Each year, the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo aims to raise the bar. This year will be no exception.

“We take our fun very seriously,” said Geoff Hinds, executive director of the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond.

The event, now in its 102nd edition, takes place Wednesday through Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. and wrapping up each evening with the Sounds Fast Free Summer Concert Series. New for 2022 is a concert on Sunday, and similar to last year, there will be a first-class outdoor stage with multiple video walls.

“Even the furthest-back person has the best seat in the house,” Hinds said.

On the main stage, country music singer Chase Rice performs Wednesday, Daughtry takes the stage Aug. 4 and Cheap Trick performs classic rock on Aug. 5. On Aug. 6, three-time Grammy Award winner T.I. will perform hits such as “Whatever You Like,” and Virlan Garcia wraps up on Aug. 7 with music true to the regional Mexican genre.

In addition to the main stage acts, there’ll be three other stages offering a variety of entertainment, from local dance groups to nationally touring stage acts. Altogether, it will add up to more than 45 hours of programming each day.

“We’ve got a high-dive show. We have a lumberjack show,” Hinds said, adding that Bend-based “J.D. Platt’s K9 Kings Dog Show will be coming back.”

The Flying Fools High Dive Show will astound audiences as acrobatic divers jump from up to 82 feet in the air and land in a pool just 10 feet deep. In the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack show, lumberjacks will compete in log rolling, crosscut sawing and axe throwing. Other acts will include ventriloquism, juggling, a comedy hypnotist, an interactive reptile exhibit and livestock displays.

Over 35 carnival attractions will be available to ride with favorites such as the Ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. A wristband is available for purchase for unlimited rides both online and at the fair.

And of course, it wouldn’t be the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo without the rodeo. The Northwest Pro Rodeo Association performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday in the Wilco Arena. There will be the standard rodeo events of bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping, bull riding, barrel racing and breakaway roping.

With over 30 food and snack vendors on hand, the scents of buttery popcorn, cotton candy, funnel cakes and corndogs will waft through the air, along with other sweet and savory treats.

An event the magnitude of Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo has a lot of moving parts, much like the carnival rides.

“To produce Oregon’s largest county fair is a big task,” Hinds said.

“We hope that everyone’s excited to get a chance to come back and see us,” Hinds said. “We’ll make sure that we’ve got a lot of things going on for them to enjoy while they’re here.”

What: 2022 Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo

Where: Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond

When: Aug. 3-7

Wednesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Sunday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Cost: $14 adults, $8 seniors (62 and up), $8 children 6-12, free for children 5 and under, $32 advance carnival wristband

Contact: expo.deschutes.org