Founded by the Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce in 1957, the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo was initiated as Field Days and established as a rodeo in 1979.

“The initial event was formed to provide an opportunity for competition to showcase excellence in your craft of raising livestock and competing with your neighbors,” said Brian Hayes, Montgomery County Fair Association executive director.

How we got here

Beginning as Field Days in which people could spend a day at someone's farm, the event's location was moved to various local ranches and farms where different activities were added throughout the years.

“We called it the Field Days back then, where they would literally bring their cattle to a rancher's field and would have their livestock compete against each other,” Hayes said.


As the event expanded, during the early 1960s, the annual Field Days began to resemble what the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo is today and moved to larger locations. From the Montgomery County Fair Rodeo came the nonprofit, the Montgomery County Fair Association.

Staying local

While the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo expanded from small fields in Willis to Candy Cane Park Pavilion in Conroe to the Montgomery County Fairgrounds where it remains today, its mission to support the youth of Montgomery County developed over time.

“The mission of the Montgomery County Fair Association is to champion the youth of Montgomery County,” Hayes said.


Although the association has supported its youth through scholarships and auctions throughout the years, its mission wasn’t adopted until late February this year after gathering data from surveys and focus groups.

“It's really exciting to go into this year with that piece of establishment in our organization,” Hayes said.

Ready to rodeo

Hayes said the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo has several new entertainment options for this rodeo season, set to take place from April 11-21.


The new entertainment includes a classic car show that will take place on the first Saturday of the rodeo, a new attraction called Extreme Dogs that features dog olympic entertainment and a variety of concert performances.

Last year, the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo hosted about 80,000 people and gave $1.6 million back to the youth in Montgomery County, Hayes said.

“As our population continues to skyrocket, we anticipate the fair doing the same,” Hayes said. “And I look forward personally to seeing us become a 100,000-person event in the not-too-distant future.”

The Montgomery County Fair provides free parking and entry Monday through Thursday and offers several free entertainment options.