COVID-19 Safety Plan

The following procedures have been set in place to create a safe environment for our fairgoers, volunteers, vendors and employees, during the 2021 South Florida Fair, May 7-23.

The presale of advance tickets at all ticket outlets, including Publix Supermarkets, has been canceled and is only available on the fair’s website, www.southfloridafair.com. The rationale behind this decision was based on the inability to monitor capacity if tickets are purchased at an offsite location.

• New training programs have been provided to volunteers and employees instructing them on how to stay safe and keep fairgoers safe.Hand sanitation and hand washing stations have been installed in multiple locations around the Fairgrounds.
  
  
• In light of the Executive Order issued by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the South Florida Fair has modified its requirement concerning facial coverings. Instead of requiring mandatory facial coverings for entry and attendance at the Fair, we now recommend that one be worn, but will not require them. Each visitor can exercise their best and reasonable judgment on wearing a facial covering while attending the Fair.
  
  
• The recommendation to wear facial coverings in public places where there are large groups of people is strongly encouraged by Fair leadership. The Fair staff, board, vendors and volunteers will wear facial coverings when the Fair is open to the public to continue to ensure their safety. The Fair will continue its plans to have hand sanitizer and hand washing stations throughout the grounds and still encourages social distancing.
  
  
• Touch-free or contactless payment options will be provided for admission and throughout the midway.
  
  
• Employees and volunteers will be provided with personal protective equipment as per CDC guidelines. Temperature checks will be performed at the beginning of each shift.
  
  
• Fairgoers, volunteers and employees who have been diagnosed or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 will be prohibited from entering the premises.
  
  
• Informative signage will be posted at entrances and throughout the fairgrounds to remind fairgoers to adhere to the guidelines provided by the CDC.
  
  
• Entrances and exit points will be established. Fairgoers will adhere to traffic instructions to minimize close contact with others.
  
  
• All self-serve items have been removed from the food concessions and will be provided to fairgoers upon request.
  
  
• Employees and volunteers will be required to monitor guests to enforce social distancing and prevent gatherings.
  
  
• Fairgoers will be instructed to utilize sanitation stations before entering each ride or attraction, and before and after consuming food and drinks.
  
  
• All commercial vendors will be required to wear facial coverings when the Fair is open to the public to continue to ensure their safety.
  
  
• Employees are required to clean and sanitize all contact surfaces between performances throughout the grounds.
  
  
• All rides under go a deep cleaning and sanitizing procedure prior to opening. This process is repeated throughout the Fair. In addition all high touch areas are sanitized at regular intervals during each days' operation.
  
  
• The main entertainment area is being revamped by eliminating the tent and making it an outdoor venue.
  
  
• National touring concerts have been eliminated to avoid large crowds in one venue.
  
  
• All stage centered and strolling performers will be conducting twice as many shows each day of shorter duration.
  
  
• Each entertainment venue will have a specified capacity limitation that will be enforced for each show performance.
  
  
• Seating areas throughout the fairgrounds are reconfigured to promote social distancing.
  
  
• Canceled the first “$2 Tuesdays” promotion for 2021 due to the large crowds that attend.
  
  
• Anywhere there is the potential for people to stand in a line, queuing instructions (i.e. signage) and devices shall be used to instruct patrons to maintain safe distances from one another.
  
  
• New procedures have been implemented to increase cleaning and sanitization frequency.
  
  
• Food service areas will adhere to the guidelines set forth by the CDC for restaurants and dining services.

Unlike other venues for large gatherings, such as sports arenas or stadiums, the South Florida Fairgrounds is differentiable along the following lines:

1. The fair can manage and reduce capacity at more than 30 different physical locations or points on the grounds to allow for appropriate social distancing.

2. Most of the fair’s grounds entertainment for 2021 is outdoors.

3. Fairgrounds dining will occur outside.

4. Exposure time between non-same-household sheltering family members is somewhat limited and is completely controllable by the fair’s guests themselves.

5. The fair’s buildings include several fully enclosed exhibit halls with HVAC systems, roofed structures with no sidewalls and structured tents with sidewalls, doors and HVAC services.

6. Based on prior surveys, nearly 90% of the fair’s attendance is made up of families who live in the same home and thus do not need to be physically distanced from each other.

7. The fair’s guests freely move throughout the outdoor portion of the fairgrounds as opposed to sitting in a single location for an extended period of time. The buildings, barns and tents will be set up for appropriate social distancing.

8. The fair’s largest buildings include several fully enclosed exhibit halls with plasma air quality systems as part of their HVAC systems. Expo West includes the new addition of touchless automatic doors to reduce hand/surface contact.

The principles and considerations outlined in this document were compiled with information from other fairs, outdoor attractions, amusement, agriculture, livestock exposition, food service, and commercial vendor industry trade associations including the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE), Outdoor Amusement Business Association (OABA), National Independent Concessionaires Association (NICA) and International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), among other sources.