Fairs are critical to communities throughout California and the nation! They are locations of community celebrations, resources during disaster relief and significant economic contributors. The Big Fresno Fair contributes more than $77.1M in economic impact to Fresno County annually from our annual Fair event and the more than 250 interim events held at our Fairgrounds. These activities also sustain the operations of The Big Fresno Fair as we are self-funded.
We find ourselves, along with our vast network of fairs across the state and nation, grappling with how to survive amid COVID-19. This pandemic has led us and the fair community to cancel all in-person events – which have ceased most sources of revenue since March 2020. What would California and the US look like without fairs? The idea is terrifying and a very real situation. That’s why Congressman Josh Harder has introduced the “Protecting Fairs During Coronavirus Act” – a new emergency grant program to help keep fairs in operation for 2021 – and you can listen to his Q&A video that addresses why it’s important to #SaveOurFairs and how this bill will help.
Video courtesy of ABC10.
When the Fresno Fair has opened in prior years, they had no problem getting 33% of the beer sales. Maybe they should have put a little bit away, for times like this. The employees at the BFF are State Employees, they need to feel the pinch, like all of us