Joshua Ceballos/Assistant Entertainment Director
The Fair is arriving soon to MMC, and one of our own is helping to ensure that it gets up and running, and that the music stays pumping.
Quiana Major, junior mechanical engineering student and assistant engineer at “The Roar,” is currently working in tech services for the upcoming Miami-Dade County Fair.
“I build stages, I set up sound systems, and I run the sound systems. Unofficially, it’s pretty much just like coordinating different things that run around those stages and the music production that happens on the stages,” said Major.
Major said that her job at the fair fits well with her career goals, as she has the opportunity to work with heavy machinery and repair audio systems for the various stages, which relates well to her aspirations in sound engineering.
The Fair arrives on Thursday, March 23, and engineers like Major have been hard at work to get things ready.
“In preparation I’ve had to load out and build stages, I’ve had to run wires across different stages. Like yesterday, they had me up in the rafters scaffolding up and hiding wires, which was pretty fun,” said Major.
Although a lot of her job involves serious work to ensure that the upcoming fair is up to snuff, Major says that several Fair staffers have had to deal with some strange distractions.
“People have told me that they’ve had to work with different animals on various occasions and last year [there] was a tiger, and the tiger did enjoy peeing on them every now and then. Some people got full face of tiger piss,” said Major.
Major will be working in managing four stages during the course of The Fair. Juggling work and school is not easy says Major, as she has to work from 5 p.m. to midnight. and then wake up to attend classes in the morning, but according to her, “it pays off.”
There are some surprises in store for anyone attending the fair this year and looking to the various stages, but Ms. Major could not provide much information.
“I can’t really give too much on what different types of shows are gonna be there, but I can tell you there’s going to be local bands on the local stage… that’s the only thing I can tell you,” said Major.
For any student wondering how to get a job at the fair, Major said that she got her job by word of mouth. She was recommended by a friend of hers to the staff of the upcoming exposition.
As for benefits that come from working for The Fair besides the experience, Major says, “you get discounts on tickets and you get free admission for yourself.”
For someone like Quiana Major who grew up attending the annual fair, working for the fair is a fulfilling experience.
“I’ve been going to The Fair since I was a kid, and I always wanted to work there [because of the] nice sounds and lights and people having fun; it’s just an enjoyable experience. I always wanted to be… a part of that in some way,” said Major.
The Miami-Dade County Fair opens to the public on March 23. Students pursuing the performance stages might be able to see Quiana and the other sound engineers making sure that the show goes on.
About Post Author
