Northwest Montana Fair sets attendance record
The crowd stands for the national anthem before the start of the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo on Thursday, Aug. 18. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The 2022 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo set a new record with 82,424 people attending the event over five days at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.
“We extend our appreciation to everyone involved that made this year’s Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo such a fun, safe and memorable community-wide celebration,” Fairgrounds Manager Sam Nunnally said.
The event wrapped up on Sunday, Aug. 21.
Attendance at last year’s fair was 77,828, which was up considerably from the year before when the fair drew just over 32,000 visitors. However, in 2020 the fair’s carnival was canceled and health officials were urging people not to gather due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The previous attendance record set in 2017 was 79,492.
This year the Lee Brice concert sold out of seats nearly a week before the show, and the RAM PRCA Rodeo was extremely popular, too.
“The rodeo had record numbers in attendance all three nights, selling out Friday and Saturday nights,” Nunnally said. “Cervi Championship Rodeo Company brought some great stock, and we had some amazing cowboys and cowgirls compete in every event.”
Sunday’s Big Air Bash was not derailed by a major thunder and lightning storm that hit right before showtime.
“Thanks to the extra hard work and dedication of fair and event staff, the show was able to safely happen,” Nunnally said.
Gross sales at the Market Livestock Sale on Saturday reached another record level, with $967,778.75 in sales. This exceeded 2021 sales by $170,542.25. All proceeds from the sale go directly to the local 4-H and FFA members who participated.
“We are already looking forward to next year’s Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo,” Nunnally said.
The 2023 event is scheduled for Aug. 16-20.