Illinois county fairs are still planning to continue as scheduled this summer unless there are still public gathering restrictions. | Pixabay
Illinois county fairs are still planning to continue as scheduled this summer unless there are still public gathering restrictions. | Pixabay
The Iroquois County fair organizers are hoping the fair will be able to take place this summer but are waiting on further announcements on the state of summer events in Illinois before making any big purchases.
The fair is scheduled to take place between July 15 and July 20. The Iroquois County Fair has already canceled all off-season events through the end of April, which will decrease revenue and tighten the fair's budget, according to the Daily Journal. But Debbie Krones, competitive exhibits coordinator for the fair, told the Daily Journal that fair organizers are hopeful that the fair will be able to take place.
“We are moving slow with what we’re doing and waiting to see how things play out,” Krones told the Daily Journal. “We still have some time right now.”
In Kankakee County, Fair Manager Tammy Focken told the Daily Journal that they have been affected by canceled events as well.
“Of course our business has been affected,” she told the Daily Journal. “We host wedding receptions and trade shows of all kinds. All of those events have had to be canceled and/or rescheduled.”
But Focken told the Daily Journal the fair will still go on as planned unless restrictions on public gatherings are still in place come July or the Illinois Department of Agriculture decides to cancel the fair.
Local fairs use off-season events for revenue to pay their bills, Ken Tyrell, president of the state's Association of Agricultural Fairs, told the Daily Journal.
“Many downstate fairs struggle getting along as it is. They don’t have money put away or deep pockets. All of them struggle,” Tyrrell told the Daily Journal. “Any time you lose revenue, it’s going to affect the fair.”
If county fairs are canceled, it will likely affect the entire community with a ripple effect, Marla Calico, president of the International Association of Fairs & Expositions, told the Daily Journal.
“It’s not just the funds that not-for-profit organizations may gain and do good within the community when they give out scholarships to young people,” Calico told the Daily Journal. “It’s the small businesses all around them—the gas station benefits, the hotels benefit, the cafes and restaurants benefit.”
Events for county fairs will begin in June unless COVID-19 continues into the summer, which "would be devastating," Tyrrell told the Daily Journal.
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