Dates for the 2017 FROG Rally will be August 6-12 at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, IN.
This is not the week we'd prefer to have, but that week has already been booked for an activity since four years ago. This means that, as has been the case until this year, the fairgrounds staff will have to begin laying out electric and water lines the day after the fair ends. That week will also be needed for tearing down carnival rides and tents, setting up buildings for dinners and vendors, mowing grass, re-locating tables and chairs from other areas of the fairgrounds, and much more. We'll be coming in with parking and registration crew that week as well.
Early arrivals well be severely limited that week. For those who called to arrive on Wednesday and decided to show up on Monday because they just happened to be in the area, they'll be politely(?) turned away. I'll be meeting with the fair staff again to see whether we can allow early arrivals on Wednesday or whether we need to allow another day for setup. (Early parking helps to relieve the crunch on the weekend, but limits setup time for the staff fairgrounds staff.)
For those who have asked about moving to other months, this is the ONLY week available on the entire calendar of the fairgrounds. There are two times that we could run from mid-week to mid-week, but that creates several problems, such as taking away weekends for travel time; having the event run across a Sunday when none of the Amish managers and technicians would be available to work; introducing holiday hours and requiring staff to give up their holiday weekend; and more.
The entire month of July is blacked out on the fairgrounds' calendar for fair preparations and the fair itself.
Registration will likely open around the first week of April again next year. We'll be working on possible methods to avoid having all of the reservations fill up again in the first couple of days, and will be announcing something on that after the first of the year.
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