Grant County Fairgrounds expected to be busy in 2021
Gavin Christopherson (left) and Bob Paxman (right) of Neppel Electric work to install new lights at the Moses Lake Roundup arena at the Grant County Fairgrounds earlier this month. The fairgrounds is expected to be busy in 2021.
A young barrel racer runs the course during an event at the Grant County Fairgrounds in September. A number of equestrian events already are scheduled at the fairgrounds in 2021.
A barrel racer leans into a turn during an event at the Grant County Fairgrounds in September. The fairgrounds calendar already is filling with equestrian events for 2021.
Alecia Fox, 26, rounds her first barrel during a series of races held and organized by the Columbia Basin Barrel Racing Club at the Grant County Fairgrounds in October
MOSES LAKE — Grant County Fairgrounds officials said 2021 will be busy, at least after the first three months.
Fairgrounds director Jim McKiernan said the 2021 schedule is filling up.
“We typically have equestrian events from the end of March through September, and next year is no different,” McKiernan said Wednesday. “Pretty much every weekend the Ardell (Pavilion) or Harwood (Pavilion), or both, are busy,” he said.
Based on the usual number of participants, either pavilion can accommodate equestrian events and still meet the social distancing requirements imposed by state officials to combat the coronavirus outbreak, he said.
The fairgrounds also should host outdoor events, and there are plans to continue Cars Under the Stars, the drive-in movie series that started this year. Fairgrounds officials planned to sponsor a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on Nov. 1, but the pandemic caused it to be canceled. It’s been rescheduled for 2021.
“We’re not sure exactly what that’s going to look like yet,” he said.
Fairgrounds officials also are soliciting events put on by outside vendors. Among the possibilities are classic car shows and recreational vehicle shows.
“Our goal is to increase the use of the grounds. There are 127 acres sitting here,” McKiernan said.
Additional lighting will be installed at the south end of the fairgrounds, part of a project that also brought new lights to the Moses Lake Roundup grounds. Funding has been released for the second phase of the lighting project, and installation is expected to begin by late January.
“We hope,” McKiernan said.
The layout was designed by Musco Lighting, out of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and was built specifically for the field. The lights will illuminate the area behind the rodeo arena, where most of the vendors set up during the Grant County Fair. That will make what is called the “south field” more attractive for use other times of the year, McKiernan said. He cited the possibility of using the field for youth sports team practices.
Total cost of the lighting project is $473,637, with $281,000 of it paid by an allocation from the state’s supplemental capital budget.
State Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, was instrumental in helping get the money, said Tom Gaines, Grant County’s central services director, in an earlier interview.
The impact of the continuing pandemic is expected to be felt on events that rent some of the indoor spaces, like anniversary parties and quinceaneras. Many of the “celebration events” already scheduled for 2021 have been rescheduled from this year, McKiernan said.
