Yellowstone County officials announced Thursday that all major concerts, the rodeo, and supercross events at MontanaFair this summer are canceled, but the event itself is still on.
Bill Dutcher of MetraPark said in an email that those events had originally been planned to move inside First Interstate Arena because of the impending removal of the aging outdoor grandstands.
However, because of social-distancing regulations due to COVID-19 restrictions, those events could not be held indoors because of additional space required for 4-H and FFA livestock, according to Dutcher.
Advance ValuPass ticket holders can refund or rollover their tickets for other events beginning June 22.
Scores of events across the state have been canceled due to COVID-19, including the Montana State Fair in Great Falls, which had been scheduled for July 24th through August 1st.
Here is the full text from Dutcher:
The biggest annual event in Montana, MontanaFair has been adapting, changing, and working hard to provide an Open and Safe fair in 2020. Physical distancing guidelines and capacity restrictions have required a lot of changes to this year’s event.
Physical changes at MetraPark are having a large impact on the way MontanaFair can operate. The impending removal of the Grandstands for safety reasons is the largest change. The Grandstands removal process will be halted and the work area fenced for MontanaFair.
When the removal decision was made, MontanaFair planned to move all Grandstand based night show entertainment—rodeos and Supercross—into First Interstate Arena. The pandemic put those plans on hold as 4-H and FFA livestock needed additional physically distanced space for their program. Putting animals in the arena removed any opportunity for these popular shows.
All major concerts, rodeo, and supercross are now officially canceled for 2020. Advance ValuPass ticket holders will have options to refund or roll over their tickets to another option beginning June 22.
MontanaFair is scheduled to begin August 7.