Chincoteague wild horse swim returns after two-year pandemic hiatus

The Chincoteague Pony Swim is set to return this summer after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which organizes the annual festival, said the popular wild horse crossing will take place during the morning of July 27. 

The horses will swim across the Assateague Channel to the eastern side of Chincoteague Island, where some of them will be auctioned off to the audience in an effort to control the population.

“We cannot hardly wait to see everyone, welcome everyone back, see the laughter and smiles on the kid’s faces and see everyone meet up with their old friends for the Chincoteague Homecoming Week, smell the fritters frying, tasting those good pony fries, seeing the whirl of the ferris wheel and just enjoying some good old fashioned, down home Chincoteague fun,” the company said in their Facebook post.

Since 2019, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company Carnival has been hosted online due to the pandemic, with multiple events that were part of the festival canceled, according to local affiliate WRIC.

States and cities across the country are beginning to lift their coronavirus restrictions amid the decline of the high contagious omicron variant.