Overview The Utah State Fair is an 11-day September fair at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City, where the nights go to a PRCA rodeo, a demolition derby and a monster truck show in the 10,000-seat Days of '47 Arena, and the days to livestock barns, a carnival midway and a cow carved from 600 to 800 pounds of butter. It opens on the first Thursday after Labor Day. The Utah State Fair Corporation runs the fair and the Fairpark, which books events on the same grounds the rest of the year. On site By 2026, Utah's Own PRCA Rodeo had been approved by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association for more than 35 years, and that year it ran three themed nights, Patriot Night, Utah Foster Care Night and Tough Enough to Wear Pink, with bull riding, barrel racing and bronc riding and a Charro on the Road act from third-generation charro Tomás Garcilazo. The Monsters Are Real show opens with a pit party and truck rides, and the Day of Wreck'oning derby closes the last weekend; rodeo and monster truck tickets include fair admission. Around the grounds, the Gazebo Stage, South Plaza Stage and The Oasis run free shows, the Butter Cow stands in the Promontory Building with the Creative Arts, and the Market Building holds the one-day Beef Feast. Audience It is a farm-and-family fair. Children ride sheep in Mutton Bustin' at 7 each rodeo night. 4-H and FFA exhibitors from across Utah show the animals they raised, and at the Junior Market Livestock Auction registered buyers bid on them, and can boost a price above market as support for the young exhibitors. The Utah Cattlemen's Association grills tenderloin steak sandwiches at the Beef Feast until they run out, cash only. Track record The first fair, then called the Deseret Fair, ran October 2-4, 1856, organized by the territory's Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, which ran it until 1907. The Legislature bought the Fairpark land in 1902, and in 1995 it privatized the fair organization under a board appointed by the governor. The Butter Cow first appeared in 1989; Debbie Brown and Matt McNaughtan sculpted the 2026 cow, about 80 hours of work. The 2026 fair took America 250 as its theme. Brand presence Each arena show sells its own presenting position; Chartway Credit Union and a Utah injury law firm backed the 2026 derby, and the Utah Beef Council sponsors the Beef Feast. Brands can also book ground space by the day for a mobile tour or touring vehicle. Arena tickets sell through AXS. Outside fair days, the Fairpark sells year-round naming on its plazas, parking, wayfinding and hydration points across hundreds of events.