FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA (September 25, 2020) - Each year the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce organizes two arts festivals, the Great Fair which occurs each February, and the Fountain Fair, which occurs in November. The Chamber of Commerce has requested a special event permit for the Fountain Fair to take place November 13-15. Due to the pandemic and health and safety implications of authorizing the event to go forward, Town of Fountain Hills Mayor Ginny Dickey scheduled a presentation to the Council and the public on Monday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chamber outlining the Chamber’s plans for ensuring the safety of the event before issuing the special event permit.
“While I understood it was possible to make a unilateral decision, I have been clearly concerned about safety throughout the pandemic” said Mayor Ginny Dickey. “The measures put in place by the Chamber gained my approval to write a letter that the Fair could proceed indicating the Town’s expectations for ensuring strict enforcement of the stated safety requirements as the criteria for that support.”
Normally, such requests are handled administratively by an internal special event committee and upon meeting the town's requirements, the Community Services Department issues the special event permits.
“After seeing a variety of comments, and the implications that extend into other events across the Valley, it became apparent that the Council and public should be part of the discussion on this important issue that affects the entire community,” said Mayor Dickey. “I hadn’t seen or signed the letter yet, and other permits were still pending, so I took the opportunity for the plan to be presented publicly in a timely manner so participants, vendors and attendees would know what to expect… and what is expected of them.”
The Special Meeting will be streamed live on www.fh.az.gov.