Blaine County Fair

The Blaine County Fairgrounds lie south of the Great Northern Railroad tracks and U.S. Highway 2 in Chinook. The main entrance is a few blocks off the Hi-Line, where the Bear’s Paws highway skirts the town’s western edge. A 2013 entry on the blog Montana’s Historic Landscapes found that the grounds largely kept their mid-20th-century appearance, with unadorned white-painted buildings. In fair week those buildings fill. The Agriculture Hall holds open-class entries, the 4-H Building holds the year’s projects, the livestock barns hold the animals, and the Commercial Building holds vendors and local businesses.

The 2026 fair ran under the theme “250 Years of the Milk River Plains: Honoring Our Past – Celebrating Our Future.” It officially opened August 6, but for 4-H families it began days earlier. Dogs were shown Monday morning and cats at noon. A horse show followed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday came rabbits and poultry while livestock checked into the barns. The 4-H Chuckwagon opened at noon on August 5, serving meals and homemade pie through the week. Late that evening the fair board posted: “As the sun sets and Old Glory flies high, it’s official… the 2026 Blaine County Fair is underway!”

Barns, the Ag Hall, and a Saturday sale

The show ring runs on an early clock. On Thursday, August 6, the 4-H/FFA Swine Show began at 8:00 a.m. and the Sheep Show at 2:00 p.m. The Beef Show opened Friday at 8:00, and a 4-H/FFA Horse Show was held that afternoon. On Saturday the Round Robin overall showmanship contest began at 9:00 a.m., and the Youth Livestock Sale followed at 1:00 p.m. According to the county extension office, 4-H members also sit for interview judging during fair week, explaining what they learned from a project. Their exhibits then stay in the 4-H Building for the public to view until the fair ends.

In 2026 the Agriculture Hall also held a special display titled “250 Years of Service and Sovereignty: 1776-2026.” Its Veterans and Elders Gallery showed photographs, uniforms, and medals from Blaine County veterans, covering service from World War I to the present. The display was paid for in part by a $5,000 Event Sponsorship Grant from Montana’s 250th Commission.

Free rides and a drained pool

All midway rides are free. In 2026 the midway opened from noon to 3:00 p.m. and again from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., weather permitting. It offered a rock wall, bumper boats, laser tag, foam parties, inflatables, obstacle courses, slides, and bounce houses. The Blaine County Journal listed a Stunt Jump, Wipe Out, a Bungee Trampoline, and Battle Balls. The fair advised visitors to bring a towel for the water attractions. In the Commercial Building, Pippi the Clown performed from 2:00 to 6:00, and the Caricature Entertainment group drew free caricatures nearby.

Sometime in the night before Friday, August 7, someone let the water out of the bumper boat pool, leaving parts of the midway muddy. The fair posted that morning that it was “incredibly saddened that this took place, especially after so much time and effort went into bringing these free midway attractions to our fair.” By midmorning Moxley Construction had offered to haul water to refill the pool. The rest of the midway opened at noon, and the fair hoped to have the boats running later that day.

Two nights of the Bear Paw Roundup

At 7:00 on the Thursday and Friday nights the grandstand turns to the Bear Paw Roundup PRCA Rodeo, presented by Moxley Construction, Inc. Gates opened at 5:00 p.m. in 2026. Thursday was Family Night: spectators wore pink or purple, and children 10 and under got in free. Friday was Patriot Night, in red, white, and blue. Thursday’s special event was Monkey on a Rope and Friday’s was Cowhide Races, with slack run Friday morning at 9:00. Haley Proctor, a two-time NFR specialty act, worked both nights with Roman riding, trick riding, and liberty acts. Her daughter Coulee had joined the act at five years old. Gizmo McCracken worked as the rodeo clown.

The Thursday performance in 2026 included a tribute to Travis “Trapper” Skoyen, to whom that year’s premium book was dedicated. He died of pancreatic cancer on December 1, 2025, at 48. Skoyen had served on the boards of the Blaine County Cruisers and the Bear Paw Roundup, coached wrestling, and set up bleachers for local events. His dedication profile says he “never met a stranger.”

After each night of rodeo, The Band Flansburg played. The band calls itself “the premier country rock band of North Montana.” Its members are Arden “Auddo” Flansburg on vocals and lead guitar, Zach Flansburg on drums, Adrian Trembley on bass and vocals, and Carl Doney on vocals and guitar.

The Bear Paw Roundup marked its 28th year of rodeo in 2026. Its organizers say it was one of the first rodeos on the Montana circuit to add breakaway roping after that event was approved. J Bar J Pro Rodeo returned as stock contractor in 2026. Competitors voted it the 2023 Small Rodeo of the Year for the Montana Circuit, and in 2024 the WPRA Most Improved Ground for the circuit.

The Small Town Beat Down

Saturday night belongs to the demolition derby, which a group of volunteers brought back to the fair. In 2026 it started at 6:00 p.m. with $40,000 in prize payouts across four classes: Light Weld, Compact Class 1, Class 4, and Youth. The Light Weld winner took $10,000, and that heat’s Mad Dog award, for the most aggressive and entertaining driver, paid $5,000. The Youth Class Mad Dog champion won parts.

The Fan Heat, in which raffle winners from the crowd drive, returned in 2026 with two people in each car. “One has control of the steering wheel, and the other has brake pedal, throttle, and shifter,” said Winston Anderson, one of the derby’s organizers. On Sunday morning the carnival trucks load out, the grandstands are cleaned, and the 4-H and FFA exhibits are released, with a 4-H photo taken at 11:00 in the 4-H Building.

Fifty years of the kids’ rodeo

The fair’s rodeo week opens the Sunday before, with the Blaine County Kids Rodeo. In 2026 it began at 10:00 a.m. in the George Ortner Arena. The youngest contestants rode sheep, untied goats, ran barrels and poles, and chased a steer. Older riders added breakaway, chute dogging, calf roping, steer riding, and team roping. First place in each event earned a buckle. There was also a boot race for every age group, and a Man on a Can contest open to ages 4 to 100.

The rodeo marked its 50th anniversary in 2018. That year the fair board dedicated the premium book to Dan and Sandy McNeill, who had led the Blaine County Kids Rodeo Club for 35 years. They first got involved when their daughter Courtney, as a little girl, took her horse to the rodeo. The McNeills helped Jack and Helen Young run it and took over when the Youngs retired. In 2018 they were handing the reins to Courtney. Fair Board Chairman Don Richman said, “in their capable hands, I never had to worry about the Blaine County Kids Rodeo; they just handled it.” The McNeills said they were rewarded by seeing “many of our former contestants come back as adults, bringing their own children to participate in the rodeo.”

From July to August

The 2013 blog entry reports, on the strength of what it calls “a quick google search,” that a county fair took place in Chinook in 1914. The next year, organizers announced they hoped to have a large poultry exhibit. By 2013 the same writer described the fair as a large four-day event drawing thousands.

For decades the fair was held in July. The 2016 fair ran July 13 to 17, and that March the fair board made two changes. Because attendance at the evening stage shows had been dwindling, it booked the country singer and songwriter Cale Moon to give free concerts near the grandstand at about 9:00 each night. It also moved the Bear Paw Roundup, until then held separately from the fair, onto the Thursday and Friday evenings. The Dreamland Carnival, the edition that set up each spring at the mall in Havre, ran the midway. Pig wrestling filled the grandstand on Sunday afternoon.

In December 2019 the board moved the fair to August 12 to 16 for 2020. The goal was to make the dates easier for 4-H families and to fit the PRCA rodeo schedule, which meant the fair would no longer coincide with Fourth of July celebrations. “We actually had no choice but to change the dates,” said Fair Board Secretary Debbie Ramberg. “If we wanted 4-H participation and a rodeo, we had to make the switch.”

The same announcement brought back Pippi the Clown, played by Jeanne Thomas, who divides her time between San Francisco and Red Lodge. She performs magic, makes balloon animals, juggles, and paints faces, wearing pink hair, big floppy shoes, and petticoats. Pippi was still on the grounds in 2026. The fair board closed its 2026 thank-you post with “See you at the fair in 2027!” and lists the next fair for August 5 to 8, 2027.