Safety and health precautions are in place for the Pride of Dakota Harvest Showcase at the Jamestown Civic Center this weekend, according to Pam Fosse, manager of the Civic Center.
"We'll be sanitizing as the show progresses," she said. "We'll follow the North Dakota Smart Restart guidelines for large venue events."
The showcase is open to the public from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Jamestown Civic Center. Admission is free.
Along with sanitizing and disinfecting bathrooms and other commonly touched surfaces, booth placement and traffic flow of visitors have been changed to promote safe distancing, said Kara Haff, Pride of Dakota specialist for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.
"We will have all of the traffic moving in one direction," she said. "We used that in Dickinson and it worked very well."
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Booths are placed in groups of four with space separating the groups. This allows each booth to have two areas where customers can view products and prevent crowding.
"For everyone to have a corner booth at an event like this is unprecedented," Haff said.
Officials will also track the number of people entering and exiting the Civic Center to limit the number of people in the venue to no more than 250 people at any one time.
"We did this in Dickinson and didn't have any problems or have to turn anyone away," Haff said.
Food samples will be allowed but the food must be kept behind the counter and samples prepared and distributed at the request of the customer.
Visitors are also encouraged to wear masks, which will be provided by Pride of Dakota if the customer doesn't have one. Booth proprietors also have the option of requiring people to wear masks when at their display.
Haff said the Pride of Dakota Harvest Showcase will follow guidelines that were proven to work at the Dickinson event in September.
"The Dickinson show was down about 20 booths and so is the Jamestown show, but it went very well and people were happy," she said.
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Fosse said similar procedures will be followed when the Jamestown Civic Center sponsors its Christmas Boutique on Nov. 8.
