{"id":111070,"date":"2015-07-14T18:22:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T00:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/county-fair-plans-new-classic-events\/"},"modified":"2015-07-14T18:22:40","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T00:22:40","slug":"county-fair-plans-new-classic-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/county-fair-plans-new-classic-events\/","title":{"rendered":"County fair plans new, classic events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Keandra
Keandra Elliot coaxes her steer into the ring for the beef show at last year's Montezuma County Fair.<\/span>Sam Green\/Cortez Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Montezuma County Fair takes place July 25 to Aug. 1 and will have all the classics this year, plus some new events to attract a wider audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have the livestock shows, Ranch Rodeo, 4-H events, and crazy contests like lawnmower races and wild cow milking,\u201d said organizer Brandee Simmons. \u201cBut we\u2019re offering more to attract the non-ag community as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, July 31, the inaugural Montezuma County Music Festival will kick off in the outdoor arena at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe festival features all local bands, and entry is only $2,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n

The line up is Vanishing Breed, Repeat Offenders, The Epileptics, The Burnouts, Not Quite Dry, and The Wedding is Off. Each band will play for an hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting small, and our hope is to have it grow into an all-day event, with an eventual headliner,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cIt\u2019s our first concert in the outdoor arena, which has a roof now for shade and if it rains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also new this year is a motorcycle show featuring different styles of bikes on display, including American, Rat, Metric, and Trike. Trophies will be given for Best of Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to offer something a little different this year and spark some interest in motorcycle riding,\u201d said organizer Grizz Seaton.<\/p>\n

The event needs more participants to show off their bikes, and is looking for sponsors. Contact Grizz at grizzthebest@yahoo.com<\/a><\/p>\n

By the way, a \u201cRat\u201d style is the concept of keeping a motorcycle in minimal operational condition without consideration for appearance, said Seaton, an enthusiast of the category.<\/p>\n

Frazier Carnival will set up at this year\u2019s fair, also a first. The carnival will run Thursday through Sunday and feature amusement rides such as the high-flying Vertigo, Giant Gondola Wheel, Bear Affair, and carousel, plus there will be games and classic carnival food.<\/p>\n

The Cortez Colt Starting Challenge also returns this year on July 30 from noon to 3 p.m., and on July 31 from 8 a.m. to noon. The event at the outdoor arena features competitive horse training where participants try to halter, saddle, and ride a unbroken horse in the shortest amount of time.<\/p>\n

Fan favorite, the demolition derby, is ramping up their event as well, said organizer Duane Bradshaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we\u2019re adding a truck derby and a side-by-side UTV barrel race,\u201d he said. \u201cOur cash awards are have gone up and are significant for the winners.\u201d<\/p>\n

New this year is a drawing whose winner is awarded a Ford LTD to run in the demolition derby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll provide the helmet and safety gear, and the winner gets to go crash the car in the race,\u201d Bradshaw said.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the drawing are $10 and can be bought at Mountain Chiropractic.<\/p>\n

More participants are needed for the demolition derby. For more information, or to enter, call Bradshaw at (970) 560-2930.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a special grand finale for the end of the derby this year,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cIt\u2019s a secret, so all I can say is you don\u2019t want miss this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out the 2015 Montezuma County Fair schedule at http:\/\/bit.ly\/1SdVupX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carnival, motorcycles, ATV racing on tap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6371],"tags":[13],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-111070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mt-news","tag-frontpage-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111070"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=111070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}