Fremont County Fair

Each July the Fremont County Fair takes over 49 acres of arenas, barns and lawns in Riverton, in central Wyoming, with the Wind River and the Wind River Mountains around it. The grounds have their own map. The Grand Arena holds the evening shows. Cattle, sheep and goats go to the Show Pavilion and the Show Lawn, and rabbits and poultry to the Fur & Feathers Pavilion. Heritage Hall, the Little Wind Center and the Fremont Center, which has its own kitchen, stand among the Cottonwood and Entertainment lawns. The facilities are used year round, for more than 890 events a year by the fair’s count. During fair week the exhibit buildings open to visitors at noon and close at 8 p.m. On the last day they open at ten in the morning.

The 2026 fair ran under the theme “Stars, Stripes, & Fremont County Nights!” The fair’s own site gave its dates as July 24 to August 1, and the Wyoming fair-dates list gave July 25 to August 1. The fair counts 475 youth participants and more than 600 open-class exhibitors, who together enter 6,417 exhibits. These range from antiques, needlework and quilts to hay, wool, vegetables and cut flowers. The 2026 week was hot. “It’s blazing hot out,” the fair posted on the parade Saturday, “please be sure to be safe in the heat!!”

Seven nights in the Grand Arena

The 2026 fair opened on Friday, July 24, with Hog N’ Mud Wrestling at 7:30 p.m. “Are you in line yet?” the fair’s account posted that evening. “Seats are starting to fill up for tonight’s muddy fun!” Six-cylinder figure 8 stock cars raced on Saturday. On Monday came the Fremont County Powwow, hosted by Young Sky Nation. Wind River Rodeo Company presented the rodeo on Wednesday, and the Steffan and Ruby families put on a ranch rodeo Thursday. Friday brought monster trucks and lawn mower races. The four-cylinder figure 8 cars closed the week on Saturday, August 1. Tickets were sold ahead at the Fair Office and online, and at the box office on the night of each show. A carnival midway run by Carnival Midway Attractions sold passes good for any one night.

Barns, lawns and the sale ring

By day the fair works through its animals one species at a time. In 2026, Monday began with the 4-H dog agility show in the Grand Arena at 8 a.m., followed by dog showmanship on the Cottonwood Lawn. Dairy cattle and goats went before the judges on Tuesday, and swine and rabbits on Wednesday. Thursday was sheep and poultry, “a baaaaa-ner day at the fair,” in the fair’s words. Beef cattle filled Friday. In the evenings came peewee showmanship for the youngest exhibitors, a sheep lead contest, and the Small and Large Animal Round Robins. The Friends of the Fair also held a jackpot show each night, for lambs, goats, beef and swine. On Friday the adults got a turn, in an Adult Swine Showmanship class.

The week turns on its last Saturday. At 10 a.m. the grand and reserve champions stand on the Show Lawn in the Row of Champions. At 11 the Junior Livestock Sale opens in the Show Pavilion, where buyers bid on the youth market animals. Each exhibitor fills out a “Seller Bio” form at the consignment tent beside the scale house, so that, as the fair put it, “the auctioneers have a little to say about you at the sale.” The Jr. Livestock Sale Board works year round on that one morning. At 6 a.m. the next day the barns begin releasing livestock.

The horses come a week ahead, at the Fair Annex on Gasser Road. In 2026 that horse show began on the evening of July 16 with breakaway, goat tying, barrels and poles. It went on through halter, hunter under saddle, western pleasure, reining, ranch riding, ranch sorting and a trail course.

Pie, muffins and a freeze-off

The kitchen contests ran all week in 2026. A red, white and blue dessert contest was held on the Free Stage at noon on the parade Saturday, and a grill master competition on the Cottonwood Lawn that afternoon. On Tuesday evening came the “Big Scoop of 1776” ice cream freeze off. “The competition there is getting pretty chilly!!” the fair posted. Wednesday had Ye Olde Muffin Madness. On Thursday the county commissioners judged “Chocolate to Die For,” which the fair calls a fair favorite. Friday brought a King Arthur coffee cake contest and the All-American Apple Pie Contest. The last Saturday ended the run with the Star Spangled Smorgasbord charcuterie contest.

Children eight and under have their own department, the Kidz Zone. Its 2026 days held sidewalk chalk art, tie-dyed T-shirts, rock painting and ice cream in a bag, and a pocket pet show. There was a stick horse rodeo on the Cottonwood Lawn and bubble lawn mower races. Tuesday was Family Night. Spanky & Friends ran wiener dog races on the Show Lawn, and The Sandlot was screened on the Cottonwood Lawn for people who brought lawn chairs or blankets. In Heritage Hall on the opening Saturday afternoon there was cowboy poetry, sponsored by the Shoshoni Recreation Department. The fair royalty court met visitors on the Entertainment Lawn.

Main Street on a Saturday morning

The Fremont County Fair Parade steps off at 10 a.m. on the first Saturday and runs down Main Street. In 2026, ‘R’ Recreation and CWC Community Education held a Float Building Camp the week before. The fair also ran a hunt for a “fair block” in Dubois, posting clues online. After a fourth clue it was found that Saturday morning.

Randy Tucker of County 10 called the 2023 parade one of the largest in recent history. The downtown business district was packed, he wrote, and children worked the floats and EMS vehicles for candy. Marybell Snyder was grand marshal and Charmayne Dewey rode as Fremont County Rodeo Queen. Marvin Schmidt drove his 1926 Fordson tractor, and the Wind River Flywheelers brought vintage John Deeres. Gerald Childers rode in one of the figure 8 cars. The Set Free Church float carried live music, and the Wyoming.com float had a Holstein theme. Eastern Shoshone Indian Days Princess Kiauna Shongutsie rode in it as well.

From 1902 to the Gasser Road annex

The first official county-supported Fremont County Fair was held in 1902. In eleven of the years between 1902 and 2013 no fair was held, mainly because of war and depression. According to the Riverton Museum, the fair first came to Riverton on September 10, 1926. A history scrapbook in the Fair Office covers what the fair calls “over 103 years” of it.

The fair is funded by Fremont County, and budget limits can change its operations from year to year. The nonprofit Friends of the Fremont County Fair helps fill the gap. In 2024, County 10 listed some of the group’s recent work. It had hung stage curtains in Heritage Hall, replaced the floor of the Little Wind Center, and put up shade over the show areas. It had bought buckles for the Round Robin winners and given seven scholarships to Fremont County seniors. The group also pays a professional photographer to cover the fair week. “Friends of Fair wants to increase the exposure and experience for everyone at the Fremont County Fair,” said Tanya Santee, its chair.

In 2024 the Fremont County Commissioners bought the Fair Annex, at 875 Gasser Road, from Central Wyoming College. It holds an indoor arena, outdoor arenas and stalls for horses. The fair is now run by Laura Harrington as interim manager, with Trevor Bekken as chairman of the Fair Board. The printed 2026 schedule ends with a line for the coming year: “Make plans for the 115th Fremont County Fair, Summer 2027!”