COLUMBIA, S.C. — State fair season is less than two months away, but before you head out to the fair this year, there are some new policies you need to know about.
“We are a family affair, and everything we do here at the South Carolina State Fair, we do because we want folks to be able to come out and enjoy their fair, and we're hoping that this will make them feel even more comfortable about doing so,” State Fair General Manager Nancy Smith said.
Smith says a new policy regarding teens will be implemented this year.
“We've had our youth admission policy in effect for quite some time. The change this year is on Friday and Saturday," Smith said. "Sunday through Thursday will be the same, that anyone under the age of 18 will not be admitted without a parent after 5 pm that's 21 or older. The change this year is for Friday and Saturday. That policy will be in effect all day during the fair on Friday and Saturday only.”
State Fair officials say they work closely with the Richland County Sheriff's Department to ensure everyone is safe during the fair. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says this new policy was their recommendation.
"If you have issues, it's usually unescorted teenagers who are going to be teenagers, and now we're not going to have them unescorted," Lott said. "A parent or adult has to be with them, and they're not going to do something crazy when you got an adult there with them. When they're allowed to roam and run and do whatever they want to, they're going to cause problems.”
Lott says there were no major issues at the fair last year, but this new policy will help keep the environment family-friendly.
“They tend to get in fights, and somebody may scream gun when nobody's got a gun, just to create panic, and we don't want to have that," Lott said. "Again, this is a family event. My children grew up coming to the fair. I bring my grandchildren to the fair now, so I feel safe coming here with them, and I want everybody to feel safe when they come here. That's one thing that we can do is make sure that we don't have groups of young people who are being babysit by the fair. This is not a babysitting service here at the fair, this is a family event. That means the family needs to be together.”
The sheriff's department says they prepare for the fair all year long.
“Thousands and thousands of people will come here. We will have a football game that's on. Thousands of people, lots of people ... We're going to make sure that they're safe. That's what we do. We do it with high visibility, but we also do some other things that people don't see. It's safe. I guarantee it's gonna be safe,” Lott said.
The State Fair will run from Oct. 9 through Oct. 20. Fair officials say to check their website for any other policies that will be in place this year.