Western Montana Fair kicks off Friday, Green Team volunteers can get perks

It kicks off at noon on Friday, July 31 and runs through Saturday, Aug. 8 this year, meaning there will be events on two separate weekends. There will only be one day in the middle, Monday, Aug. 3, where everything will be completely shut down.

One cool feature this year is a series of banners on the grandstands that tell the history of the fair. For example, visitors will find out that the weird train tracks that run over West Broadway near Costco were put in place over a century ago to bring livestock to the fair when it was held where the KOA campgrounds are now located.

On Thursday, fairgrounds events and operations manager Billie Brown was busy checking her phone to track deliveries and scrambling to put the finishing touches in place before the madness begins.

It's easily the biggest event of the year in Missoula County, and she is expecting a total of 150,000 visitors over the two weekends.

"It's going to be the biggest fair yet," she said.

The first weekend is all about the Lords of Dirt flat track motorcycle racing.

"And we brought back some gaming, so you can, as your racer wins, you win," Brown said. "There'll be $4,000 in cash going to fans every night. And we have a very high-end custom bike show going on in the Commercial Building, and it is air-conditioned."

There is no admission fee to enter the Fairgrounds, but you'll need tickets to the events and carnival rides. The music stage is in the carnival area this year, and shows wills start at 7 p.m. each night.

"When Lords of Dirt is going on this weekend, we have country western music playing on the stage," Brown said. "And then (next week) when the rodeo is going on, we have like Supaman coming, we have some soul music coming, and we have all kinds of different things coming on the stage."

There's a huge selection of food and drink options, from boba tea to fry bread to Vikings, which are deep-fried pork and beef meatballs. Many of the food vendors are nonprofits, like the All Nations Health Center.

The Home ReSource Green Team is going to be at the fair putting recyclables and compostables into the appropriate containers instead of in the trash. Their goal is to divert 100,000 pounds of waste from the landfill this year. Last year, they hit 70,000 pounds.

To make their goal, they are looking for volunteers to help out. For every three-hour shift, volunteers can choose either a daily unlimited carnival wristband, a Lords of Dirt or rodeo event ticket, or $25 in Fair Food Bucks.

"Every soda can, Viking stick and compostable food tray sorted correctly brings us one step closer," said Mike Lessard, the program director at Home ReSource. "The Western Montana Fair has become a model for sustainable event waste management and our volunteers are the reason we're able to set ambitious goals every year."

This year, a new morning volunteer shift has been added.

"We are incredibly grateful to the community members who show up year after year to make the fair cleaner and more sustainable," said Kelli Hess, the nonprofit's executive director. "This work is only possible because of our dedicated volunteers, the fair's commitment to prioritizing sustainability in its event planning and Home ReSource staff leading the behind-the-scenes coordination that keeps this program running. Together, we're proving that large community events can significantly reduce their environmental impact."

To sign up and for more information, visit homeresource.org and visit the Green Team Events page.

For a schedule of the Fair, visit missoulacountyfairgrounds.com.