History

The first Livestock Show and Sale was held in September 1946 at the Montana Livestock Auction facility. In 1951 the Livestock Show and Sale turned into the 4-H and FFA Livestock Show and Sale. Over the following years this event changed and is now called the Butte Silver Bow County Fair. The fair still offers an opportunity for 4-H members to complete their year and to exhibit their talents. The fair also offers an occasion for the community to participate in the Open Class competition exhibiting their talents in a warmhearted competition for the prized purple rosette ribbon.

The Butte Silver Bow County Fair Board has worked with 4-H and has temporarily transformed many different locations to put on a county fair. To this day, Butte-Silver Bow does not have fairgrounds for the fair. The Montana Livestock Auction facility, the Rodeo Grounds, the Plaza Mall, the High Altitude Speed Skating Center, and the Civic Center have all housed the fair in past years. Sawdust, pens, bleachers, food wagons, vendors, and exhibit displays are rounded up by fair board members and hauled to the Civic Center. The 2010 fair was the first Butte-Silver Bow County Fair attended by Extension Agent Jeremy Weber who had just arrived from Indiana. After the fair he wrote in the 4-H county newsletter, “The big difference between this fair and fairs in Indiana is that out of all 92 counties in Indiana, I can’t think of a single one that does not have a fairground.  So in addition to making the usual preparations, our volunteers—that’s right; they don’t get paid for any of this substantial amount of work—have to plan the layout, set up, tear-down, and logistics (especially for taking care of the livestock) of getting the entire fair into and out of the Civic Center.