Kim Fundingsland/MDN With the cancellation of the 2020 North Dakota State Fair, fairgoers will not be gathering on the State Fairgrounds this July. This photograph was taken during the 2019 State Fair.

The 2020 North Dakota State Fair has been canceled. The Minot event is the biggest of its kind in the state, annually attracting about 300,000 visitors.

But now, for the second time in 10 years, the State Fair will not be held. This time the reason why is the coronavirus pandemic. The 2011 State Fair was canceled due to Souris River flooding.

The decision to cancel this year’s fair scheduled for July 17-25, came during a conference call with the fair’s board of directors late this past week. A press release from the State Fair called the decision “in the best interest for all involved” and expressed concerns for the health and safety of “our community, our attendees, exhibitors, vendors, staff and all involved.”

In calling circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic “unchartered waters,” State Fair Manager Renae Korslien said “The State Fair family is even more determined to make next year’s fair even greater, when it’s safer for us to be together again.”

The list of smaller, but long running county fairs that have canceled their fairs this year continued to lengthen this past week. More are expected announce cancellations in the coming days. Many State Fair vendors and exhibitors are also regulars on the county fair circuit.

“Some great food booths out of Minnesota and different states said they couldn’t come to our fair because the county fairs have canceled. That’s true for vendors and food booths,” said Korslien.

Vendors are relied upon to fill the commercial buildings at the State Fair where space is usually in high demand. Many had already notified the fair that they were not likely to attend due to coronavirus. The midway carnival was an issue facing the fair board too.

“They would come,” said Korslien, “But they had to have a guarantee they wouldn’t be shut down.”

It has been apparent for several weeks that even if the State Fair was to be held this summer, it would have a very different look. With schools canceling classes there would be very few FFA exhibits, one of the display features of the fair. 4-H had also expressed concerns about livestock shows, another staple of the State Fair.

“I had concerns from superintendents from every single area,” said Korslien. “They said they wouldn’t risk their health. We absolutely tried to figure out a way we could make it work even though we knew the crowd would be down.”

Headline Grandstand entertainment was a problem too. Among the major performers scheduled to appear at this year’s fair was Eric Church, Billy Idol, Sawyer Brown and Collective Soul. How to put a big crowd in the grandstand and still adhere to social distancing guidelines presented a major problem for the fair board.

“We just couldn’t handle it, even if Grandstand attendance was down 50%,” explained Korslien.

There was another issue too, that being whether or not coronavirus would cause top entertainment to cancel shortly before their scheduled appearance.

The loss of this year’s fair follows an earlier announcement that Norsk Høstfest, the second largest event held on the fairgrounds each year, was canceling for 2020. Also, several major events scheduled for the State Fair Center have been canceled, adding to the financial impact on the county and city.

Attendance at the North Dakota State Fair last year was 293,145. Prior to that attendance exceeded 300,000 five times in the previous seven years, including a record 320,485 people through the turnstiles in 2013.

The Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines for large gatherings of people, such as at weddings and banquets, several weeks ago and those guidelines have been followed at the state level. However, during a press conference last Friday Gov. Doug Burgum said he would address restrictions imposed on large gatherings later this week.

For information on tickets purchased visit the N.D. State Fair website at https://ndstatefair.com/.