The National Junior Angus Show has set up shop at Tulsa's Expo Square with attendees coming from across the country to participate even as coronavirus cases spike locally and nationwide.
"It's all O.K. in OK" is a slogan for the event, repeated on signs and in promotional videos for the weeklong gathering.
In May, when the event was booked, Tulsa Regional Tourism President Ray Hoyt said he hoped it would draw thousands of attendees and bring in $2.5 million for Tulsa's struggling pandemic-era tourism industry. On Monday, Hoyt said the attendance would now be drastically lower and the event will not be open to the general public.
The event was originally booked at a venue in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, but was forced to find a new venue after that state's COVID-19 restrictions did not allow for an event so large. Oklahoma, which had and continues to have looser restrictions than much of the country, was their choice.
Hoyt says Tulsa Regional Tourism has been in contact with the Angus Association and Expo Square daily, to make clear virus safety expectations, such as mask-wearing and social distancing. The Angus Show has said it is adapting their normal format of the livestock competition with measures such as not offering group meals, encouraging attendees to watch events via livestream, and encouraging attendees to socially distance and not take group photos.
("Keep six feet, or one heifer length, between you and other exhibitors," a graphic posted to Facebook reads.)
The Professional Bull Riders, an entirely separate entity from the Angus Association, is selling tickets for an indoor event at the BOK Center tin August that ASM Global, the company that manages the arena, has said would employ many of the same safety measures as were in place at President Trump's June rally, with one additional measure: an attendance cap, which was not necessary at the rally due to low attendance.
A White House coronavirus task force document leaked last week recommends Tulsa County implement a restriction on gatherings of more than 10 people due to the severity of the local outbreak. Mayor G.T. Bynum and a spokesperson for the Tulsa Health Department both told Public Radio Tulsa last week that they learned of the document in the media, and that they've received no guidance from Gov. Kevin Stitt nor the federal government.
