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Fair organizers hope Food, Fun and Flicks will ease the pain created by COVID-19

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 9/2/20

CLAY COUNTY – While food, fun and flicks are coming to the agricultural fairgrounds, the Clay County Fair Association hopes the event will lessen the economic blow of losing this year’s fair to …

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Fair organizers hope Food, Fun and Flicks will ease the pain created by COVID-19


Posted

CLAY COUNTY – While food, fun and flicks are coming to the agricultural fairgrounds, the Clay County Fair Association hopes the event will lessen the economic blow of losing this year’s fair to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the annual Clay County Agricultural Fair was cancelled this year, it seemed like the fairground wouldn’t be seeing many faces at all for the rest of the year. CCAF general manager Tasha Hyder and her team have devised a way for people to have some fun at the fairgrounds this year and it’s happening later this month.

“It’s called Food, Fun, Flicks and it’s happening from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27,” Hyder said. “It is not a miniature fair. It is a completely separate event.”

Hyder said there already are 20 fair food vendors lined up for the event, with more being added each day. A $10 ticket will get you access to the event on one of the days and with that ticket, you’ll be able to enjoy hours of local band concerts and munch on the fair food you missed back in April.

A $30 ticket will get you access to the food vendors – you’ll still need to purchase the food from vendors – as well as a movie projected onto large LED screens in a drive-in theater format. You can experience all three pillars of the event with a combo $35 ticket. Hyder said these ticket prices are for each vehicle so you can load the entire family into the car for a day of fun.

There will also be a Ferris wheel, and tickets for it can be purchased for $5. A dollar from each ticket will go to the fair’s charity, Our Fair Cares, to benefit local food shelters.

“We’re kind of late to the game as a lot of our fair partners are doing something similar,” Hyder said. “They aren’t letting people out of their cars though while we are. We encourage people to get out and move around. We want people to experience a day of enjoyment outside.”

Hyder said attendees can do so safely as the event will be following strict CDC, state and local guidelines to avoid COVID-19. She said people will have to wear masks when in line for food and when ordering, and when using restroom facilities. Outside of that, people won’t need to wear masks because the event has been set up in such a way that families can socially distance.

“We’ve laid social squares out all over that are 10 feet by 10 feet squares, each six feet apart,” Hyder said. “So, you can get your food, sit in the square, take off your mask and enjoy the food and live music.”

Food and concerts will begin at 11 a.m. each day and the last band will begin at 5 p.m. Hyder expects the last band to wrap up no later than 7 p.m., at which point a live DJ will play music until 9 p.m. when the movie of that night begins. Friday night will see 2019’s animated “Addams Family” movie projected onto two large screens and Saturday night will feature 2020’s “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

The cars for movie time will be parked in oversized spaces and people can sit outside of their car so long as they stay in their parking space.

“This is the first time we’ve done any event outside of our annual fair,” Hyder said. “We really want to help our food vendors and Deggeller Attractions while giving our community something to do. A lot of revenue has been lost with COVID-19 cancelling everything and this event allows us to recoup some money and give our community a safe place to enjoy a day out of the house.”

Tickets can be bought online at www.ClayCountyFair.org and they will not be sold in-person at the event. Hyder asks that all attendees read the “Know Before You Go” section of the event’s site so that they know what rules they’ll be having to follow.

“We just want this event to give the community that sense of normalcy we’re all craving right now.”