By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Humboldt, IA – The Humboldt County Fair Board moves to revise this year’s fair due to the pandemic.
The Humboldt County Fair is being revised this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Humboldt County Fair Board released a statement on the changes. Board President Jeff Hasselhuhn delivers the message to KHBT.
He says that with mass gatherings not being recommended the board elected to cancel all the grand stand activities. The board president says this was a difficult decision for the board. They feel that the current grand stands are not suitable for social distancing. There are plans in the works to build larger grand stands in the future but the board has currently not raised the funds to do so.
There will still be some events going on at the fair this year. The Humboldt County Fair Queen contest will occur on a portable stage on the east side of the south commons building. All livestock and shows will go on as scheduled. Animals not staying for the Monday auction can be released after their show. The little miss and mister along with the 4H style show have been cancelled.
In making this decision, Hasselhuhn says the fair board took a look back on their mission:
The mission of the Humboldt County Fair is to provide the best fair possible for all residents and guest of Humboldt and surrounding counties. It is to provide a gathering place for all communities to showcase their products and skills. It is to create educational, social, cultural and economic opportunities to preserve and promote agriculture, 4H, FFA, and traditions of counties in the central Iowa area of Humboldt. Operations of the fairgrounds facilities year round are to serve the community by providing multipurpose facilities and grounds for both public and private events in a responsible manner generating economic stimulation and tourism development of this community.
All events at this year’s fair will be free to the public. Food and concessions will still be available on the grounds with “plenty” of hand sanitizer stations. All events scheduled for this year will roll over to the 2021 fair.
Hasselhuhn says he and the fair board appreciate the communities support in making these decision and hopes everyone stays safe. The fair will run from July 21 to the 27. KHBT will be providing live updates from the fair on event results and event proceedings starting July 22 to 25.