plans are still being finalized for where each division will be housed and how entries will be received. “We encourage those delivering entries to the fair to watch for more information on fair entry guidelines and buildings for delivery as fair time gets closer,” stated Greg Highfill, Woods County Extension Educator, Ag/4-H.

Highfill added “We will also be highly encouraging all entries for the fair to be tagged prior to arrival at the fair.” Entry tags are available at the OSU Extension office in the courthouse and will soon be available online in a PDF document on the OSU Extension website.

“One of the most difficult times we will have social distancing at the fair will be during exhibit delivery. If the exhibits are pre-tagged, the amount of direct contact with our fair superintendents is greatly reduced,” Highfill stated. “Keeping our fair volunteers safe is the overriding goal as we restructure our fair exhibit delivery and entry system,” Highfill concluded.

Other changes voted on at the July Fair Board meeting include allowing the livestock exhibits to be released at 6 p.m. on Friday evening prior to the beginning of the horse show. The board also voted to change the pick-up time for fair exhibits on Saturday. The new schedule will allow pick-up to begin at 10 a.m. and run through noon. The Monday morning pick-up times will be available as normal. Since the Oklahoma State Fair has been canceled, the 4-H exhibits that normally would be held for delivery to Oklahoma City will now be released on Saturday with the other fair exhibits.

There will be no rabbit show at the fair this year. The state veterinarian has banned all shows in the state for 90 days due to Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease that is spreading throughout the southwestern part of the U.S.