Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The South Carolina State Fair says they are opening as planned on Wednesday as they keep an eye on Hurricane Michael off the Florida coast.
The Hurricane is expected to hit the Florida panhandle, and eventually make its way over South Carolina.
Fair general manager Nancy Smith says safety is on their mind as they get ready to open.
“We are monitoring the weather on an hourly basis now and we'll make some decisions in a timely manner in order to always take our patron safety into consideration. Things like high winds of course, we need to be aware of that, as well as heavy rains, lightning, thunder,” Smith said.
The 149th South Carolina State Fair will have 65 amusement rides for all ages, and roughly 70 food vendors. But, in the case of severe weather over the next few days, they're ready for ride closures and other issues.
“We've had, a little bit unfortunately, experience with that in the last five or six years when we've had a wind burst come through, when we've had to evacuate the rides, evacuate the stages, get everyone into the buildings, so, we have an emergency plan in place for everyone to go to their particular department to get the word out,” Smith said.
Smith says in the case of high winds, rides would stay up, but would be evacuated. She did not specify what level of sustained wind speeds would require ride closures; it would depend on the type of ride.
On Tuesday, Midway Operators put the last of the rides together and food vendors prepped deep-fryers and snow-cone machines. Smith says there are new rides and food options this year.
In the meantime, the fair management team will keep an eye on Michael to make sure visitors only worry about running out of cotton candy.
The fair opens at noon on Wednesday and features $1 admission for the whole day, tickets must be purchased at the gate. For the rest of the fair, October 11-21, admission is $10 at the gate.
For a list of daily opening and closing times and other details, you can click here.