‘We’re not a babysitting service’: Greater Gulf State Fair director talks new safety measures

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — The Greater Gulf State Fair is one of the most popular events each year in Mobile County and, this year, there will be new safety protocols fair-goers must follow.

Greater Gulf State Fair organizers are introducing a youth curfew, which means children 17 years old and younger must be accompanied by a parent or chaperone who is 21 or older after 7 p.m.

“You won’t even be able to approach the ticket counters without proving that there is someone with you chaperoning you,” GGSF Executive Director Josh Woods said. “Also, on the midway after that time, if you’re out there causing a ruckus and all that fun stuff that really isn’t fun, then you’ll be asked to leave and escorted out of the property.”

On top of the curfew, the fair will have advanced metal detector technology to find any objects not allowed on The Grounds.

“We’re also like a little city,” Woods said. “So not only do we have a police force out here, we have an emergency response through Mobile Fire-Rescue.”

On the last Saturday that the GGSF was in town in 2023, multiple fights broke out, which caused fair officials to shut it down two hours early.

Woods said they are taking these preventative measures to ensure nothing like that happens again this year.

“These changes that we’re making this year just reinforce the fact that we’re not a babysitting service,” Woods said. “Our mission at the GGSF is to be a place where people can come to make memories and that’s what we’re focused on and making sure incurs.”

The GGSF will be open from Oct. 25 through Nov. 3.

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