Oneida County Fair

On Friday, August 14, 2026, the fair’s free foam party ran three times in the racing paddocks of the Oneida County Fair Grounds, at 12:15, 3:00 and 5:00. The fair’s page told parents to “bring clothes to get wet in!” Close by, the kids area had bounce houses, a mechanical bull, mini golf, a free laser trailer and STEM activities run by the library. Scales and Tales Utah had set up with what the page called “all the cool creatures they brought.”

Southeast Idaho High Country says the Oneida County Fair & Rodeo is usually held the second week of August and lists it as August 10 through 15. The Malad City events calendar gives a longer run, from 9:00 a.m. on August 6 to 10:00 p.m. on August 15. Horse racing runs on the fairgrounds during fair week. The fair belongs to the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs, which lists it in the Southwest District under Diane Skidmore of Malad.

Barns and exhibit buildings

The livestock shows belong to 4-H and FFA members, who are judged on their animals and compete in a Round Robin. On Thursday, August 13, 2026, the Market Swine Show filled the morning. NAPA served a customer appreciation lunch, and the Market Beef Show followed at 1:00. The Market Steer Show came after it. The Bucket Calf Show opened that evening, and the page called its entrants “future Showmen.” The Livestock Judging Contest ran on Friday.

The exhibit buildings hold judged entries from the county: garden produce, preserved food, fine art and crafts. Vendors sell inside and outside the buildings, alongside informational booths and stands selling lunch, drinks and ice cream. The 2026 fair shirts and hats were sold through Two Hearts Printing.

Rodeo nights at 7:30

The arena carries most of the week’s program. The Oneida Cowboy Classic Rodeo is a rough-stock rodeo of bull riding, saddle bronc riding and barrel racing. The Family Fun Rodeo is the more relaxed night. Team roping and team branding are timed contests in ranch skills. In the horse pulls, heavy draft horses drag weighted sleds. The grounds also host motocross, track racing and live music, including the Rough Stock Concert.

In 2026 the rodeo slack ran Friday during the day, and the rodeos ran Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 with an $8 gate. Different Breed West kept a stand open during each rodeo. Mutton busters gathered behind the bucking chutes at 7:00 with wristbands on. After a schedule change, mutton busting and steer riding ran as the preshow. Their winners were photographed with their trophies on Thursday and Friday nights. Friday was Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night. Saturday was Hawaiian Night at the family fun rodeo, and the page asked people to come in their favorite Hawaiian shirt.

The Saturday sale

The Market Animal Sale closes the fair. Community members bid on livestock raised by the county’s youth. On Saturday, August 15, 2026, the animals were readied for the 9:30 a.m. sale while the girls soccer team ran a bake sale nearby. That night the Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital drew winners for its bikes.

Within days the Fairboard was selling boxes of fries “again this year,” along with boxes of Stones Hamburger Patties. Both sold out. On August 20 the fair posted that it had gathered up things left behind at the grounds and was holding them at the extension office for their owners.