Change of plans: State Fair moves back to Phoenix

The 2021 Arizona State Fair is moving back to the fairgrounds.

It was previously announced the annual event would be held at Wild Horse Pass at the Gila River Indian Community in Chandler. On Thursday, however, the Arizona State Fairgrounds Board said the fair would return to the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix.

State Fair officials said in a news release the “inability to secure infrastructure” in time to hold the fair at Wild Horse Pass was the main reason it was moved back to Phoenix.

The fair will be held Oct. 2-30, according to Jen Yee, a spokesperson for the Arizona State Fairgrounds.

The earlier announcement lit up Maricopa Facebook groups for a few days, with some expressing joy about a shorter drive to the big fair and others lamenting the month-long impact to traffic on State Route 347.