OBSERVER File Photo Pictured, Chautauqua County Fair in 2018. The 2022 version of the Chautauqua County Fair will take place from July 19 to 24.

The Chautauqua County Fair is returning this summer.

Canceled in 2020 and ’21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will happen Tuesday, July 19 to Sunday, July 24. Tickets will go on sale in mid-June, according to a recent Facebook post from the fair’s account.

“Things are a little different. Costs are a little more,” said Dave Wilson, president of the fair’s board, on Monday. “We’re playing it by ear to see what’s going on.”

Powers and Thomas Amusements will provide rides and entertainment. The company took over fairway duties in 2018 and received rave reviews.

Wilson said that animal exhibitors can start setting up on July 17-18, the Sunday and Monday before the event officially opens. Rides and other fairway entertainment will start Tuesday the 19, and grandstand shows begin on Wednesday, July 20, he said.

A Puerto Rican band, Rumba Caliente, will open the grandstand with a July 20 concert. A tractor pull event is set for Thursday, July 21. The demolition derby is planned for Friday, July 22 and Sunday, July 24. Finally, the New York State Horse Pullers Association will put on a Saturday, July 23 show.

Wilson said Sunday fireworks, a staple of the fair’s closing night in the past, probably won’t happen this year.

The Chautauqua County Fair has missed just five years since 1881. COVID-19 fears accounted for two of those years. The fair was not held from 1942-44 because the Fairgrounds was used as a prisoner-of-war camp for Germans, Italians and Japanese captured in World War II.

On Monday, it was clear that Wilson is excited for the fair’s return. “We’re back,” he said repeatedly.

“Everybody’s gonna get together. We’ve been cooped up for so long. I’m looking forward to it. I think we all are,” he concluded.