Discover the Fun at the Florida State Fair Pre Fair interview with the Assistant Manager of the Florida State Fair - Mike Rogalsky. We talk about what is new and exciting at this years Fair. We talk about parking, Seniors and what is good for children under 12 to do. Of course we talk about fair food, the exhibit building the animal exhibits, the carnival and a lot of their entertainment.
Carnival Catastrophe: Is there a Real Reason to be Afraid? Counties and Cities with Carnivals or Fairs There are over 3,000 counties in our country. There are almost 20,000 cities and towns. Just about every one of them has at least one carnival or fair, and in the case of the bigger cities, perhaps dozens every year. According to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) it comes in at about 4,400 injuries annually but only about 1.5% of that number (66) require hospitalization each year. Complied statistics for (non-Amusement Park) carnival and fair injuries or deaths are calculated to be 6 per 100,000 visitors, or 0.006%. Not only is the number quite small, but the classification of injuries is quite broad, including anything requiring treatment or hospitalization. Everything from twisted ankles or sprains, bumped heads, chest pains, numbness, neck strains, back pain, dizziness, and vomiting all count. If you were to pick a large amusement park, such as Disney World with its 19.33 million visitors each year, and apply those statistics, you might expect 1,160 injuries per year. Big parks are actually much better than that because they have permanent equipment that stays in one place, and experienced maintenance crews with multiple inspections per day. An actual Carnival incident In July (2017), when one of the rides at the Ohio State Fair experienced a severe failure, an 18-year-old man was killed. A further six were injured. Despite undergoing three separate inspections, by the operator, the city officials, and an independent third party, they all missed some significant corrosion for one of the seating areas. The metal was thin enough to shear when the ride was under strain with a full load of passengers. Who is to blame? In this particular case, the manufacturer had issued a notice about the fault in the ride considerably earlier. They had notified, or attempted to notify, all purchasers, of the potential danger of failure and recommended not using the ride until repairs could be effected. These carnivals and fairs do a lot of traveling, meaning that equipment is assembled and disassembled daily or weekly, moving from one location to the next. It might be hard to keep up with notices, warnings, alerts, or changing maintenance requirements when you’re constantly on the go. But perhaps, you would think, workers familiar with the equipment might notice changes and deterioration. Except that they might not… It might be invisible because it is encased in fiberglass, or in other ways hidden from view. [...]
The history of Mardi Gras dates back to thousands of years (as early as 1699 in the US) when the Roman Catholic religion was on the peak of its power in Europe. Mardi Gras translates to “Fat Tuesday” which simply means the last days of eating richer foods as the lent season comes in and the fasting starts. This is a celebratory event that allows people to let go of inhibitions and conventions as the Shrive or confession time is drawing near. Carnival Venetian mask isolated on white background with clipping path. There are Mardi Gras celebrations all over the world. The key cities of this celebration are Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, Sinaloa in Mexico, Quebec, Barranquilla in Colombia, and Venice. There are also “Fat Tuesday” celebrations in Germany particularly in the German cities of Cologne and Mainz. Sweden, Belgium, and Netherlands also have their “versions” of the celebration and like in other places, rooted to the same traditions and religious beliefs. What are the celebrations like? What are the included traditions? The Carnival (another name for Mardi Gras in some cultures) in Rio de Janeiro is one of the biggest and well known events in the country that even foreigners flock to the city to witness this annual celebration. It is wild with lots of dancing, costumes and masks. Masks are a major attribute of Mardi Gras and so are street dancing, loud music, and consuming lots of food. In the United Kingdom the food of choice during Mardi Gras are pancakes and other fried pastries that are known to be decadent and reflect dietary excesses as the 40-day fast draws near. Other food that is associated with Mardi Gras is Semlor (Sweden). A popular food custom of the Mardi Gras is the preparation of King Cakes typically seen in many establishments in the French-influenced areas in the US like in the state of Louisiana specifically in New Orleans. The timing of Mardi Gras varies a lot but the most accepted date of the beginning of the celebrations is January 6 as reflected in the start of Carnival Season. The Carnival season ends on an Easter Sunday. Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday and is an event where moral codes are observed loosely. This is the reason why nudity and provocative costumes are all part of the celebration. Mardi Gras in the US is not a nationally observed event but in New Orleans, the [...]
