There’s no better way to bring a community together than with a County Fair- and boy did we gather A LOT of folks at the Gilpin County Fair this year! Some longtime residents have said that the 2024 Fair is the biggest they’ve ever seen!

We kicked things off with our 2nd Annual Fair Parade on Friday. The lineup was led by Sheriff Kevin Armstrong and Grand Marshal Kay Lorenz. Kay was selected as Grand Marshal this year to honor her longtime Gilpin County residency and commitment to and involvement in our community. Other participants included local high school students with their horses and donkey, the Parks & Recreation float with staff, Fair Ambassadors and our Gilpin County Board of Commissioners, Gilpin Archwood 4-H, Buck for the Badge, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #7563, Christ the King Church, Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center, Gilpin County Public Works, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Timberline Fire Department, Axe & Snacks, Gilpin County Republicans, Black Hawk Fire Department, Gilpin Ambulance, local business Elevated Impressions, Central City Fire Department, Gilpin County Democrats, the Mountain Ear newspaper and the Gilpin County Food Pantry. The Fair Parade has become a great way to showcase our local community groups, businesses, first responders and county departments.

After the Parade, the 4-H competitions started with the Cody & Shelby Allen Memorial Horse Show and Gymkhana followed by the 2nd Annual Livestock show. Other 4-H events included an archery demonstration where the young archers explained range and bow safety and then demonstrated how a proper archery shoot takes place; a fashion show that displayed items made by the 4-H youth using upcycled articles of clothing; and the 4-H youth also had a booth to fundraise for club vests for members and awards for the competitions.

Every year the Fair has community competitions including the time-honored offerings of Fiber and Fabric Arts, Log Splitting and Dog Agility. This year was our 3rd Annual Volleyball Tournament, 2nd Annual Cornhole competition and NEW this year were our Pickleball Tournament and Redneck Relay.

Winners of our competitions were:

Fiber and Fabric Arts First Place Ribbon Winners:

Ruth Briggs – traditional quilts

Dana Jones – art quilts

Zach Meyer – art projects

Tabatha Oline - crochet

Log Splitting: Tony Zotti

Volleyball: Dad’s & Daughters (Len, Steve, Molly and Katie)

Pickleball: Dinking Buddies

Redneck Relay: Mountain Mayhem (Chris, David, Amy & Mandy)

What was your favorite attraction at the Fair this year? Was it the musical ballads of the Curtis Brothers Band, Dustin Devine or Derek Hall? Or did you love the Westernaires Indian Interpretive Dancers & Ropes and Whips groups the most? What about the bounce house, boxing, mechanical bull and new this year Axe Whooping axe throwing cage? Did you win a special prize at the carnival games put on by the Parks & Rec team? Or did you get a chance to show your strength in the arm-wrestling contest or fling fruits and veggies in the arena with the Mountain Warriors? Was getting to pet the furry critters at the Jefferson County 4-H Petting Zoo a top attraction for you? And how about the food and vendor variety? Don’t forget the time-honored Sunday morning Cowboy Church and High Country Auxiliary Pancake Breakfast. We had it all at our Fair this year!

The Saturday rodeo included saddle bronc, bare back and bull riding. Not only were the grandstands packed with spectators, but the bull riding participants had a showing of 24 riders, which is a 110% increase from previous years. The rodeo was opened with Peak to Peak chorale’s beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled banner and the exciting Shockwave Trick Riders. There were three Mutton Bustin’ opportunities for our littlest cowboys and cowgirls to show us their sheep riding skills.

Rodeo Results:

SADDLE BRONCS

1st Colton Williams 81.5 pts. $630

2nd Caden Grysdale 67 pts. $420

BAREBACK

1st Tyler Ferguson 76 pts. $570

2nd Dalton Williams 73.5 pts. $380

BULLS

1st KR Mitchell 79.5 pts. $1700

2nd Homero Martinez 72.5 pts. $1020

3rd Wyatt Cooper 68 pts. $680

Our Fair Ambassadors this year were Freshman Ezekiel Bloom, Sophomore Elise Vincent and Senior Rayna Durnen. These three did an exceptional job of representing the youth of our community with their hard work and dedication in helping to plan and execute our awesome Fair. The Ambassador Program provides each chosen applicant unique and valuable experience, volunteer hours and a scholarship to further their educational endeavors. Look for applications for the 2025 Fair Ambassador program on our website this Fall.

We would like give a great big THANK YOU to our Fair Committee and Volunteers, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #7563, Axe & Snacks, Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center, the Blue Knights CO- 1, Gilpin Archwood 4-H, Gilpin County Public Works and the Gilpin County Parks & Recreation Staff. Without their hard work and support, Fair would not happen! And we need more help! If you are interested in being on our Fair Committee or just giving a few hours of your time to make YOUR Fair great, email kmeyer@gilpincounty.org and let us know! It’s a lot of fun, plus volunteers get a cool commemorative t-shirt, food vouchers for our fabulous fair food vendors AND a free one-day pass to the Community Center! Join us next year!

Another HUGE shout out to our 2024 Fair Sponsors: Grapes & Sons Excavating, Black Hawk Silver Dollar Metropolitan District, United Power, Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center, Always Choose Adventures, Red Dolly Casino, The B&C: the Black Hawk Bean & Cream, Big R of Evergreen, Realtor Lise Friisbaastad, KOA Campground Central City, Ameristar Casino, Meyers Excavating, JKQ BBQ, Basecamp @ Golden Gate Canyon, Kona Ice, Mc2 Ice Cream, Black Hawk Realty and The Mountain-Ear. Without these generous sponsors all the fun fair extras would not be possible! Do YOU want to be a Fair Hero by being a sponsor? Email Krystal @kmeyer@gilpincounty.org and let her know!

Unfortunately, due to a wild lightning storm on Sunday afternoon our first ever Ranch Rodeo and performance by the Rangerettes of the Rockies had to be cancelled for the safety of spectators and competitors. Look forward to this fun new event at next year’s Fair July 11 – 13. We’ll see you there!