Parson: State Fair still necessary during coronavirus pandemic

This year’s Missouri State Fair doesn’t look like years past. Pretty much everything except the youth livestock show is not happening because of coronavirus concerns.

But Gov. Mike Parson said despite rising cases of the virus, it was still important to have the livestock show.

“Our kids need to be doing something,” said Parson during the fair’s opening Thursday. “They need to be out here showing livestock. They need to be together as we move forward in this state.”

Parson said fair officials are doing their best to have people follow social distancing rules.

There are about 12 percent more entries in this year’s livestock show compared to last year.