Overview The Western Montana Fair is Missoula County's summer fair on the South Avenue fairgrounds, free to walk into every day since 2017, with the Missoula Stampede Rodeo in the arena, a rodeo first held in 1915. Around the arena run motocross, carnival rides, live entertainment, food vendors and the agricultural exhibits. Missoula County bought the site, once one of the city's early airfields, in 1913 and opened the fairgrounds in 1914. A $34 million first phase of redevelopment was finished by 2021, and new grandstands, built partly from recycled concrete out of local stadiums, opened in 2024. On site The gate is free and the arena is not: rodeo nights, motorsports and carnival rides are ticketed, with the arena events at the Clouse Bauer Arena. Saturday morning belongs to the 4-H and FFA livestock sale, where young members sell the market animals they raised and keep the proceeds, often for college. Bidding runs by live weight, with rabbits and poultry sold by the pen of three, and a buyer can take the whole animal, split it with others, resell it to the committee or just add a price bump to a kid's sale. On the Saturday night of the Stampede the fair presents its Western Montana Legend award. Audience Some exhibitors have shown at this fair for decades. Recent Legend winners include an exhibitor who entered garden vegetables, jams and crafts from 1955 to 2022, a supporter of the fair from 1956 who bought more than 30 livestock animals a year, and a 40-year rodeo professional who organized the first fair parade in 1989. The award is chosen by the fair committee from public nominations. Track record The Western Montana Agricultural, Mechanical and Mineral Association organized Missoula's first fairs in the 1870s, and the 1876 fair was one of the first large gatherings in the town. The fair dropped its gate charge in 2017. The fairgrounds say that for every dollar of sponsorship, nearly ten go back into the community. Brand presence Sponsors pay for the parts of the fair that are free to the public, such as gate admission, the free music on the Stampede Stage and the free entertainment around the grounds, or put their names on the arena, with a rodeo title position, the rodeo chutes and the motorsports nights.