Carnival & Fair News

  Amid the COVID-19 crisis that virtually shut down the entire country, many have forgotten about one of the carnival industry's other concerns, the H-2B labor crisis.  After months of pleading the Department of Homeland Security for supplemental visas to be released, on March 5, 2020 the DHS committed to releasing 35,000 additional visas in two batches.  Unfortunately, once the Coronavirus pandemic hit, much of DHS' focus was put on the crisis at hand, not the release of additional H-2B visas.  Some worried if it would even happen amidst the crisis.  On March 25, the additional H-2B visa rule for the supplemental visas was submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review.  This rule contains the guidelines for filing and worker eligibility.  Once the rule is published, capped out employers will be able to file for the visas.  According to Gray Delaney of the Seasonal Employment Alliance, the rule is considered an emergency and ...   [read more]

  On March 24, 2020, Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) addressed federal relief and the impact COVID-19 has had on festivals and fairs.  Senator Blunt is the 4th ranked Representative in the Senate. "We're about to get to the season of the year where people have community festivals and fairs.  The Missouri State Fair, the Ozark Empire Fair, the Carnivals that occur in our state (of Missouri),  the 6-10 month travel destinations like Silver Dollar City, Six Flags, or Worlds of Fun.  If you lose part of that season, that part of the season is lost and you're not going to get that May, June, or April back.  You're not going to tack it on at the end by saying we will just be open in January to make up for the people that would have been at our theme park in June," said Blunt.   Blunt expressed the need to provide federal funding for the industry in part four of the relief package.You can view Blunt's speech in its entirety below (courtesy of the ...   [read more]