Fair Frenzy: Comparing Great Falls Fair To Billings

Montana Fair and Montana State Fair

I had the opportunity to go to a concert at the Montana Fair in Billings and decided to check out the fair while I was there as well.

In comparison to Great Falls Montana State Fair there were definitely some differences between the two but both have their own benefits.

READ MORE: Montana State Fair Attendance and Revenue

Crowd Numbers Show A Huge Gap

The Montana Fair in Billings seemed to have drawn a large crowd averaging 250,000 people every year according to their website.

They do not have final numbers for this year yet but according to the preliminary numbers Montana State Fair gate attendance was under 80 thousand this year.

I went to shows at both Fairs, Jeff Dunham in Great Falls and Boys Like Girls with 3OH3 and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus in Billings and both shows were amazing as far as quality and a large number of people showing up.

There is always a large difference between a comedy show and a rock concert but all in all the shows were both amazing and well worth the time.

READ MORE: Childhood Memories of the Montana State Fair

Rides We Have Missed At The State Fair

While the food stacked up about the same in number of vendors in Billings and Great Falls but there was a few more rides in the carnival for the Montana Fair.

Some of the rides included the usual Speed, Slingshot, the Zipper, Tornado and kids zones but the Montana Fair also had "Alpine Bobs" which is a winterized version of the Thunderbolt we used to see and two versions of the old "Gravatron"-one called Starship 4000.

One thing that Great Falls Montana State Fair cannot be beat is in the number of shops and vendors in the fair. There were a significant number more in Great Falls than Billings.

All in all, both the Montana State Fair and the Montana Fair were a fantastic way to spend my time this summer and I will definitely be going to both of them again.

Check out the Gallery below from Billings Montana Fair.