State fairs and festivals now required to have permit

FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) - The stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair last year has sparked conversation about safety throughout the nation. Now, state legislators are doing what they can to make sure an incident like that doesn't happen again. Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes agrees with the decision.

"As local leaders, at times we get frustrated with legislation, with bureaucracy that comes down from both the federal level and the state level," said Mayor McBarnes. "This piece of bureaucracy I hold in my hands, festival contingency plan, is something I'm actually excited the state enacted."

The state of Indiana now requires any event that has a stage or rigging for lights and sound, to submit a Festival Contingency Plan. The plan covers how a festival will operate should an emergency situation arise.

The plan includes topics from severe weather, medical emergencies, and even hazardous materials. The city of Frankfort has compiled its emergency action plan for its annual Hot Dog Festival in July Frankfort fire inspector Jeff Wellman said drafting the plan has been a joint effort.

"Frankfort Main Street has been involved, emergency management has been involved, different city departments," said Wellman. "So, we've had a lot of people, we've picked their brains, dissected other plans and molded them to a workable thing for us."

Wellman said the plan took about two weeks to complete and Mayor McBarnes said the plan will be sent to Indianapolis for approval by the end of the week. Once approved, Frankfort will receive a permit that will allow them to host the festival.

"Come down and enjoy this event, it's something that really makes our city sparkle," said Mayor McBarnes. "Again, that's why we wanted to put extra effort into this because we don't want this dream to turn into a nightmare, and it's going to be anything but that."

The Annual Frankfort Hot Dog festival will take place Thursday, July 26 through Saturday, July 28.