Fremont County Fair and Rodeo pressed on this year and gained 1,000 person variance

RIVERTON, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) -

Yee-haw! It’s fair time in Central Wyoming! Although it looks a little different this year, many are proud that it was held for everyone to enjoy, even in the midst of restrictions. The Fremont County Fair Board made some difficult decisions this year to continue as normally as possible in lieu of statewide limits in the amount of people and low sponsorship of certain events.

The county fair is an educational and social outlet for many families, and some rely on it for their livelihood. Those families are thankful the Fremont County fair pressed on this year.

 General Manager of the Fremont County Fair Pat Hart said, “I walked out and there were families having fun on the grass, kids practicing with their animals, parents visiting. And that’s the atmosphere that we want here at the Fremont County Fair.”

An application was submitted and was approved this week by the state for a variance that allowed up to 1,000 people to attend the grandstand events instead of just 250 that most outdoor events have been held to this summer. The state approved it based on the plan the fair had in place for adequate room for distancing and sanitizing.

“Well I’m really excited to be able to have a variance. We’ve had a lot of people that really just want to get out and have some fun. That’s the feeling in the fair,” added Hart.

A previous fair queen, and held the same sentiment and was delighted she was able to be a flag runner again this year.

Even though there are certain parts of being fair queen that she misses, Lexi Herbert had a grin on her face and patted ‘Grover’ when she said, “I love carrying flags and so does my barrel horse.”

Herbert emphasized how difficult it was when many other rodeos were cancelled this year, and how happy she was when Dubois started their Friday night rodeos, and Fremont County also decided to hold their events.

“I come from a big rodeo family, and so I’ve lived in Wyoming most of my life and rodeo has been our entire world, and for that to be taken away and to have nothing to do, it was really really hard,” noted Herbert.

The Charley Jenkins Band, musicians from Utah, were just secured this week to play at the fair on Saturday night to end the fair with a traditional barn dance in the dirt at the Grand Arena. The variance will also allow for more attendees to this fair-sponsored event for the public. The concert is free, but the fair will accept donations if people wish, to help cover the cost of the event.

“We just want everybody to come down and have fun and enjoy our last fling for fair, and celebrate the success of everybody here, and celebrate Fremont County,” added Hart.

Fair events have been happening all week and will continue through Saturday night. There’s still a chance to see the Chancey Williams Band as well, as they play on Friday the 31st in the evening.

Hart added that everyone needs to come try the fair food, as they have 10 vendors this year. For more information on events, visit fremontcountyfair.org.

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