The merry-go-round, carnival ride of the Richmond Fair—will it happen or won’t it—continued yesterday. Hours after saying the fair was off, organizers reversed course to say there is still a chance it could happen, only later than planned. Fair organizer Philip Downing said last night that if plans fall into place, a 10-day Richmond Fair can begin as early as next Friday, July 24, in the parking lots at The Diamond on North Boulevard.

The organizers of a 10-day fair planned at The Diamond have reached a compromise with Richmond police that will allow the event to begin Sunday, two days later than planned, Police Chief Brian T. Norwood said last night. “What we did, we talked about postponing it just a few more days to allow my department to be better prepared for it,“ Norwood said. “So we compromised on Sunday” as the fair’s opening day.

The Richmond Police Department said today that it hasn’t made a decision to deny a permit for a 10-day fair that’s scheduled to start Friday at The Diamond.

The certainty of the Richmond Fair became a little less certain yesterday when word spread that the city police aren’t going to issue a permit for the 10-day carnival-style festival. “I spoke to Philip [Downing, the fair operator] yesterday and advised him that a permit for the carnival is not going to be issued by the PD and that he will be receiving a letter the first part of the week,“ Assistant Police Chief David M. McCoy said in an e-mail.

The Richmond Fair is official. The carnival-style fair once planned for Henrico County will set up shop in the parking lots surrounding The Diamond starting Friday and running through July 26. The Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which owns The Diamond, confirmed yesterday afternoon that it had signed a contract for the event with Fair Nation Inc.