This year, you can sign up for text alerts to your phone for important messages during Deschutes County Fair

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Deschutes County Fair and Expo announced Tuesday they will be utilizing Nixle event subscription or “keyword” text messaging through Deschutes Alerts during this week's Deschutes County Fair.

"This tool will assist us in providing important and even emergency information to those at the fair," the sheriff's office said.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office will utilize the tool to provide information to fairgoers of situations such as missing children, traffic issues, severe weather or emergencies.

To sign up, fairgoers need only to text the keyword: DCFAIR to 888777. This will anonymously opt them in for text messages from the Sheriff’s Office. If you wish to stop getting alerts, you can text STOP to the same number. The DCFAIR keyword subscription will automatically expire after the fair.