A county fair that dates to 1925
Dates to 1925 100th year in 2025 A farm-bureau start
The Box Elder County Fair traces to 1925, when the Tremonton Commercial Club and the Box Elder County Farm Bureau launched an annual competition day for the valley's crops and livestock, with Tremonton offering to host it. That competition day grew into the county fair, and it has been a Tremonton fixture across the decades since.
In 2025 the fair marked its 100th year, a milestone the county and local reporting noted as a century of the tradition. That is the durable part of the story: a county fair with roots in the mid-1920s, tied from the start to the farms and dairies of the Bear River Valley, and held in the same crossroads town ever since.
The fair still reads agricultural at its core. The livestock barns, the junior livestock auction, and the exhibits are the through-line from that first competition day to the modern week, even as the rodeo, the carnival, and the bandstand grew up around them.
The details
Good to know
- The 1925 date and 100th-year framing come from the county and local reporting, not an independent ranking.
- The livestock exhibits and junior auction are the oldest thread of the week.
- The fairgrounds sit on 1000 West on the north side of Tremonton.
The Golden Spike PRCA Rodeo
Four nights A PRCA-sanctioned rodeo Named for the golden spike
The rodeo is the fair's marquee draw: the Golden Spike Rodeo, a PRCA-sanctioned professional rodeo that runs four nights across the fair week, typically Wednesday through Saturday. It fills the fairgrounds arena after dark, and for a lot of the valley the rodeo nights are the reason the week exists.
The name points back at the golden spike driven at Promontory Summit in 1869, the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, which happened out west of here in Box Elder County. The rodeo borrows that heritage name, but it is a separate thing from Golden Spike National Historical Park, which preserves the actual railroad site and sits a drive west of Tremonton. The rodeo is in town; the park is out on the summit.
Because it is a sanctioned PRCA event, the rodeo draws professional contestants, and seats are ticketed. Gate and performance times and ticket prices move from year to year, so the current details come from Box Elder County rather than from any fixed schedule.
The details
Before you go
- The Golden Spike Rodeo shares a name with the railroad landmark but is not held at the park.
- Rodeo seats are ticketed and the nights draw crowds, so buy or confirm ahead.
- Performance times and prices change yearly; check the county's schedule first.
Inside the fair week
Parade Carnival Livestock and the junior auction
Around the rodeo, the fair runs the full county-fair slate. There is a parade, a carnival with rides and midway games, livestock exhibits in the barns, a junior livestock auction, and bandstand entertainment across the days. Much of the fair itself is free to walk; the rodeo and the carnival rides are where you spend.
The junior livestock auction is one of the week's anchors, the point where the valley's 4-H and FFA animals go to sale, and the barns are worth a walk even if you are only there for the rodeo. The bandstand and the vendor rows give the grounds their fairground energy through the rest of each day.
The fairgrounds themselves work as a year-round Box Elder County event venue, but late August is when the whole valley turns out for the fair. If you come for one thing, come for a rodeo night; if you come for the flavor, come by day and walk the barns, the exhibits, and the midway.
The details
Good to know
- Much of the fair is free to walk; the rodeo and carnival rides are the paid pieces.
- The junior livestock auction is the agricultural heart of the week.
- The fairgrounds host events year round, but late August is the fair.
Tremonton's other big week: Hay Days
Late July Jeanie Stevens Park A separate city festival
The county fair is not the only week Tremonton clears its calendar for. In late July, around the Pioneer Day holiday, the city throws Hay Days, its own homegrown festival at Jeanie Stevens Park, with fireworks, food trucks, music, a home run derby, and a "Guns and Hoses" police-versus-firefighters softball game. It is a separate event from the county fair, a month earlier and run by the city rather than the county.
If you are planning a visit around Tremonton at its liveliest, it is worth knowing there are two big weeks, not one: Hay Days in July and the county fair in August. This page is the fair; the town's things-to-do guide covers Hay Days and the rest of the summer calendar in full.
The details
Good to know
- Hay Days is a city festival; the county fair is a county event, and they are a month apart.
- Confirm Hay Days dates and the lineup for the year with the city before planning around it.
- Full details on Hay Days live on the Tremonton things-to-do guide.
