Western Montana Fair draws record crowd, tops $1M in food sales

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) The Western Montana Fair drew a record crowd earlier this month and saw food sales top $1 million for the first time.

But carnival sales fell slightly and smoke, heat and competing entertainment, including concerts, took a small bite of an otherwise successful event, fair officials said on Monday.

Billie Brown, events and operations manager at the Missoula County Fairgrounds, said overall attendance reached 111,000 people, up 5% over last year. The fair also expanded from six operating days to eight, an increase of 33%.

“That growth occurred in a challenging year for fairs generally,” said Brown. “The expansion didn't immediately produce proportional attendance growth, but overall attendance grew while we simultaneously built in two additional days.”

Fair officials said food sales increased $60,000 this year, topping $1 million for the first time. The revenue serves as a boost for local nonprofits, who use the event to raise money.

Other highlights from the 2026 event saw volunteers divert 80% of material from the landfill and collected 120,000 pounds of compost – up from 66,000 pounds last year. The 4H livestock sale also increased $115,000 over last year.

Alcohol sales fell by around $18,000 and carnival sales also declined.

“We did have some wonderful things that came out of the vendor side,” said one fair official. “Unfortunately, we have some opportunities for growth we'll need to look in to. One of those being carnival sales, which declined by about 4.6% over last year.”