Thursday, October 20, 2022

Fair Draws 519,000 Visitors

 Ag Commish Andrew Gipson issued the following statement. 

Hosting the Mississippi State Fair is a lot of fun! At the same time, it is a challenge. As the State’s largest public event, the Fair always attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees from every background and from every geographic corner of the Magnolia State. Whether livestock show families, 4-H and FFA youth from all 82 counties, vendors, lunch patrons, or fair attendees, the State Fair truly brings together a diverse cross section representative of all of Mississippi. People come to make family memories, and that’s what I really like about the Mississippi State Fair.

For many people the State Fair is an annual tradition they get to be a part of and pass on childhood experiences to the next generation. The State Fair is one of our largest agricultural events, and also a huge economic driver for Mississippi and the metro area. A recent study concluded the economic impact of the Fair is nearly $50 million annually. This year alone, some 519,000 people attended the Mississippi State Fair. Given that this year’s Fair was a shorter 11-day event, we nearly reached pre-pandemic attendance levels. During the Fair, our new Fairgrounds water well pumped 1.3 million gallons of fresh well water that was used for everything from making lemonade and sweet tea, to washing cattle, sheep pigs and goats.

But following the recent rise in crime in Jackson and across America, hosting events like the State Fair has become more of a challenge. I don’t have to tell anyone about the issues with crime we’ve seen in Jackson, and crime has escalated in recent years. Going into planning this year’s Mississippi State Fair, we knew we would have to create some new partnerships and adopt some new policies to curb crime while at the same time providing a safe, enjoyable atmosphere for our livestock show families and fairgoers. We were successful, and I want to tell you how.

Fairgrounds Director Michael Lasseter and our Fairgrounds Chief of Security Jimmy Herzog assembled a world class team of state, county and municipal law enforcement. I would like to personally thank each and every one of them: Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson Police Department, Pearl Police Department, State Capitol Police, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, State Fire Marshal’s Office, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau, and private security officers. These additional law enforcement resources served as a major deterrent to would-be criminals. And, when problems arose, the issues were dealt with immediately.

We adopted a new youth curfew policy requiring youth under the age of 18 to have adult supervision when entering the Fair after 9:00 p.m. And to keep bad actors and illegal weapons out of the Fair, we controlled access to the State Fair Midway by placing magnetometers at each of our seven entry points. All this resulted in keeping potential troublemakers out of the State Fair, while allowing law abiding citizens in. We did all this without sacrificing the rights of lawful citizens who choose to carry for personal protection.

While the new procedures resulted in slightly lower attendance numbers than prior years, I’m very pleased to say we accomplished our Goal for 2022: We recreated an experience of peaceful family-friendly, fun and security at the Mississippi State Fair. For this, we owe sincere appreciation to all our staff but especially to our law enforcement and security officers.

With the success we had for the state’s largest event, I have no doubt that this same type of law enforcement presence and teamwork can be implemented on a much larger scale to restore peace and safety for the entire City of Jackson. The law-abiding people of Mississippi, including the people of Jackson, deserve nothing less for our capital city.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did they keep data on exactly how many "troublemakers" were denied entry or removed? That'd be a fun FOIA

Anonymous said...

Nobody got shot that I know of, so good for them.
Pretty low bar, but a positive regardless.

Anonymous said...

There were no incidents (that they are revealing). The cowboy doesn't want to look bad as he is fixin' to run for a higher office.

Anonymous said...

somebody check the fonts before you release things to the press. bush league.

Anonymous said...

This is yet more proof how well things can still be run in Jackson when the adults are in charge.

Good Job, Commissioner Gipson and Sheriff Jones.

Anonymous said...

I’m betting someone close to retirement wrote that since the font is so large. It’s a tell-tale when you get anything digital from a senior citizen. It makes me think that they’re just yelling through the house at whoever will listen.

Anonymous said...

the fact that the fair makes the news every day its in town says so much about MS ..... nothing to do

tater tot tweeting about business growth in MS , he tweeted about a zaxby's opening in meridian , that is so sad ....

Crystal Springs Resident said...

Took my family and some friends to the fair, as I do every year. I also attended during lunch one day with my coworkers. I've never had an issue nor felt concern for our safety. Wonderful family experience, and will be back again next year!! Thank you for a great family-fun event!!

Anonymous said...

Well done, Gipson.

Anonymous said...

@9:50AM
Interesting way of telling us that you are clueless about how web browsers function. The font size is set by you on your screen! It looks normal to everyone else!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I missed it for the 35 th year in a row.

Anonymous said...

Agree with 11:06... looks normal on mine.

Anonymous said...

Commenter #1 - "Never been, never will!"

Commenter #2 - "There is never anything to do in MS - the Fair sucks."

Commenter #3 - "Someone needs to take a class on fonts!!"

Commenter #4 - "They just didn't reveal all the shootings and killings that happened."

These are all just examples of people who never contribute to the betterment of society. They don't volunteer their time, work with a non-profits when its not to their benefit or to make them look good, start or manage an event that other people can enjoy, or put themselves out there for criticism like they like to dish. They just work, make money, and complain about how things suck. Well good on ya.

And spare me the "you don't know me" crap. If I struck a nerve you know I'm right.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous @8:49. The Cowboy stated to a group he recently spoke with that he will be running again for State Agriculture Commissioner.

Anonymous said...

Large venues in Jackson are very safe...until they're not. Just like pit bulls that would never hurt a flea, until they do.

Anonymous said...

Good job to all, the fair was safe and no shootings. I guess the thugs decided to act like they had a little upbringing cause the Commissioner was in town and he don’t play.

Thanks to all the Law Enforcement Officers that worked the fair!

Robert W Neill Jr, Land Broker said...

Did Elvis ever perform at the Mississippi State Fair in Jackson? He performed at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo as a child and then again when he became famous.


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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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This is definitely a Beaver production.

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