FINDLAY, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine outlined the plans for the return of Ohio county fairs on Thursday.
Weeks before the announcement that Ohio counties would be cleared to host county fairs, Hancock County was already busy planning for a Junior Fair-only option. Now, county leaders are thrilled to allow fairgoers onto the midway.
The county canceled its fair last year due to financial reasons, so you may see a small bump in ticket prices, but that is still to be determined by the board.
The biggest issue will be the mandate that grandstand capacity be limited to only 30%.
"Being able to do those big, grandstand events is all about packing the grandstand, not lacking the grandstand, right? And so, we'll have to look hard at what we can do regarding those kinds of events," Hancock County Agricultural Society President Jeff Cole said.
The Hancock County Fair runs as a capstone to the summer, so the hope is that most of these mandates may be lifted by Sept.
But, the fair board is still expecting the pandemic to affect the fair, even if it is over by fair time.
"We're having to make some decisions now, our attractions are wanting us to sign contracts now. So, we're going to have to make some decisions with a little bit of forecasting of where we think we might be, but also based on the facts that we have today," Cole said.
The 2021 Hancock County Fair runs from Wednesday, Sept. 1 through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.