Pierce County North Dakota Fair Festival
Rugby’s county fair is a revival built by volunteers, and it is still rebuilding itself. After going many years without a county fair at all, the town planned a new one in the early 1990s, grew it on borrowed Park Board land, and is now moving it to new east-side ground that started out bare. The result, in its own 2026 record, is a four-day late-June fair with a no-charge gate, free ground events, priced main-stage nights, and a carnival that was the first to play the new East Land.
About the Fair
The event’s working name in every current layer is the Pierce County Fair, styled on the fair’s own website as the Pierce County Fair of Rugby, North Dakota. The grant layer carries a second form, the Pierce County Fair Association, as the recipient body on the state’s July 2025 resiliency award, and the fair’s homepage uses the styling “YOUR Pierce County Fair” in its own wording. Those forms stand as published and are not merged here into a single invented name.
Rugby is both the county seat of Pierce County, a role it has held since 1889, and the fair town in every fair-side layer. The modern fair runs four days in late June. Its homepage, thanking supporters of its annual fundraiser, states that their generosity will allow the fair to provide the entertainment, free stages, and no charge for admission to the fair. That no-charge gate shapes a visit: the ground events are billed as free to view, while the named main-stage events carry their own separate charges.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Pierce County Fair |
| Town | Rugby, the county seat |
| Season | Late June |
| Public days in 2026 | Thursday through Sunday |
| Gate admission | No charge, in the fair’s own homepage layer |
| Main-stage events in 2026 | Anniversary program, rock band, demolition derby, ranch rodeo |
| Carnival in 2026 | Midway West Amusements |
| Grounds | New East Land in Rugby, in transition |
| Organiser forms | Pierce County Fair, and Pierce County Fair Association in the grant layer |
| Exhibitor core | 4-H and FFA projects, livestock, static and open-class entries |
The People Behind the Fair
The modern fair’s story is told in its officers’ own testimony to the legislature. Don Jelsing, vice president of the Pierce County Fair in his House testimony layer, describes himself as one of the two people who started the modern fair, and Khloe Sobolik, secretary of the fair in Rugby in her own testimony layer, is also the named contact on the state’s July 2025 grant award. The derby information contact, Kyle Arends, stands in his event layer only.
Volunteers are the fair’s workforce in that same testimony record: 240 volunteers within the fair’s first nine years and 300 volunteers at the 2024 fair, and Jelsing notes that he personally funded the county fair with his own money in its early years. The Rugby Park Board appears as the owner of the land the fair formerly used, a landowner rather than the fair’s organiser. Midway West Amusements, run by Nathan and Michelle Jensen, is the 2026 carnival operator, a contractor rather than an organiser, and the 701 Derby Association is the sanctioning body for the derby’s points. Behind the exhibitor side stands the youth world of 4-H and FFA, never renamed as the fair association.
For a useful comparison, see the Pembina County North Dakota Fair Festival for another county festival.
History: A Fair Reborn
Rugby had gone many years without a county fair when the modern fair was conceived. In the account its vice president gave the legislature’s House committee, the thought arose in 1990 that Rugby should have some type of fair in the community, planning began with another person, and the modern fair held its first year in 1991. That account is told here as that account rather than as a settled anniversary: no edition number for this fair is published in any fair-side layer, and none is derived here.
The fair grew from determination and volunteers, and it grew on land it did not own. The former grounds were a piece of land owned by the Rugby Park Board, described in the House testimony as too sloped to block carnival rides safely, with no parking and no room for a horse arena. Safety and space forced a move, and at the time of the Senate testimony in March 2025, the new site had no electricity, water, building or bathrooms, and no roads at all. The state’s July 2025 resiliency award of one hundred thousand dollars to upgrade grounds and facilities is directed toward that new ground.
The fair’s own homepage bills its fundraiser as the sixteenth Pierce County Fair Fundraiser, a fundraiser count and never a fair edition. The Senate testimony layer also records that the fair receives no mill levy, following a legislative change a few years earlier, with fairs grandfathered in excepted. The no-charge gate is paid for, in the fair’s own telling, by supporter generosity at the fundraiser, not by a tax levy. The 2026 carnival layer captures the move in a single line, calling Midway West Amusements the first carnival to have made its mark on the new East Land.
What to Expect
Main Stages
Thursday evening belongs to the country’s 250th anniversary. The America’s 250th Anniversary Program, billed “Proud to be an American,” runs on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at half past six, with the Heritage Singers of Minot, the American Legion and Auxiliary, contests, local Scouts, ukuleles, and Rugby Dairy Queen ice cream. Earlier that Thursday, the Get A Taste of the Fair vendor showcase, in red, white and blue, opens at three.
Friday night brings the Bismarck rock band Booz N Tuna, from nine until half past midnight, with young guitarists Callan and Hudson Dockter joining the band on stage that Friday in the local paper’s layer. Saturday afternoon is the Demolition Derby at two o’clock, with inspection from nine in the morning and points in the 701 Derby Association. Sunday afternoon closes the fair with the Ranch Rodeo, with mutton busting and mini bronc riding, registration at one and the event at two.
Ground Events and Contests
The ground events are billed as free ground events for 2026, and the fair’s own page states that all events are free to view, though some may have an admission charge to participate. The Rocky Top Ranch Petting Zoo sits at the Big Red Barn across all four days, with a small charge to feed the animals, an unpriced charge in that layer. Live music threads through the grounds: The Potters on Saturday and Sunday, including a Sunday Gospel Hour; Wayne Douglas on Thursday and Friday; and Daniel and Jonathan Starks through Saturday.
The contest programme is the fair’s playful heart. Thursday brings the Apple Dunking Contest, Friday the Watermelon Eating Contest, the Pie Eating Contest, the Frying Pan Contest, and the Backseat Driver Contest, and Saturday the Hot Dog Eating Contest, the Straw Scramble, and the Pedal Tractor Pull. The frying pan contest, for females aged eighteen to one hundred and three, throws a ten-pound cast-iron frying pan, with two chances, division ribbons and a champion. The hot dog contest runs in three age categories, judged on the most hot dogs eaten in eight minutes, and the pedal tractor pull takes pedalers aged five through adult, with trophies per division. Bubble Bonanza foam fun, Dizzy the Clown, caricatures by Austin, Daryl’s Racing Pigs, the Pitch and Splash Booth, and the library reading programme, which rewards young readers with a ribbon and a one-day carnival wristband, keep the grounds busy all day.
The Carnival
Midway West Amusements runs the carnival from Thursday through Sunday: Thursday and Friday from four to eleven in the evening, with a sensory time on Friday from two to three; Saturday from noon to eleven; and Sunday from noon to seven. Its presale daily pass, at twenty dollars and available only through June 19 in that layer, is a carnival pass and never a gate price, and no on-site carnival price is published in any layer fetched. The carnival is also the first to play the new East Land.
The Exhibitor Core
Beneath the stages and contests sits the exhibitor programme that justifies a county fair. The entry platform carries the 2026 fair for exhibitor entry, and the testimonies document the fair’s exhibitor core in 4-H and FFA projects, livestock shows, static exhibit shows, and open-class entries. No class list, show schedule, or premium scale for 2026 is published in any North Dakota layer fetched, and none is built here from any other state’s book.
Planning Your Visit
Getting In
Admission to the fair itself is no charge, in the fair’s own homepage layer. The priced charges belong to the named main-stage events only, each fenced to 2026. Booz N Tuna on Friday costs fifteen dollars for ages twelve and up, five dollars for ages seven to eleven, and is free for ages six and under. The Demolition Derby on Saturday carries the same ladder, plus twenty dollars for pit access and a one hundred twenty-five dollar competitor’s entry fee, never a visitor price. The Ranch Rodeo on Sunday carries the same ladder. No season pass or fair-wide ticket is published.
Where the Fair Sits
The fair’s grounds are in Rugby and in transition, and no street address for the current grounds is published in any fair-side layer, so none is printed here. Expect a site still becoming a fairgrounds: the new East Land was described in March 2025 as having no electricity, water, buildings, bathrooms or roads. The plant in the fair’s own 2026 layers is modest and working: the Big Red Barn, the barns, a derby ring and arena with ring-side and near-ring parking, a horse-arena function for the rodeo, and a southwest entrance named in the pedal-pull layer.
Money to Carry
Because the gate is no charge, the money a visitor needs is event money. Budget for the main-stage event you plan to attend, at the fifteen, five and free ladder for 2026, plus pit access at the derby if you want it, and for the carnival’s presale pass. Derby parking is priced in the derby layer only: ten dollars per car around the ring, five dollars per car near the ring, and free in the parking lot. General fair parking beyond that layer is unverified.
Timing and Entry
The fair’s public days in 2026 run Thursday, June 25, through Sunday, June 28. The entry platform’s finder range runs one day wider at the front, June 24 through 28, consistent with a Wednesday 4-H entry and check-in day, and it is recorded as that platform’s layer, never blended with the public days. The fair’s own ground events page warns that not all of its 2026 information is current, so check the fair’s own pages before travelling. Older schedule layers corroborate only the county, town and summer season in those years.
A Day at the Fair
Saturday shows the fair at full stretch. Arrive for the livestock and exhibit world in the morning, then the petting zoo, the racing pigs, and the mid-day contests. The Demolition Derby at two o’clock is the afternoon’s centre. Evening belongs to the grounds again: live music, foam fun, the clown and caricatures, and the carnival until eleven.
How the Four Days Compare
The four days have distinct characters. Thursday is the patriotic and vendor day, Friday the music night, Saturday the arena day with the derby and the fullest contest programme, and Sunday the rodeo day, closing with mutton busting, mini broncs, and the Gospel Hour. Families with young children will find Saturday and Sunday the richest.
Visitor Checklist
- Expect no charge at the fair gate, in the fair’s own homepage layer
- Budget separately for the main-stage event you attend, at the 2026 fifteen, five and free ladder
- Buy the carnival presale pass before June 19 for the presale price
- Arrive early on Saturday for derby inspection and the full contest programme
- Carry small change for the petting zoo’s unpriced feeding charge
- Do not expect a published street address for the new grounds
- Check the fair’s own pages before travelling, given the ground events caveat
- Plan around late June, never around the older schedule layers’ July dates
Beyond the Festival Grounds
Rugby is a small prairie town and the county seat, and the fair is its summer gathering. Enjoy the fair week as a town week: arrive for the fair days, spend the gaps between events in the town itself, and let the fair’s own vendor showcase introduce you to local makers.
Why This Fair Matters
This fair matters because it exists at all, and because it exists on volunteer effort. A town that had gone many years without a county fair rebuilt one from planning, personal funding and volunteer labour, grew it to three hundred volunteers, and is now rebuilding its grounds from bare land with a maximum state grant behind it. Its officers have described it as questionably the newest fair in the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is admission to the Pierce County Fair free?
Admission to the fair itself is no charge, in the fair’s own homepage layer, which thanks fundraiser supporters for making the entertainment, free stages and no-charge admission possible. The named main-stage events carry their own separate charges in 2026, so a free gate does not mean every event is free.
When is the fair held?
The modern fair is a late-June fair in Rugby. Its public days in 2026 run Thursday, June 25, through Sunday, June 28.
Where are the fairgrounds?
The fairgrounds are in Rugby, on new east-side ground called the new East Land. No street address for the current grounds is published in any fair-side layer, so none is given here.
What should families plan around?
Families should plan around the free ground events and the contest programme, especially on Saturday and Sunday: the petting zoo, the racing pigs, the pedal tractor pull, and the straw scramble.
What to Expect From the Next Pierce County North Dakota Fair Festival
How often is Pierce County North Dakota Fair Festival held?
The fair is an annual late-June event in Rugby in the modern record, with its public days in 2026 running Thursday through Sunday. No edition number is published for it.
When is the next Pierce County North Dakota Fair Festival?
No next-year dates are published in the layers fetched for this article, so no date beyond the 2026 late-June run is given here. Visitors should expect the next fair in late June and check the fair’s own pages when its dates are published.
Will the dates change?
The dates may shift within late June from year to year, and the ground events page itself warns that not all of its 2026 information is current. Treat the late-June season as the stable fact and the exact days as something to confirm.
Rugby’s fair is worth the trip precisely because it is still being built: a volunteer revival on new ground, with a no-charge gate and a community behind it that has already proved it can will a fair into being.
