Enhanced safety measures have been implemented for the South Carolina State Fair

Columbia, SC (WACH) — The 155th South Carolina State Fair begins Wednesday and final preparations are being made, with safety a big focus.

In fact, there are a few changes to the show this year that focus on that.

It is our responsibility to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our fair,” said Nancy Smith, general manager of the South Carolina State Fair

This year, he said, implementing new safety protocols with the help of Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott was a must.

“Youths are accompanied by an adult and we have increased the hours and days for this,” Sheriff Lott said.

According to the new regulations, no one under the age of 18 is allowed to enter the fair every day from 5 p.m. without an adult older than 21 years.

On Friday and Saturday no one under the age of 18 is permitted entry unless accompanied by an adult.

“When we look at other fairs where there have been problems, it’s usually unaccompanied teenagers just running wild, and so we want to prevent that by having a parent. “They won’t do it if they have an adult with them,” Sheriff Lott continued.

“Unsupervised teenagers come here and cause trouble. “Look what happened in Orangeburg on Saturday night, they closed down their fair to get people out because there was reckless behavior going on and they got into the parking lot and there was a shooting,” said Matt Laschuma, SC State security director Fair.

One person was injured and another was arrested in the shooting at the Orangeburg County fair on Saturday.

Related: One man injured, fair closed after riots and shooting in Orangeburg

South Carolina State Fair officials say they plan to take security in the parking lot as seriously as security inside the fair gates.

“We’re taking over the entire fair, it includes everything as far as the parking outside and the streets outside, we’ve got everything covered because we just don’t want to isolate our security inside the fair because we know there can be some issues outside.” said Sheriff Lott.

And Matt Laschuma, head of security for the SC State Fair, agrees: “For the 400,000 people who come to our fair, all of the security, time, energy and effort goes into the one person who wants to show up.”

Another focus of this year’s fair is what you can bring. Carrying small clutch bags will no longer be permitted and the only bag allowed inside will be a clear bag.