BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – The Clallam County Fair’s first two years of hosting a beer garden has been enough of a success that county officials have decided to keep it open for one additional day this summer.
Managed by the Juan De Fuca Foundation for the Arts (JFFA), the beer garden has only been open during the rodeo on Friday and Saturday evenings. Reports from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department (CCSD), as well as feedback from fair staff, volunteers, and attendees, indicated the venue was managed “in a safe, compliant, and effective manner.”
But Fair Director Don Crawford told KONP there were still instances of “tailgating” in the fair parking lots and to the south of the arena. In January, Crawford and Sheriff Brian King proposed expanding the beer garden to include the Sunday Demolition Derby, and County Commissioners have since approved the idea.
Sheriff King has said he sees the expansion as a way of reducing open container violations.
Much like the rodeo, the beer and wine garden expansion is limited to operations beginning one hour before and ending one hour after the demolition derby on Sunday, August 17th. To enter the beer garden on Sunday, fairgoers will be required to have both a fair admission and a demo derby admission wristband.
Demolition Derby drivers, pit crews, and folks with pit passes will not be able to enter the beer garden until after the event concludes.
JFFA will continue to operate the beer garden.