Northwest Montana Fair - Fairground in Kalispell - 265 N Meridian Rd, USA

Carnival rides were limited. Children under 42" had four rides to choose from. There was not a carousel. The midway hours were not consistent with advertised hours. Sunday midway hours of operation are shorter than the other days yet the bracelet prices are the same? The midway on Sunday opened an hour later than advertised. Parking is $5 per car and the admission fee is $5 per person ages 5 and up. Not sure what the senior admission discount is. Save the few hundred $$ you will spend and take the family to a destination fun park.

Appreciated concert tickets included fair entry. Burger was dry, fries were tough, fry bread taco was decent, baked potato was good. Concert was good but seemed late and shorter than expected. Rides seemed kind of expensive but our little one enjoyed them.

Fair staff is horribly disrespectful and have no regards for the public. They treated my friends and I horribly, telling us if we weren’t happy we “could F off” and “go to a different fair”. Not to mention they weren’t filling rides to the full capacity, and that was due to damaged equipment and safety risks. Due to this we only got to ride two rides within 6 hours. I will not be waisting my money on this fair again, and I’d advise anyone else not to waist their money either.

Well the fact that the fair was in town and I hadn’t seen my grandson in a year! Go figure. We had a fantastic time especially visiting all the animals and learning about all the hard work that goes in to the daily lives of these kids. The food trucks were my favorite I had half smoked chicken and smoked corn. My husband said he never stayed at the fair that long in his life! Not even with our three boys! Lol

Alot of people complained about the demolition derby and to be fair it wasn't that great and it cost $20 to watch but it was the people running the derby that made it uneventful, slow and have short rounds with long wait times in between not the fairgrounds themself. The permanent fair staff are wonderful and they have done alot this year to update the fairgrounds and make them nice. While volunteering for our Church's fair booth they were incredibly helpful installing equipment which they weren't even required to help with.

This fair located in Kalispell at the Flathead County fairgrounds is quite active and bustling for a population of this size. Lots of farm animals with a very active 4H community. The hog auctions are a big deal. Lots of free side shows: musicians, logger athletics, as well as things like raptor shows. There are the typical carnie rides and games. The big event though is the rodeo, which is on the national PRCA circuit. It has the highest level of rodeo competition in the area. Also, the highlight of the rodeo are the VERY exciting Indian Relay Races - if you haven't seen one, it is a must-see! After dark, when the sun goes down, it is fun to watch the people riding in the rides and trying their luck at the games. Many of the good places are Cash Only, so I recommend bringing some cash. Also, the rodeo music can get quite loud, so I suggest bringing some earplugs. Finally, for safety, I don't recommend letting kids wander unsupervised and even teenagers having a buddy system. Unfortunately, this is necessary in this day and age, but security was very present and active this year.

NW Montana fair and rodeo are always pretty good 2023 is a typical example. Quality of event services (food and beverage) seem to be down, substandard availability of common things like popcorn and Pepsi. BUT EMERGENCY RESPONSE to the injured rider in the Indian relay was truly a clown show. I have never seen such a poor response to get the injured rider out of the arena. The attending EMT in orange and driving UTV was a joke, the most unorganized snow I have ever whitenesses. The rider had to be immobilized prior to movement. He waited over 20 minutes for a ambulance to arrive. The arena is less than a mile from the hospital. They could have carried the rider there quicker. Emergency services at this rodeo was very poor.

We display 4h crafts! While we are at the fair, we volunteer for shooting sports and take in the food and rides!