Its that time of year again, the McPherson Carnival is in town. To many people around McPherson the carnival was a yearly event that they enjoyed and looked forward to however, in the recent years the quality of certain rides have gone down.

Shining a light on a particular ride, ‘The Zipper’ is one of the most notorious things to go on when enjoying yourself at the carnival. It is by far the largest and tallest ride there, but is it the safest? Freshman, Carly Stout, said, “Honestly I love the zipper and it’s the only “thrill” ride they have but it’s broken a lot and that’s really scary. I do think the quality has gone way down at the carnival and I don’t plan on going next year.” Freshman, Sheridan Bliss, said, “Yeah I think it’s safe. I had a lot of fun at the carnival but I think it was mainly because I went with my big group of friends. I didn’t really notice a difference but I haven’t gone that regularly either”

With some kids having bad experiences on this ride, is this something parents are going to want their kids riding on? Taking your children to the carnival is supposed to be a fun family thing to do and your child getting hurt on it would be disappointing to say the least.

Personally, I think most of the rides at the carnival could be a lot safer. The Zipper and other rides have been in use for years and have definitely been through some wear and tear. The buckles and bars that hold you in are also inconsistent on some of the rides. I’m not saying they are all unsafe but some are definitely questionable for the age groups that are aloud on. In my opinion, there doesn’t need to be a drastic change made but I do think it could be inspected for its safety (especially the zipper). Some little adjustments could fix the overall experience at the McPherson carnival.

The next time the carnival rolls around in May 2020, let’s hope the quality of the Zipper, and the rides overall are a lot higher.