ANTIOCH – In a sign that summer is near, the East Bay is hosting one of the first county fairs of the season.
The Contra Costa County Fair is back open for its 88th year. Although it has all the traditional activities, one thing is different: a new policy to ensure that everyone under the age of 18 has a supervisor.
This policy was introduced last year on the last day of the fair, after several fights broke out. The fair board made it official this offseason to continue enforcing the policy for all four days of the event. Any participant aged 18 or younger must be accompanied by a companion who is at least 25 years old.
Bethany Collins is a chaperone. She brought her 12-year-old son and a few of his friends and says it’s nothing like last year.
“We were here last year and there were a lot of fights and it got kind of sketchy towards the evening, so I didn’t really feel safe,” Collins said.
Collins remembered seeing one of those fights.
“We were in the smaller children’s area and I don’t know what happened but it was a big swarm of people and they knocked over the railing and the ride,” she said.
Joe Brengle is the CEO of the Contra Costa County Fair. Brengle says the fair doesn’t attract a large after-school crowd, but something had to be done to keep this fair an enjoyable experience for everyone.
“We saw a lot of teenagers just being dropped off with nothing to do but cause some trouble, so we wanted it to be safe for everyone who came to the fair,” he said.
The chaperone policy gets mixed reviews among the teens at the fair.
“I feel like the fair is a place where kids go to have fun away from their parents, and I feel like the chaperone policy takes that away, you know?” said Jaimison Krause.
“I think this is a good way to protect everyone in the park,” Danny Allan said. “I feel like we’ve had a lot of dangerous incidents in the park, so now that we have this new rule it will make it safer and more enjoyable for everyone else.”
Most families love the new policy and hope it is here to stay. Collins says she is impressed with how the staff is enforcing the policy.
“We’ve been stopped a few times by security just to make sure those kids are with me, to make sure they’re okay,” she said.
