By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Ed Berger, who has been serving as interim General Manager of the Kansas State Fair until the arrival of Brian Schulz, will continue to help through the fair next month. Make no mistake, there will be a fair.
"There's not only going to be a fair, but it's going to be the biggest and best fair we've ever had," Berger said. "We're so excited about it. There's so much enthusiasm, so many advance ticket sales going on. People can hardly wait to be a part of the fair again. Losing a year in 2020 makes 2021 a huge year for us. We're very excited about it and so are our patrons, our vendors, exhibitors, everybody is anxious to have the Kansas State Fair."
It seems as if people are really going out to events in force that they may only have attended once in awhile before, the hope is that the Fair can build on that momentum.
"Sometimes you really don't value something until you don't have it," Berger said. "I think that's the case with the Kansas State Fair. We didn't have it last year. People just felt like they lost something in their lives, part of what they were and part of what the community is. That's part and parcel of, I think, some of the excitement surrounding the Kansas State Fair."
The fair does plan to take additional COVID-19 precautions in its buildings.
"What we're planning now is to be in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health," Berger said. "We will recommend masking in the inside venues, Meadowlark, Sunflower, all of those buildings. We're also going to have one-way traffic in those buildings. We think that's going to be a help, as well. Outdoors, we're going to make masking optional. If people feel comfortable masking, we certainly will advise it, but, again, so much of our fair is outside and we think that is a very big advantage for us."
Fair advance tickets are still $7 until September 10. You can find out more about the 2021 Kansas State Fair at their website.