South Plains Fair set to Open With Cautionary Changes Amid Pandemic

By Emma Sipple, Elysiana Granado, Megan Zapalac, Sabrina Hoover, Shelbie Rhodes & Adán Rubio

The fairgrounds, located at 105 E. Broadway.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing multiple event cancellations, Sept. 25 will mark the opening of one event Lubbock locals have anticipated: the Panhandle South Plains Fair.

Along with the food, rides and other attractions attendees have grown to love at the fair, which will be open until Oct. 3, one may expect adaptions to the event’s operations, such as new health precautions.

Jennifer Wallace, South Plains Fair general manager, said she approached the city in mid-July with plans to reopen the fair during the pandemic. After the city gave permission to continue with the fair, she said different health precautions will be put in place.

The fair is a 106-year-old tradition that continues to keep the community involved and will provide people an escape, Wallace said.

“My biggest thing is I want to give somebody a sense of normalcy,” she said. “That we can survive this pandemic, not to live in fear. Eventually, things have got to get better, and we’re going to help provide an outlet for that.”

Signs promoting social distancing and face masks, which are required when entering the fair, will be placed around the area, Wallace said. Also, more than 160 hand sanitizer dispensers will be placed across the fairgrounds.

Multiple changes also will be made to how people interact at the fair, which has cash-only parking costs of $5 per vehicle and admission costs of $10 for anyone 13 years old and older, $5 for children 2 to 12 years old and no costs for kids a year old and younger, Wallace said. People can enter the fair for free before 1 p.m. on the weekdays and before 10 a.m. on the weekends.

When entering the fair, Wallace said social distancing is one rule attendees will follow in different areas of the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds is located at 105 E. Broadway on the corner of Avenue A.

Amusement park rides will have socially-distanced seating for those not attending the fair together, Wallace said. Although, there will be some leniency for families attending the fair.

“They all live together; they don’t have to social distance themselves from each other,” Wallace said regarding families. “They can sit on the rides together, they can sit on a picnic table and eat together, they can go view the free entertainment we have together.”

Patrons can enjoy the fair and its events with added health precautions this year.

To ensure attendees are aware of the health precautions, Wallace said there will be staff members present to remind people of proper social distancing and help mitigate any large crowds.

Regardless of the different health precautions, Wallace said it is her due diligence to not force people to comply with guidelines but to make them aware of them.

Before attending the fair, one may need to consider different health precautions and their impact.

Dr. Ronald Cook, City of Lubbock’s local health authority, said there are three factors that help limit the spread of COVID-19: cleaning hands, social distancing and wearing facial coverings.

“If you’re in high risk, I think you ought to be very careful,” he said regarding certain fair attendees. “Then, if you do go, do your best to socially distance and wear facial coverings.”

Despite the different guidelines meant to keep people safe, Cook said there still is a risk of the virus spreading at the fair.

“They have a safety plan to make it a safe place,” he said. “Although it may be a safe place, but people must abide by the rules to make it safe.”

Amid the pandemic, there may be certain aspects of the fair that are not feasible from a health standpoint.

The Fair Park Coliseum will be closed, and the shows will not resume this year, Wallace said. The Women’s Building also will be closed, and the exhibits, crafts and competitions will not be hosted.

Even for those enjoying the outside entertainment, Wallace said the hypnotist, whom some people look forward to, will not be at the fair this year. Although, entertainment, such as animals and the BMX bike show, will remain.

In addition to how attendees distance themselves, Wallace said food vendors will be spaced out throughout the fair. Along with food vendors, commercial vendors at the fair may be impacted.

Brianna Conner, coordinator for non-fair events and commercial vendors at the South Plains Fair, said the number of vendors the fair normally accommodates will be cut in half because every other commercial vendor space needs to be blocked to properly social distance.

“Everyone kind of seemed concerned,” she said. “They were curious on how we were going to move forward with this and all the protocols we were going to have in place.”

In addition to concerns from vendors, Conner said the fair’s staff received a lot of phone calls from prospective attendees asking if the fair would open when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic in March. Customers also had different concerns regarding admission tickets and Megapasses, which are used for unlimited ride access during the fair’s operation.

“People were really hesitant about jumping in and buying all that like they normally do every year,” she said.

When the pandemic began, other issues regarding potential attendance and sales might have arisen, Wallace said. Regarding the Megapasses sales, she said numbers recently have been behind.

“With Megapasses, the ride pass, I say at this time we’re usually close to maybe 300 to 400 that we sold,” she said.

The number of passes sold reached 76 on Sept. 10, Wallace said. Despite being behind in selling passes, she said she is hopeful sales will pick up as the opening date for the fair approaches.

When deciding whether to reopen the fair this fall, Wallace said potential sales numbers were considered. If about 50 percent of last year’s fair income, which consists of admissions, rides and vendors, is gained this season, the staff decided it will be profitable to move forward. In addition, expenses increased for this season to prepare for health precautions.

Attendance is another factor Wallace said was considered for profitability.

“On average, we’ll say the last three years, our annual attendance was about 151,000 people,” she said regarding attendance throughout the nine-day period the fair remains open.

If about 75,000 people come through the gate this season, Wallace said she will be happy.

With specials, such as preview day that allows attendees to attend the fair for free and go on rides for $1 apiece from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sept. 24, Wallace said people have different options. More information on the different specials and the fair’s general hours of operation can be found on the South Plains Fair website.

Regardless of the different rules and health precautions put in place, the reopening of the fair could have an impact beyond being a place of entertainment.

Eddie McBride, president and CEO of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, said the opportunity for the fair to open safely is an important sign the community is working to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fair staff created a packet of guidelines for how the fair would run this year in terms of masks and other precautions, McBride said.

“I do know that the fair staff and the fair board have put a lot of work, an extremely huge amount of work, on making sure that they can both open and operate both in a safe manner for not only the folks who are helping execute the fair itself but also the people who are visiting,” McBride said.

Not having the event would be a huge loss to the fair’s staff as well as the nonprofit organizations that operate the food booths during the fair, McBride said.

“Some of those nonprofits and the food booths that they actually operate during the fair, for many of them, that is the majority of the money that they raise on an annual basis,” McBride said. “So, it’s one of the, from what I understand, it’s one of the few fairs across America that actually has a setup where nonprofits provide the food for a cost.”

Amid the pandemic, people may wonder why events, such as the South Plains Fair, are set to reopen.

Meagan Mize, a junior Texas Tech creative media industries major from Waco, said the community aspect of the fair is important for Lubbock.

“It brings people together,” she said. “Fairs are happy and fun, and it’s just a good wholesome experience.”

Mize, who has not missed a fair since she has been in Lubbock, will be attending the fair this year, she said.

“The fair means, to me, family,” she said. “When you think of a fair, you normally go with your family and your friends, and you have a good time and make memories.”

About Reece Nations, Managing Editor