By Tif Robertson, Custer County Fair PR/Mkt Rep
Hermosa, SD — Custer County Fair Grounds, Hermosa, SD: The Custer County Fair is coming to town August 12-15.
This year you can look forward to, fair food, lots of vendors, activities that anyone in the family will enjoy, live music, and the return of the Black Hills Paintball.
Each year the Custer County Fair is dedicated to an individual or couple and this year, the 2021 Custer County Fair is being dedicated to Marge McColley.
As the festivities are set to begin Thursday with a free Kick-Off BBQ feed open to the public and Barnyard Olympics that the kids can participate in to help give a feel for what the rest of the weekend has in store.
The fun continues into Friday with the horse judging and sheep shows starting right away in the morning. Black Hills Paintball will be set up and available throughout the afternoon into evening starting Friday as well. Friday night holds a BBQ Dinner, the Kids Calf Scramble and Ranch Rodeo. LIVE music kicks off on Friday night following the Ranch Rodeo where you can dance in the dirt to Midnight Sun.
Saturday continues the festivities with the Ranch Sort Competition, more livestock shows, a cornhole tournament, and a kid’s carnival. Be sure to come taste test the BBQ competition during public tasting which starts at 4:30! The night will wrap up with the NEW event presented by Eagle Chevrolet Ranch Bronc Riding and Battle for the Bed Couples Roping followed by more live music by Midnight Sun.
The weekend will wrap up on Sunday starting with a free Pancake Breakfast followed by the parade. Make sure to stick around once the parade is finished, though, for the Annual Show and Shine Car Show which features 100 classic, antique, and hot rod cars!
Thursday, August 12:
5:00 pm Fair Kick-Off BBQ Feed is open to the public and is located right next to the Barnyard Olympics. Sponsored by Black Hills Electric Co-op, Farm Credit Services, Pop’s Grocery, Belle Fourche Livestock, Philip Livestock, & Bishop Beef
7:00 pm Barnyard Olympics is a competition in teams of four kids with fun games such as goat roping, bucket race, sack race, cow milking, egg race and more! Come choose your team to cheer on.
Friday, August 13:
4-H members are all excited for Friday because they finally get to show off the exhibits that they’ve worked so hard on all year! Be sure to come out and support our local youth.
9:00 am Poultry Showmanship
10:00 am Cat Showmanship
11:00 am Small Animal Showmanship
11am – 9pm Black Hills Paintball
1:00 pm Sheep Showmanship & Sheep Show is where 4-H members who have raised sheep throughout the year get the chance to show them off.
2:00 pm Dairy Goat Showmanship & Show is followed by the Meat Goat Showmanship & Show
5 – 6:30 pm Free BBQ Dinner that is open to the public! Sponsored by Custer State Park, First Interstate Bank, Custer
6:00 pm Kids Calf Scramble is an entertaining event where kids attempt to be one of the first ones to capture a ribbon off a loose calf running around the rodeo arena! It is sure to be full of laughs.
7:00 pm Ranch Rodeo Teams of four will compete in fun filled "Cowboy Events." Events will include the Team Branding, Stray Gathering, Steer Loading and Range Doctoring. Come down for a fun filled evening of great food and cheer on your Ranch Rodeo Team.
9:00 pm Dance in the Dirt to Midnight Sun playing classic rock and country music.
Saturday, August 14:
Is full of all sorts of family friendly competition and events. It’s a great time for all involved.
9:00 am Ranch Sort Competition Categories are Rancher, Youth, Open, Rancher/Open and a 3- man 2 gate category. A fun event for the entire family. Ranch Sorting is the fastest growing equine sport in the country. It's fun for young and old alike.
9:00 am Swine Showmanship & Show
9am – 5pm Kid Carnival
10:00 am Good Old Driving Days enjoy Hitch & Drive Course, Feed Race, Water Race, Log Pull and more- all horse drawn and a family fun event.
10:00 am Cornhole Tournament is located at the Hermosa American Legion. Register at 9am and tournament begins at 10am.
11am – 9pm Black Hills Paintball
4:30 pm BBQ Public Tasting Be sure to be here to try samples from the BBQ cookoff!
7:00 pm Eagle Chevrolet Ranch Bronc Match produced by T-N-T Events & Battle for Bed Couples Roping is a NEW event this year! Calcutta begins at 6:30pm with the Bronc Match to follow. All brought to you by: Eagle Chevrolet Chadron, Fulton Construction, TN-T Events, Triple R Tack, Dakota Feed, ProAg and more.
9:00 pm Dance in the Dirt to Midnight Sun
Sunday, August 15: Wraps up our fair weekend with more fun activities to help tie up the weekend.
8 – 10 am Pancake Breakfast is open to the public. Sponsored by Crawford Livestock Auction, Great Western Bank, CBH Co-op, Hermosa Roping Club, Black Hills Meat Co., & Nelson’s Oil & Gas
11:00 am Parade
12 – 3pm Show & Shine Car Show This event has grown over 100 cars the last couple of years. It’s an impressive and smashing display of hard work and a bit of competition. Looking for spectators that like Old Stuff and Cool Cars n’ Trucks! Antique cars, Hot Rod pickups, Street Machines and Classic Sports Cars are needed. There will be numerous vehicles on display! Awards will be given in different categories. Bring the entire family and enjoy beautiful cars and LIVE Music.
1:00 pm Horseshoe Tournament Registration is 12:30 to 1 with tournament to follow.
1:00 pm Annual Kids Playday Rodeo
For more information please log on and view www.custercountyfair.com or Like Custer County Fair on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CusterCountyFair
About The Custer County Fair
The first fair was October 3 – 5, 1887 in Hermosa. The second fair was held September 19-21, 1888. In addition to the crop exhibits it included shooting contests, horse races and a ball game. The fair was held in Buffalo Gap 1889- 1908 in the downtown area and the races were held on the streets. From 1909-1945 the fair was held in Fairburn and Pringle. In 1945 a group organized in Custer headed by County Agent, Mr. Simonson, planned and held the fair on August 27 & 28. The County Commissioners allowed $300 for prizes. The fair was at the old football field. No buildings were erected, and the livestock were tied to the trees. In 1945 through the efforts of the Hermosa Roping Club the County Fair was returned to Hermosa where it has remained. Harold Hasselstrom was the first president elected after this move. The Custer County Fair appreciates and thanks all the volunteers who help make the annual event a success each and every year.