MONROE — Say it far and wide: The Evergreen State Fair is expected to happen this year.
The county announced it is preparing to run an 11-day fair from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4, minus a break day Wednesday, Sept. 1.
The fair’s theme is, aptly, “Back in the Saddle Again.”
Fair organizers will adhere to COVID-19 safety measures including capacity limits. It’s going to look a little different, a county press release says, but “Snohomish County officials are hopeful that the 2021 Fair will nonetheless bring a lot of joy and tradition back to the summer festivities.”
All fairs need to abide by state Fair guidelines.
Entry tickets would need to be bought in advance as part of controlling crowd sizes within the Fairgrounds. The fair will follow the most current safety guidelines when it is running.
“While respecting the challenges are not over, we are committed to offering an event that celebrates our fellow Washingtonians,” Jeremy Husby, a parks division manager who oversees the fair, said in a county press release. “Our event hopes to reconnect our communities and demonstrate we have so much to be thankful for now and into the future.”
Announcements about entertainment, exhibits, vendors and more will be come in the coming months, the county said in its news release about the fair Thursday, May 13.
County officials couldn’t say for certain until now there would be a fair, but appeared optimistic in the weeks leading up the decision.
Further bolstering the chances of no backtrack being necessary was Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement to reopen the state by June 30 that came soon after the county’s fair announcement.
The state’s guidelines on fairs, as of April 26, say fairs can happen if a county is in Phase 3. In those guidelines, the absolute limit is “9,000 persons at any one time” in the fairgrounds. Rides will be allowed as long as extensive sanitization is done.
This year’s Evergreen State Fair will be its 112th running.
Last year was the first time the fair had been canceled since World War II; it was also canceled for three years during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920. It’s been held at the fairgrounds in Monroe since 1949.
