Othello Fair canceled, livestock sale in planning stages

OTHELLO — While the Othello Fair has been canceled for 2020, livestock committee members are looking at options for a livestock sale.

The fair’s cancellation was announced Aug. 5. The fair was scheduled for Sept. 16-19.

The livestock sale will be open to exhibitors within Adams County and all counties bordering it, according to a post on the fair association’s social media. Registration and sale details are still under development and will be announced.

Othello Fair officials had postponed any announcement on its status in 2020 in the hopes it could go on as scheduled, according to a post on the fair website. But fair board member Roy Dodge said the COVID-19 outbreak made that impossible.

“We don’t have enough time to get to where we would need to be in order to have the fair,” Dodge said.

In March state officials put severe restrictions on movement and shut down most businesses and events in an effort to slow down the coronavirus outbreak. A phased reopening plan was instituted in May, and Adams County has qualified for the second of four phases.

But the reopening plan was halted in July in the face of an increasing number of cases, both in Adams County and throughout Eastern Washington. In order for the fair to go on as scheduled, Adams County would have to be in the last phase of the reopening plan. Even if the reopening plan were allowed to restart, there’s not enough time for Adams County to qualify for the fourth phase, Dodge said.

Fair officials weren’t accepting exhibitor registrations, but vendor registration and camping registration had been accepted. Those fees will be refunded by the end of August, fair officials said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.