The 2026 Park County Fair will have even more to celebrate than the numerous grand champions who will be announced, not to mention all of the other contestants giving it their all. 

This year’s fair, which begins today (Tuesday, although some showing events start a week prior) celebrates 100 years since the fairgrounds was officially approved by the federal government. 

In the early years, the fair bounced between Powell and Cody, but on April 3, 1926, the U.S. Congress approved a land patent for Park County to use a stretch of land on the east side of the Powell townsite for a county fairgrounds. 

In the first years at the fairgrounds, there wasn't much in the way of venues. 

“At that point it was just, they built a set of bleachers and a race track, and that's all they had here,” Park County Events Manager Billy Wood said. 

Now, the fair is not only celebrating that milestone but America’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 

That anniversary will be seen in many open exhibits and some showing events, such as categories for patriotic pictures involving American flags, red, white and blue agronomy baskets and patriotic dress-a-goat. 

Wood hopes it’s not a one-off, but the start of yearly themed exhibitions as he said is done in some other fairs. 

Wood is hoping to stick around for the long haul and bring in more of his ideas for future fairs.

“I still have dreams that I want to accomplish here,” he said.

But for now he’s focused on his fifth fair as events manager, everything from showing events to entertainment to ensuring the many food and drink vendors — Wood said he’s ensured a nice variety of foods so there aren't too many vendors of one type — are all set. 

Grandstand events

There’s only one big change on grandstand events this year, as the fair advisory board decided to drop a concert in favor of making boxing, which made an appearance at the fair last year, a full grandstand event to replace last year’s Wednesday night concert. 

Wood said with only around 500 tickets sold, last year’s fair was once again a big money loser, especially compared to events like the always sold out demolition derby on Saturday and the ever growing Figure 8 races Friday. Those two most popular events will be joined, as always, by pig mud wrestling on Tuesday and truck pulls, back for the third year, on Thursday. 

For the first time the fair is selling box seats for pig mud wrestling, which Wood said will provide some more premium seating for the event and help make an event that is often a wash revenue wise potentially a bit more profitable. 

The boxing will not actually be new to the fair, just new to the grandstands, as the local 307 Boxing Club has set up a ring and put on some free fights the past two years. This year though, the event will feature some high profile bouts. 

All grandstand events start at 7 p.m. aside from the demo derby, which begins at 6. 

Free stage

Many of the favorites from previous years are big this year, with one big local newcomer in Jimmy Rush, who moved to Wapiti from Texas in 2021 and who plays country music. 

Carnival

Get your pre-fair carnival all day ride voucher by end of day today (Tuesday) and save $10. Tickets at the carnival ticket booth will be $43 to enjoy all the rides, games and food at the carnival midway. Tickets for the whole fair or just for a night will be available in the fair box office.

Livestock show changes

The fair has made some changes to align bred and fed weight requirements with the other fair classes to standardize the process and avoid needing two different weight measurements. 

Wood said overall contestant numbers have been rising, which he said is a great sign for the fair — even some Big Horn County residents have started showing consistently in Powell. 

Horse show changes

The fair added para equestrian classes to the horse show this year to help riders with disabilities be able to compete. 

“We're going off of the U.S. paraequestrian qualifications, so we've had a couple of exhibitors that were extremely excited about this,” Wood said. “They've got their own showmanship, horsemanship, trail, and driving.”

Speed events were also moved to Monday after all of the positive responses made after last year. A torrential downpour on Saturday, when the events were scheduled, forced a move to Monday, the day before the bulk of fair events begin.