Clay Co. Fair General Mgr/CEO Jeremy Parsons Addresses Cancellation Of This Year’s Clay County Fair During Press Conference

(Spencer)– Jeremy Parsons01  “The mission of the Clay County Fair states in part that we provide a safe, family atmosphere. And the key word in 2020 is safe. And after lots of attempts and plans and modifications and proposals, we could not find a way to put on a safe fair that our fairgoers would enjoy, quite frankly.” That’s Clay County Fair General Manager/CEO Jeremy Parsons announcing earlier today (Thurs.) this year’s Clay County Fair won’t be held due to the pandemic.

Parsons says the decision was extremely hard to make. He says it based in part on a survey they recently conducted…Jeremy Parsons02 

“About 30 percent of our employees and volunteers told us you know, we love the fair but we don’t feel safe working it this year.”

Parsons says some other findings of the survey were also troubling…Jeremy Parsons03 

“Of people that have attended the Fair in the last three years, so these are dedicated fairgoers. Of that number, about 50 percent said that they plan to attend this year’s fair. That’s concerning. Obviously it’s hard to put on a fair financially at 50 percent, and yet still while I’ve mentioned some financial things, it still comes back to safety.”

Parsons says the negative economic impacts of not having a fair this year will be widespread…Jeremy Parsons04 

“Last year the 14 local nonprofits generated half a million dollars here at the fair through nutty bars or shuttle services or BINGO. So obviously they’re going to be hurting. The city and county will have some affects. The Fair generates a portion, a large portion of city hotel-motel tax, local option sales tax revenue in September for those nine days; we understand it has an impact on the city and county. And quite frankly it has an impact on the fair itself. This is three-fourths of our annual income. We have to be wise and we have to make very smart choices to put on a fair in 2021 that everyone has come to love and deserve.”

Parsons says based on a study done in 2015, the economic impact the Clay County Fair had on the region’s economy amounted to about $6 million at that time.

He adds this isn’t the first time the Clay County Fair has been cancelled…Jeremy Parsons05 

“Actually this is the fifth time that there is not a fair. From 1942 through 1945 the Clay County Fair was suspended for World War II. So while COVID is unprecedented, I guess the reality is not having the fair is not because there’s a little bit of that prior history because of World War II.”

While there will be no Clay County Fair this year, Parsons says 4-H and FFA livestock shows will still be held. He says the Clay County ISU Extension and Outreach office is currently working out those details.