Fair comes back bigger and stronger

Following a year without the Great Northern Fair, Fairgrounds Manager Frank English told the Havre Daily News that this year's fair will be bigger than it has been in years.

"Yes, definitely. It's gonna be bigger and better than it's ever been," English said Thursday. "I got free dances. I'm bringing back Rocky Boy, and they're such a huge part of our community. They're bringing vendor booths of all kinds, they're bringing a powwow.

"And from what I've been told, they're not doing a lot of powwows. So I got people from Arizona coming, I got people - Colorado, Idaho, Utah, everywhere - coming for this. The powwow is gonna be a big featured event Saturday and Sunday plus other Native crafts and food we're gonna get along with it," he added. " ... This powwow is gonna be huge. I got a rock wall coming I got from the National Guard."

In addition to the powwow and rock climbing wall, English said, large inflatable balls people can climb in and bounce off each other in a pool will be at the fair.

English added that he's spent a lot of time picking the brain of Havre Mayor Tim Solomon, who was previously a manager of the fairgrounds. English said Solomon knows the ins and outs of the job. He said Solomon, former fair board member Chelby Gooch and Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown have all been very helpful, calling Brown "irreplaceable."

"The Commercial Building - it's filling up quickly. And plus, I'm trying to do a bingo. That's not totally confirmed, but it's pretty much done. We're gonna have bingo in the Commercial Building down the middle hall. Plus all the booths are going to be full," English said.

"The food vendors - never seen so many. Rocky Boy's bringing a food truck. There's another person from Rocky Boy that's looking to try to make something work for a food truck for up here," he continued.

English said Northern Winz Hotel & Casino is going to have a food booth along with groups including the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, the Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, JayCees, the Boy Scouts and a vendor selling fry bread.

The fair also will feature free entertainment and a carnival provided by Midway West Amusements out of Sun City, Arizona.

English said the carnival includes a Big Wheel, a Zipper, a Gravitron and more for adults and families alike.

Rodeos and a demolition derby will be held in the arena from Wednesday through Saturday.

And the fair this year is offering a wide array of free entertainment.

It starts Thursday, July 16, with Patrick the One-Man Circus performing at 4 and 6 p.m. The circus show includes facepainting and more. The One-Man Circus also will have performances at 4 and 6 p.m. Friday, July 17.

Friday and Saturday, July 16-17, the Paz Baseball Show will be at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Paz returns to the Great Northern Fair after performing a hockey-themed show at a previous fair.

He said his background is in professional tennis, having played at UCLA for four or five years, NCAA Division I, and then playing low-level professional tennis for a time.

After that, he tried several different activities including attending law school.

"And then, I eventually found circus," he said. "And circus for me, it was the first time I could be artistic, athletic and academic all at once."

Paz said his show is about using sports, humor and action to build a sense of community.

"In terms of the actual technical side, I juggle flaming baseball bats. I do a number of other weird kind of circus tricks. And, you know, a lot of sports humor in there. I get people involved much in a way they wouldn't in a game, but also give them a few action surprises along the way," he said.

The Silver Starlets Acrobatics Show performs Friday and Saturday, July 16-17, at 2, 5 and 8 p.m. each day.

The Starlets duo has been performing for six years and uses a 20-foot free-standing aerial rig for their stage.

"If this is your first time seeing an acrobatic act, such as ours, I think you're going to be really impressed by the physical aspect of it, by the acrobatics you're going to see," said Molly Keczan, who performs with Libby Spark.

"We really work on connection with the audience. So not only are you going to see acrobatic skills that are going to impress you because of that, and the circus and the flash elements, you're also just gonna have a really good time with us. We're there to connect with the audience and make them laugh, and ultimately, just have a good time with each other," Keczan added.

Modern country music from Shakedown County along with a street dance will run 9-11 p.m. Friday, July 16.

"It's all covers. It's all, like, Brothers Osborne, Jason Aldeen. A lot of the stuff I don't know by names, I just find out what gear it's in and we play, but these guys are pretty seasoned country players. So pairing us all up together, it's made a pretty interesting combination of players and is pretty fun," guitarist Stuart McKay said.

The rock band Zamtrip performs 9-11 p.m. Saturday, July 17.

Robert Henry Band and Jessica Lynn Witty will perform 5-8 p.m Sunday, July 18, the final day of the fair.

For more information, visit https://www.greatnorthernfair.net .