Promoter plans 'safer' indoor fun fair this year

An indoor fair started Friday evening at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds - the same event that ended in a fight and evacuation of the exposition building last year. <br><br>News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan

Friday, February 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

An indoor fair started Friday evening at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds - the same event that ended in a fight and evacuation of the exposition building last year.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says last year the Saturday night of the fun fair turned into a mess when a fight broke out inside. Several people thought they heard gunshots - and soon everyone was running out of the building.

The scene was chaotic - deputies cleared out the building - and the police responded in huge numbers to control the crowd. People ran in all directions. It ended with several people arrested - but no evidence of a gun or gunshots - and this year the promoter has added security and shrunk the size of the fair to make it easier to manage.

Mark Finnerty, Fun Fair Promoter: â€œSo what we're trying to do is encourage more family activity and we want parents to bring their kids because we've got merry go rounds slides bumper cars and tilt a whirls.â€ And there is no longer a cheap ticket that allows people in just to walk around.

The promoter hopes it will keep out the people who might cause trouble. He says he'll have 3 times the security of last year and thinks that will be enough.