Horry County, SC, Fair set for July 3 despite coronavirus concerns
The fifth annual Horry County Fair is set to open this weekend, in stark contrast to most other fairs around the country that have been canceled or postponed due to coronavirus. The 10-day fair, held at Myrtle Beach Speedway, was originally scheduled April 24-May 3, but organizers postponed it until July 3-12 after restrictions were put into place by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Steve Zacharias, general manager of the 45-acre venue, said that organizers never considered canceling the fair. “They’ve been fearful,” Zacharias told the board, “and they’ve dragged their feet, didn’t want to pull the trigger because of (COVID-19) ...”. Special precautions will be in place, including intense cleaning of all rides after each use, hand sanitizer stations set up throughout the area and altering the layout to discourage large gatherings and allow for proper social distancing.
The Horry County Fair will be Strates Shows’ first event since at least mid-March, according to the company’s events calendar, which shows all its other fairs either canceled or postponed. Jim Strates, a co-owner and operations manager, said a lot of the fairs that were canceled are in states with more strict guidelines ...
Strates expressed concern about a lack of people wearing face masks in the Horry County area, but said all his employees will wear them, and they have the ability to isolate employees if any begin showing symptoms. “We’re going to take a crack at this thing,” he said. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”
The zoning appeals board voted unanimously to approve the speedway’s request for the date of the fair. Since that approval on June 8, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data shows more than 2,300 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Horry County.
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