BUTTE — The Butte-Silver Bow County Fair has a new industrial setting at the Original Mine. The county fair changed venues from the Butte Vigilante Saddle Club, which organizers say will give more people access to the events coming up this weekend in Uptown Butte.
"So, we’re actually really excited to be up here at the Original. It’s one of those locations in the community that people look to for festivals and events and we felt that it would be a great opportunity to bring more people to come out and support the events that are going on at the fair," says Kellie Kahtani, the MSU Extension agent for Butte-Silver Bow.
Beginning July 26, 4-H participants will bring in their animals but participants were busy Tuesday showing their projects to judges, including a project by Jimmy Blow who took his archery skills all the way to Nebraska this summer for the national competition.
"It was pretty cool. It was awesome. It was a lot different. Nebraska doesn’t have much. There’s corn and clouds but it was cool to see the different places on the way down—we drove so it was cool to see everything and we met a lot of different people from around the country," says 4-H participant Jimmy Blow.
A record number of states participated in the national tournament this year and of the 42 states that were entered, the Montana team took ninth place.
"I learned to work hard and the hard work pays off in the end if you do what you do," said Blow.
The fair will feature motocross events, a magician, kids activities, and musician Priscilla Block on Friday night. But we can’t forget the animals, and Kellie says the local festival area is about to turn into a slumber party for livestock and the kids who care for them.
"We’ve got kids that are actually gonna stay overnight on the grounds to kind of keep an eye on the livestock throughout the whole night, but the families are super excited about this move and the potential to have the whole community come and support them," says Kahtani.
"We’ll have cattle, sheep, and pigs that will be staying the night up here. So there may be some interesting noises throughout the night but for the most part, the livestock will sleep," says Kahtani.
For more information and to see the fair schedule, visit the Butte-Silver Bow County Fair Facebook page.
