CHANDLER, AZ — The 32nd Chandler Ostrich Festival has been rescheduled again. This time, the festival is scheduled to return in March 2022 for back-to-back weekends, a first for the East Valley festival.
The new dates for the festival are March 11-13, 2022, and March 17-20, 2022 at Tumbleweed Park in Chandler. There will also be a special St. Patrick's Day-themed celebration on March 17, a news release said.
It marks the fourth time that the yearly festival has been rescheduled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The March 2020 festival was postponed to the fall after COVID-19 cases were first confirmed in the state. It was then pushed to spring 2021 and postponed again to the fall after an uptick in COVID-19 cases and state restrictions on large events being in place.
State mandates on large events and businesses, such as capacity limits, were lifted several weeks ago.
On Thursday, following the Ostrich Festival announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 guidance and said people who were fully vaccinated could resume normal activities, such as dining out with multiple people or attending a concert, without being required to wear a mask.
The Ostrich Festival features carnival games and rides, food vendors, competitions, and live music on multiple stages.
98 Degrees, Blues Traveler and The Pointer Sisters were initially booked to perform at the 2020 festival. No specific announcements other than the dates have been announced for the 2022 event.
"We have been working diligently with the City of Chandler and SLE (Steve Levin Entertainment) to plan the safest event possible for what is expected to be the best Ostrich Festival ever. We are grateful for everyone’s patience while we worked to get this done,” said Terri Kimble, president and CEO of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
Those purchased tickets for the 2020 or 2021 festival dates will be accepted at the 2022 dates.
