Morton County North Dakota Fair Festival
Anyone who assumes the Morton County Fair happens in Mandan is making a reasonable mistake, and it is still a mistake. Mandan has been the county seat since 1881, but the county fair does not sit in the seat. The Morton County Fair & 4-H Achievement Days fills the Morton County Fair Grounds at 1000 8th Avenue North in New Salem, a small town west of Mandan, where the Morton County Fair Association stages the event around the turn of August. Its own current billing presents a 66th Annual edition for July 29 through August 2, 2026, joining the county fair and the 4-H Achievement Days in a single name.
About the Fair Association and Its Partners
The organiser is the Morton County Fair Association, a corporation formed under the state’s county-fair statute, NDCC Title 11, section 39. Its 2021 by-laws fix its principal place of business at the concessions building on the fairgrounds in New Salem, and the association is governed by its Board of Directors, which the fair’s own materials call the Morton County Fair Board. The board and the association are one organisation, not two: the by-laws define the board as the association’s own directors. Peggy Brandt testified for the association in the 2025 resiliency-bill record, and in July 2025 the state grant list awarded fifty-one thousand three hundred sixty dollars for construction and material costs to a recipient it named simply as Morton County, with Mark Isaaks as contact. That short-form name is a state-layer label; the grant is infrastructure money, not visitor revenue, and it does not make county government the organiser.
Other bodies appear in the record without running the fair. Morton County 4-H and the county Extension office are the Achievement Days partners inside the joined billing, with their own livestock, horse and poultry committees. The Morton County Farm Bureau appears as a sponsor whose tent hosted shows in 2021, the New Salem Park Board holds a single seat on the association’s board, and the NDRA supplies the rodeo sanction. None of them is the organiser.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Fair town | New Salem, North Dakota |
| County seat | Mandan, which does not host the fair |
| Grounds | Morton County Fair Grounds, 1000 8th Avenue North, New Salem, North Dakota 58563 |
| Organiser | Morton County Fair Association, governed by its Board of Directors |
| Season | Late July into early August, around the turn of August |
| 2026 billing | 66th Annual, July 29 through August 2, 2026 |
| State support | Fifty-one thousand three hundred sixty dollars resiliency grant, July 2025 |
| Camping | In the board’s working record, with no published price |
A History Told in Anchors, Not a Founding Date
This fair’s history cannot honestly be reduced to a founding year, and this article will not invent one. The 66th Annual wording in the 2026 billing is billing only; counting backwards from it to declare a first fair would be arithmetic, not evidence. What the record offers instead is a set of dated anchors. A state historical exhibit remarks that premium categories at the 1911-era Fort Berthold fair were simple, as they were in the Indian class at the Morton County fairs, which shows that Morton County fairs existed in that era without fixing any date, town or continuity. The North Dakota Association of Fairs Hall of Fame inducted Forrest Schmidt of the Morton County Fair in its 1986 class, an honour speaking to the fair community rather than to an edition count. The board’s minutes already record a working fair in 2018, with set-up fixed on July 30 and 31 and ticket takers signed up. The fair ran in August 2021 with the fullest programme in this record, and the state grant followed in July 2025. Those anchors prove real depth without adding up to a continuous run.
What to Expect
Livestock and Youth Exhibits at the Centre
The fair’s own home page headlines 4-H and Open Livestock Shows as its central activity, and the joined billing with the 4-H Achievement Days is structural rather than decorative. The achievement-days side brings static exhibits, livestock judging and its own committees, including the Premium Sale. Open class competition sits alongside the youth programme within the same event.
For a useful comparison, see the Mercer County North Dakota Fair Festival for another county festival.
Rodeo Grounds Energy
The fair’s own Ranch Rodeo page carries the ranch rodeo as a current fair activity in the 2026 billing layer, presented as an action-packed event in the rodeo arena. Tractor pulling and the Power Wheels Derby round out the horsepower side in the documented years. The Power Wheels Derby has its own page in the fair’s 2025 layer, which bills it as the derby’s fifth annual running that year, with age divisions of three to six, seven to ten, eleven to seventeen and eighteen and up, with helmets and seatbelts required, stock motors only, and pre-registration through the Showman App by August 1, 2025. That page is titled Kiddie Tractor Pull while its content describes the Power Wheels Derby, a mismatch that stands exactly as published.
The Fullest Documented Programme: 2021 Day by Day
The richest programme on record belongs to 2021, previewed on July 29 of that year, and it is fenced to that year alone. Wednesday, August 4 opened with the 4-H General Achievement Days and Horse Speed Events at six. Thursday brought the 4-H Horse Achievement Days in the rodeo arena, the 4-H and Open Class Rabbit Show and the Poultry Show at the Farm Bureau Tent, public display of 4-H exhibits from noon, static exhibits open from half past one to half past six, and a Cornhole Tournament at the Livestock Show Arena at seven. Friday stacked the Beef, Sheep and Swine shows with Meat Goat and Dairy Goat to follow, open class static exhibits judging, vendors, the 4-H Dairy Show, Bounce Right Inflatables, NDRA Rodeo slack at half past twelve and the NDRA Rodeo at half past six, beer gardens and a dance to Slamabama. Saturday ran the Open Class Junior Point Show, the Morton County Fair and Western District Black and White Show, the Open Horse Show, face painting, the Kiddie Calf Show, a Power Wheels Derby, the Power Pull at five, the rodeo again at half past six and a dance to Mikele Buck. Sunday closed with a Livestock Show, a Sand Volleyball Tournament, a rock wall, a free Farm Bureau lunch at noon and the Antique Tractor Pull to close.
Working Layers From 2018
The board’s 2018 minutes add that year’s own elements, recorded as reports for that fair: a Chicken Supper, a Pedal Pull, a Demo Derby, inflatables and shuttle-wagon planning alongside the pulls and ranch rodeo. They belong to the 2018 layer alone.
Planning Your Visit
Heading for New Salem, Not the County Seat
One planning fact matters more than any other here: the town. Aim for the Morton County Fair Grounds at 1000 8th Avenue North in New Salem, North Dakota 58563, the address in the fair’s own billing; the by-laws and minutes spell the name Morton County Fairgrounds, and both spellings stand as published. The grounds plant recorded in fair layers includes the concessions building, the rodeo arena, the livestock show arena, the beer garden, the camping area and the power pull track. The grounds work year-round, hosting off-season uses recorded in board agendas; one agenda layer prices a rodeo Bible camp rental at one thousand dollars, which is grounds-rental detail and nothing to do with fair admission.
Admission: An Honest Answer
The only published general gate ladder for this fair belongs to 2021. That year’s preview charged adults ten dollars, children seven dollars and senior citizens seven dollars, with children aged five and under admitted free, and stated that all entertainment was free with gate admission. Those figures are 2021’s terms and nothing more. No gate ladder for 2022 through 2026 appears in any layer behind this article, so current admission is unverified and no 2021 figure has been carried forward. The fair may not be called free in any year: only 2021’s entertainment was documented as included with a paid gate. The board’s layers confirm a gated operation, with ticket takers signed up in 2018 and a Gate and Parking committee in its agendas, but no parking price is published in any fair-side layer.
Camping on the Grounds
Camping exists at these grounds in the fair board’s own working record. The 2018 minutes carry a standing camping report noting that few twenty-amp hookups were left in that layer, the agendas keep a standing camping committee, and a later agenda’s security discussion refers to campers on the grounds overnight. Beyond that existence, nothing is published: no price, reservation rule or fair-week offer appears in any fair-side layer, so camping terms are unverified.
Timing Your Trip
Plan around the turn of August. The season in every documented layer is late July into early August: set-up on July 30 and 31 in 2018, the August 4 through 8 run in 2021, and the July 29 through August 2 span billed for 2026. Trade-press schedules carried the county in separate lines in 2021 and 2022, listing Morton Achievement Days apart from a Morton County line, but that is a schedule-layer habit; the fair’s own billing joins the two in one event.
A Sample Day at the Fair
A full fair day is best pictured through the Saturday of 2021, offered as that year’s shape rather than a standing schedule. A family could start among the open class and junior livestock showing, watch the horse show and the Kiddie Calf Show, let younger children loose in the Power Wheels Derby, and drift between exhibits and vendors. The Power Pull took the track at five, the rodeo followed at half past six, and the evening closed with a dance. Confirm the current year’s own programme before setting out.
How This Fair Compares
Most county fairs in this region sit in their county seats, which is exactly why Morton County’s trips people up: the seat is Mandan, the fair is in New Salem, and searching for the fair in the seat town leads to other events entirely. The grounds also host a separate multi-day July country music festival each year, a different event with its own tickets and products whose terms never become the fair’s. Within the fair’s own record, its billing joins the fair and the Achievement Days in one name, while older trade schedules split the county into two lines; where layers differ, the fair’s own billing governs.
Visitor Checklist
- Confirm the current year’s dates and programme from the fair’s own billing before travelling
- Set directions for New Salem and the grounds at 1000 8th Avenue North, not for Mandan
- Budget for a gate charge, since the only published ladder is from 2021 and current admission is unverified
- Plan the trip for late July or early August, around the turn of August
- Give the livestock barns and static exhibits real time
- Treat camping as something to arrange in advance through the fair, because no terms are published
- Keep the July music festival at the same grounds separate, as it is a different event
Beyond the Festival Grounds
New Salem is a small Morton County town, and a fair trip there is a small-town trip: the grounds sit within the community rather than in a metro entertainment district. Mandan lies to the east and handles the county’s courthouse business, but it is a separate destination and should not be confused with the fair when planning the drive. Campers who need a published alternative will find the city’s North Park campground in town, a city park facility with twelve sites in a tourism layer.
Why This Fair Matters to Morton County
A county fair run by a local association under the state’s county-fair statute is a piece of civic infrastructure, and this one’s record shows the state treating it that way: the fifty-one thousand three hundred sixty dollar grant of July 2025 was construction and material money for grounds the board maintains through its own minutes and committees. The fair joins the county’s 4-H achievement programme to open competition, rodeo and pulling in one joined billing, in a town that is not the county seat, which makes it New Salem’s signature countywide gathering. The board’s unglamorous working record, from the 2018 minutes to the 2026 billing, is the clearest evidence of its place in the county.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Morton County Fair actually held?
It is held at the Morton County Fair Grounds, 1000 8th Avenue North, New Salem, North Dakota 58563. Mandan is the county seat and does not host this fair, as its own site, by-laws and state records show.
What will admission cost?
No current figure can honestly be given. The only published gate ladder is from 2021, when adults paid ten dollars, children and senior citizens paid seven dollars, children aged five and under entered free and entertainment was included with the gate. Later years are unpublished, so check the fair’s current billing rather than relying on 2021’s terms.
Can visitors camp at the fairgrounds?
Camping appears in the board’s own record, including a 2018 report of few twenty-amp hookups remaining. No price, reservation rule or fair-week offer is published anywhere, so terms are unverified and should be confirmed directly.
Who runs the fair?
The Morton County Fair Association runs it, a corporation under the state’s county-fair statute, governed by its own Board of Directors, which the fair’s materials call the Morton County Fair Board. The 4-H programme, the Farm Bureau, the park board and the rodeo sanctioning body all support without organising the event.
What to Expect From the Next Morton County North Dakota Fair Festival
How often is Morton County North Dakota Fair Festival held?
It is held once a year, in the late-July to early-August season around the turn of August. The documented layers fit that rhythm: set-up at the end of July in 2018, an August run in 2021 and a late-July opening billed for 2026.
When is the next Morton County North Dakota Fair Festival?
The fair’s own billing presents July 29 through August 2, 2026, as its 66th Annual Morton County Fair & 4-H Achievement Days at the New Salem grounds. Later editions will be announced in the fair’s own billing.
Will the dates change?
The season has been steady while the exact spans move: documented years open anywhere from late July into the first days of August and run about five days. Treat the turn of August as the anchor and the year’s own billing as the authority.
The Morton County Fair rewards the visitor who reads it on its own terms: a New Salem fair, run by its own association, with a record that gives a full 2021 programme, a current 66th Annual billing and no current gate price. Drive to the right town, check the current billing, and the barns, arena and track will do the rest.
