CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — It’s the 36th year of the Clay County Fair, and it's bigger and even better than ever.
“We have a lot of new things, like Agtown we have a lot of new livestock exhibits, a lot of new rides, a lot of new foods," said Tasha Hyder, Executive Director of the Clay County fair.
Andy Deggeller, is the CEO of Deggeller attractions, midway provider of the Clay County Fair. His company has been in charge of the rides and thrills since the fair first opened in the 80s.
“Well this fair has been growing every year and we’re hoping for record crowds this year. I believe last year we had roughly 150 thousand people show up. It was a record year last year and we are hoping to beat that this year," said Deggeller.
While it is a priority for people to have fun at the fair, Deggeller says safety is an even bigger priority.
“The inspectors have been here for almost a week as we assemble the rides. they want to look at the rides at different stages of the set up so that they can make sure is everything is good so the everything is per manufacture recommendation," said Deggeller.
Deggeller says the inspection can take a while because the state inspectors have many things to check off on.
“There’s a lot to look at. There’s a lot of parts. There is a lot of different manufacturers out here. So the fact is that you have a lot of inspectors out here looking at a lot of different things," said Deggeller.
Executive Director of the Clay County Fair, Tasha Hyder says they also have a safety committee at the fair to make sure the fair goers are in good hands.
“You know what I seriously feel like we are the safest place in Florida. These eleven days we have prepared, we have planned, we are ready," said Deggeller.
The gates open up tomorrow at 2 p.m. The fair says they are expecting it to be packed, so they are asking folks to come early.