DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Mississippi Valley Fair is underway this week with hundreds of thousands expected to attend.
More than 20,000 people attended Tuesday night's grandstand concert with Sam Hunt, the fairground's general manager said.
"Last night was a very large crowd that was in for the show," Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane said. "There's a lot of people showing up this year. I think that's a good thing."
Lane's office is helping provide security at the fair this week, along with a private security company. The department is working the fence lines and the gates and roving around to cover the entire grounds.
"We've had the usual incidents that happen at the fairgrounds, which is that maybe somebody has had a little bit too much to drink, maybe some people aren't getting along too well," Lane said. "We haven't seen a lot of that. But these are things that — because we have so much coverage within the fairgrounds, so good communications — we've been able to get to it right away and we've been able to deal with the problems before anything significant has happened. It seems like a very safe environment this year."
If you're headed out to the fair to catch the grandstand concerts this week, here are a few things to know.
- You'll have to have a Fun Card to attend the grandstand acts.
- Gates open for the concerts at 6:30 p.m. Concerts begin at 8.
- Smaller bags are allowed, but backpacks are not.
- Collapsable coolers are allowed but must be empty.
- If you plan on drinking, make sure to grab a wristband.
- The general manager recommends arriving early since you'll have to go through metal detectors.
- The sheriff also recommends if you want to avoid the larger crowd standing by the stage, to arrive early and find a seat higher up.
New this year, only Fun Card holders are allowed admission to the fairgrounds after 9 p.m. The sheriff said the fair wanted to change this to help promote safety.
"What they find is that a lot of the crowd shows up after 9, they have not had fun cards in the past," Lane said. "They come in and there's a little bit of a ruckus. And some of the people enjoying the fair have wanted to leave a little bit early. They wanted to prevent that. And I think they've done a good job. I think it's a good decision. We're noticing that the crowd is staying very friendly and having a good time right up until closing."
For everything you need to know about the fair this week from admission to food to concert line ups click here.