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West Springfield Officials Question The Big E's Plan To Open During A Pandemic

In 2019, the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts, attracted more than a million visitors. Tickets for the September 2020 fair are available for purchase.
Courtesy of The Big E
In 2019, the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts, attracted more than a million visitors. Tickets for the September 2020 fair are available for purchase.

Tickets are being sold for the Eastern States Exposition — or The Big E — in West Springfield, Massachusetts, known for livestock competitions, rides and fried food. The website even has a countdown to a supposed opening day, September 18. 

But city officials aren’t satisfied with communication about how the fair would open under COVID-19 regulations, if it were to open at all.

West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, town officials and two state lawmakers sent a letter last week to Eugene Cassidy, the Eastern States Exposition CEO. It included three pages of detailed questions about ride sanitation, managing social distancing during the 17-day fair and whether out-of-state vendors would quarantine themselves in advance.

"It is apparent ...that the ESE has no reservations about operating the 2020 Big E, even in the midst of a pandemic," the letter said.

Cassidy said he’s been working closely for weeks with municipal officials.

"People want to know what's going on, and that's understandable," he said. "But given the fact we're in an ever-changing landscape, it doesn't make sense to put a plan together for June 15 that's going to apply to September 18."

Cassidy said a lot can change, and there's a lot at stake for Greater Springfield.

“We generate nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars’ worth of economic activity for the region,” he said. 

The pandemic kept other notable large crowd venues like nearby Six Flags New England in Agawam and Fenway Park in Boston from opening. Cassidy said time is on their side.

The Baker administration has implemented a phased reopening of the state’s economy. Parades and street and agricultural fairs can take place again in the final phase. Beyond that, The Big E — which last year hosted more than a million people at its fairgrounds — would still need a green light from West Springfield officials. 

In an email Wednesday, Mayor William Reichelt told NEPR that he did hear from officials at The Big E who said they will send him a response to the letter this week, with a meeting planned for next week. 

Jill Kaufman has been a reporter and host at NEPM since 2005. Before that she spent 10 years at WBUR in Boston, producing "The Connection" with Christopher Lydon and on "Morning Edition" reporting and hosting. She's also hosted NHPR's daily talk show "The Exhange" and was an editor at PRX's "The World."
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