Major Sportsmen’s Shows Moved Back To March

While the Seattle Boat Show is going digital-only with its big January shindig, organizers of a major series of midwinter Northwest sportsmen’s shows are rescheduling two of theirs for March but acknowledge the situation is still “very fluid” given Covid-19.

O’Loughlin Trade Shows posted new dates for events in Puyallup and Portland yesterday.

The Washington Sportsmen’s Show is now slated for March 17-21 at the state fairgrounds; typically it’s held on January’s last weekend.

And the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show has been moved from early February to March 24-28 at the Expo Center and will include the Portland Boat Show on the same dates.

O’Loughlin’s Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show at the Deschutes County fairgrounds in Redmond, which usually is their finale, will occur March 11-14 , roughly when it was for scheduled this year before being cancelled.

The news was first reported yesterday afternoon by Bill Monroe in The Oregonian.

“Everyone is in the now,” show spokesman Trey Carskadon told Monroe. “They’ll say, ‘How can you even think about doing this?’ but the holiday upticks may subside in January, and as the vaccine becomes available, the situation can change. It’s all very fluid.”

Recognizing the pandemic and Northwest governors’ Covid-related restrictions, a statement on O’Loughlin’s website states that organizers are working with health authorities on permitting the shows and doing so safely.

Writes Monroe, “Carskadon said an array of at least 20 potential changes include mandatory masks, dozens of hand-cleansing stations, one-way travel in aisles, safety monitors, timed tickets, extended show hours, fewer seminars in larger meeting rooms and different booth spacing.”

Their show in Redmond had been just about to open this past March 12 when it was forced to close as Governor Kate Brown barred gatherings of more than 250 people statewide. Two other March shows cancelled around the same time.

Fast forward eight months to Election Night and with the pandemic still raging, organizers of the Seattle Boat Show announced that they were going digital-only and with a shortened schedule from usual. It will be held Jan. 28-31.

Shuyler Productions, which puts together shows in Central Washington, and ExpoSure Shows, which does Southern Oregon, currently show they are a go for February events, and the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council plans on a March Big Horn Adventure Show.

One Northwest fish and wildlife agency has informed me that they will not be attending events in January and February.

The new producers of the Wenatchee Sportsmen’s Show, the ADG Media Group, and OCEAN, which puts on Salem’s mid-March Saltwater Sportsmen’s Show, both announced their 2021 shows are a no-go and they will be back in 2022.

Best advice is to stay tuned to show websites, the news and governors as we grind through these difficult times.