Smaller 'expo' to take place of county fair

Though this year's county fair in Tucumcari contains a longer name, it is a scaled-down affair from previous editions because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The Quay County Fair was rechristened Quay County 4-H/FFA Expo last month to reflect that many of its typical bells and whistles - carnival, vendors, home arts - would be absent this year.

"It's going to be a boring show - just livestock," county agricultural agent Jason Lamb said last week during a telephone interview. "There's no vendors, no concession stands, nothing else.

"We're trying to keep this as small as possible," he added. "That's what it's all about - so we can follow those COVID-19 guidelines. We're trying to not encourage people to come out it; we need to keep the numbers down."

The expo runs from Wednesday through Saturday at the county fairgrounds.

Lamb said he and the fair board learned in early August that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued new directives that allowed youth livestock shows in New Mexico.

"We're legal to have our livestock show," Lamb said. "It was great news to hear that. That was a big sigh of relief when she did that."

Under the directives, Curry and Lea counties held livestock shows earlier this month.

The fair implemented other changes to adjust to the pandemic. Exhibitors would bring their animals the day of their shows and depart the same day, with exceptions for a few "way-out-of-town people," Lamb said.

Fair board Chairman Justin Knight told the county commission in June it had canceled its contract with the carnival vendor because of coronavirus restrictions but sought otherwise to hold a fair "as normal as possible."

The horse show was canceled because of light participation in previous years. Knight said the rabbit show also was canceled and would be held virtually because of another epidemic in the domestic rabbit population - the second time in three years the rabbit show has been curtailed because of disease.

The Quay County 4-H/FFA Expo will continue this week to schedule shows for cattle, swine, sheep, goats and poultry.

One mainstay remains the Junior Livestock Auction, scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday. Lamb said proxy bidders, which bid on animals on behalf of other parties, probably would be more numerous at this year's auction to keep the crowds smaller and foster social distancing.

The smaller scale of the expo is reflected in other numbers. Lamb said about 50 exhibitors signed up to show livestock this year, compared to 75 at last year's fair. The booklet contains just 28 pages, compared to the 58 pages with the previous year's fair.

Lamb acknowledged the disappointment of some the annual event is downsized this year, but it's better than nothing.

"We're happy to be having something, that's for sure," he said.