Falling in line with some of the biggest attractions in the world, the Minnesota State Fair has announced restrictions on selfie sticks.
Those retractable cellphone holders designed to give picture snappers a better visual perspective of their whereabouts will be forbidden on rides and at live entertainment venues, said fair spokeswoman Brienna Schuette.
"We didn't want to do a fairground-wide ban," Schuette said. "There are plenty of places where it wouldn't present a problem."
Those potential problems that folks at the fair want to avoid are selfie sticks somehow getting caught in the mechanisms of rides or obstructing views and potentially whacking folks at the grandstand and other venues.
"Moving parts [on rides] is really where we got concerned," Schuette said. "The last thing we want is for people to get hurt."
Schuette said fair officials won't be heavy-handed if they see violators, opting at first to politely ask anyone with a selfie stick in a forbidden area to put it away.
Disney has banned selfie sticks at all of its theme parks. Bans are also in place at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, Smithsonian buildings in Washington, D.C., and Rome's Colosseum. Two American tourists were arrested in March after carving their names into the Colosseum's wall and then taking a photo with a selfie stick.
Paul Walsh
