OGDEN — A year ago at this time, a steady stream of news poured out about several longtime local traditions being canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But an announcement this week that one of Ogden’s preeminent, most well-attended summer events will return in 2021 suggests that this year could be the exact opposite.

Officials from the Ogden Pioneers Days Foundation announced that its familiar Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Hall of Fame Rodeo will be back this year. Set to take place from July 20-24 at the historic Ogden Pioneer Stadium, the rodeo is one of several events that will return as part of the annual Pioneer Days celebration in Junction City.

A press release from the foundation says familiar activities like the Miss Rodeo Ogden and Miss Rodeo Utah competitions, parades, concerts, fireworks, a Western art show and more will return in 2021 as well.

The rodeo, which regularly draws more than 30,000 spectators and showcases participants from all over the world, is the focal point of the week. This year will be the 87th time the rodeo will have been held in Ogden.

“We are pleased to bring back several aspects of Pioneer Days, especially the PRCA Rodeo,” said foundation Chairman Alan Hall in a statement. “It’s a summer family tradition and an economic catalyst for our surrounding businesses.”

As the event nears, Hall said the foundation will work in lockstep with city and county officials and the Weber-Morgan Health Department to ensure the event is carried out in a “safe and responsible” manner.

While the COVID-19 virus continues to surge in other parts of the world, like India, and even in some pockets of the United States, case counts have flattened out in Utah. According to data from the Utah Department of Health, the seven-day average of new cases on Sunday was 389. Average weekly case counts in the month of April are as low as they’ve been in Utah since the first few days of September 2020, according to the data. The health department also says nearly 1.3 million Utahns have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Since 1934, the Ogden Pioneer Days Celebration and Rodeo have been held to commemorate Utah’s statehood and to honor the pioneer people who helped establish the communities of the intermountain West. Events associated the celebration typically run for two weeks in mid-July.

The Pioneer Days Foundation says tickets and more information about the 2021 celebration and rodeo will be made available in coming weeks at ogdenpioneerdays.com.