The Wyoming State Fair takes place Aug. 13 to 16 at the fairgrounds in Douglas.
This year’s fair celebrates 120 years of tradition and kicks off the national countdown to America’s 250th birthday next year.
Wyoming Public Radio’s Program Director Grady Kirkpatrick spoke with Wyoming State Fair General Manager Courtny Hines about what’s back, what’s new and where the good eats are.
Editor’s Note: This interview was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Grady Kirkpatrick: Looks to be a big year. Tell us about the Great American Fair initiative.
Courtny Hines: My pleasure. So this year, we are part of the Great American Fair Initiative, where President Trump and his team have invited all 50 states to participate. It's truly a nonpartisan celebration of Americana, agriculture and the fair industry.
When we look back at the evolution of our great country, we've seen fairs be part of that thread that has connected generation to generation, while keeping those American traditional values of agriculture, youth development, education and even Western lifestyle, which directly relate to the State Fair.
You will see some really fun stuff at this year's fair and actually at the ‘26 State Fair as well. You'll see a heavy dose of patriotism. Very proud to get to be a part of this cool initiative.
GK: I see there's a record amount of entertainment included with admission. Let's start with the rodeo action.
CH: We have two nights of PRCA [Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association] rodeo next Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday is our “tough enough to wear pink night,” where we'll be doing some fundraising efforts for the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative. Then, Thursday is our military appreciation “Stars and Spurs” night. We encourage you to wear your pink on Wednesday. Please dress very patriotically on Thursday.
You're gonna get to see some amazing, amazing stuff. Whether it's our rodeo contestants, animal athletes and even just the production value, it's so, so cool.
It's one of those things that is a great blend of the heritage of our state and of the sport, but also with some fun, fresh perspectives as well.
GK: You've got live music, especially on Friday night. We're familiar with Tris Munsick and the Innocents and also Micky and the Motorcars, right?
CH: Yes, and what's super cool about this on Friday night is a fundraising concert with 100% of the proceeds going to the State Fair Foundation. Those funds are used for things like special projects and scholarships. In my opinion, there's nothing better than getting to go out, have a super fun night with your friends and your family, see some great live music, and getting to help a great cause as well.
We also have buses that are going to be running from Casper that day. So if you want to maybe get a big group together, we'll have some really fun opportunities for you to get to connect with the State Fair in a new way and celebrate some fun live music.
GK: I also see there's a Wyoming singer-songwriter showcase as part of the fair this year.
CH: Yes, this is something that we started doing last year. We pride ourselves on trying to showcase as much Wyoming-based talent as possible. The Wyoming singer-songwriters' collaboration has been a really fun, fresh way to do that.
We have a stage that is fully programmed by the Wyoming singer-songwriters, and this year alone, they've got acts every single day of the fair, starting Tuesday, running through Friday. We'll be posting that schedule. If you've got some local favorites in your region that you want to come out and celebrate and support, there's a high likelihood that they're going to be in the lineup this year.
GK: One other note on the schedule, the demolition derby. That's Saturday, right?
CH: That kicks off at 6 p.m. and what a way to bring summer to a close when you end with a bang. In this case, it is a literal bang. We have, in my opinion, one of the best derbies in the country. We contract with the volunteer fire authority here in Converse County, and so it's a fundraiser for them. But it's still such a fun, great night and one of our busiest days of the State Fair and our largest grandstand event.
GK: Yeah, I know a lot of people go to the fair for the food. What's on the menu this year?
CH: There is a little bit of everything. We have some great old-fashioned favorites. We have the old-fashioned ice cream. We've got our funnel cake vendor that's been here over 40 years. Jackalope Catering is coming back. They've been here longer than I think either of us have been alive, so they've had a heck of a run here at State Fair.
Then we also have some fresh favorites like our international food booth, which has been joining us for the past few years. I'm a foodie, so we really want to be able to make sure that you, as our fair guest, can eat as much as your heart's content without going home with a tummy ache.
We started something called Fair Food Flights, which was a collaboration with two of our team members here in our organization, Devon and Coda, to work with the vendors to offer some smaller portioned items that are still based on their usually most popular items. We have nine of those participating. You can graze your way through the fair to try some really awesome products.
GK: Tell me about what the dock dogs are about.
CH: The dock dogs are super fun and a great way to engage in the fair in a new way. They're actually a diving dog competition that'll be setting up here on Monday and opening on Tuesday. You can enter your dog and show how great they are at diving into this giant pool, and then after the fair we get to use all that water for lawn irrigation, so it's a win-win.
GK: Cool. I love diving dogs. Of course, Douglas is home of the jackalope, so before or after attending the fair, folks can get their pics with the giant jackalope in town, right?
CH: They can, and thanks to Converse County tourism, there's also a jackalope sticker hunt that takes place all throughout the community. So if you're somebody who loves jackalopes, each local business has a jackalope mascot that you can go and collect.
