The sight of frolicking kids, the sound of bellowing cows and the smell of corndogs pulled straight from the fryer returns to Cassopolis this weekend.

Live music and entertainment, livestock exhibitions, carnival rides, and, of course, fair food, await visitors to the 164th Cass County Fair, which formally begins at 6 p.m. Sunday with the fair opening ceremonies and parade. Events and activities run throughout the week, concluding on Saturday, Aug. 8.

The members of the Cass County Fair Board have been preparing for this year’s event for more than a year, lining up entertainment acts to fill up the entire week-plus long schedule of festivities, said President Gail Peterson.

“We try to have a lot going on at all times, between the shows and the rides,” Peterson said,

Many popular grandstand attractions return to the lineup of events, including the street legal pickup truck and semi tractor pull, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2; the demolition derby, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6; and the monster trucks exhibition, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. Headlining this year’s lineup of entertainers is American country music artist Keith Anderson, who will be singing at the grand stand at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5.

A number of free shows will also take place throughout the week on the fairgrounds, including the Nick’s Kids Show, which takes place three times every day; the Kid Bucks Show, which will take place two to three times a day; and the Bear Mountain Wildlife Encounter Show.

As always, much of the fair attractions are centered on 4-H youth and adult livestock exhibitions. Around 1,000 kids will be showing their cow, horse, lamb, goat or other animal projects at this year’s fair, with participation up in nearly category, Peterson said.

Like other fairs across Michigan, children will be prohibited from showing any chickens, ducks or other bird projects this year, due to the statewide ban on public avian exhibitions following the latest bird flu outbreak earlier this year.

“A lot of kids who show poultry also show other animals, so they’re not completely left out of the fair,” Peterson said.

The fair president noted that the number of rabbit projects shot up this year due to the ban, with many kids choosing to take on that small animal in place of their usual poultry project.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, people can visit the fair website at mycasscountyfair.com. The Cass County Fairgrounds are located at 590 N. O Keefe St.

“If you’ve never been to the fair before, come see what it is like,” Peterson said. “If you have, come look around and see what’s new.”