“A tough year for help”: The carnival crew of the Deschutes County Fair is still hiring

(Update: add video, information)

And as a reminder: The number of participants is limited to 25,000 tickets per day

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo are back this week, but just like many things, it could be different this year.

One reason: The company that hosts the carnival, Davis Shows Northwest, told NewsChannel 21 that it sees what pretty much every company across the country sees – a need for more workers.

Game manager Les Yapp has worked on Carnival all his life.

“I was born and raised at 75,” he told NewsChannel 21 on Monday.

He’s never had the problems he had this year.

“This has been a difficult year for aid,” said Yapp.

As of Monday, Davis had a crew of around 75 ready to set up and run the carnival. But that’s about 25-30 people less than Yapp would like to be.

“Not enough people to work,” he said. “The biggest problem is that we don’t have the help.”

And it’s not a single Carnival problem, said Geoff Hinds, director of the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center.

“We recognize that most of our partners are struggling to get the full workforce they need to be full-time as they would in a normal year,” he said.

Yapp said most of the crew he now has is traveling with the company and they are hiring an additional 25-30 local temps.

And his fight isn’t just here.

“We started in Vancouver, Washington,” said Yapp. “All over Oregon, down through Nevada. We had the same problem everywhere.”

He said they can get by with what they have. If they don’t get help, everyone just has to work harder.

Nevertheless, Yapp said: “We’d rather have a few too many than a few too few.”

He said the queues are not getting any longer and most importantly the daily driving safety inspections will not be changed.

“That won’t be a problem because we don’t open them,” Yapp said of the inspections.

The job is $ 18 an hour, and those interested are asked to work 32-40 hours this week. You can apply through the “Contact Us” section of Davis’ website.

For those who want to go to the fair, Hinds reminded that there is a limit of 25,000 tickets per day.

There is a chance that tickets may not even be available at the gate if they first sell out online – especially on the busiest days.

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