Mutton bustin’ to provide raucus fun for kids

Fair week has arrived, and with it comes one of the most anticipated competitions at the event: mutton bustin’. Children four to seven years old all over the surrounding valleys are anxiously awaiting their chance to compete once again for their very own belt buckles, and have fun to boot.

This year includes a major change. In all previous years, mutton bustin’ has been an open competition for all ages, putting younger and more inexperienced riders at a severe disadvantage. For the first time, the 2026 competition will be held with two classes: junior and senior. The junior class will feature children four and five years old, with the senior class featuring six- and seven-year-olds.

Each day of the fair will feature 20 junior and 20 senior contestants who will compete for a place in the 5 p.m. finals. Five contestants will be chosen from the 1 p.m. round, and five from the 3 p.m. round. The final 10 will then have the opportunity to compete for two buckles, one in each age class. A total of 10 buckles will be presented, and buckles will once again be sponsored by Lin’s Fresh Market.

The drastic change comes from a suggestion at the end of the 2025 fair season. Searching for any way to make an already fantastic event better, the conclusion was that it was important to give younger kids a chance to win. “As long as everyone’s happy. Parents are happy. Kids are happy. [We want to give] the younger kids a chance to succeed,” said Randy Dalley, who is now in his fourth year of coordinating the event.

Registration this year opened in December. It took longer than usual to fill up, finally closing in March. Registration for the 2027 Fair and Rodeo will be opening again in early January, according to the fair website. Registration is broken into the two age groups, and potential contestants need to be four to seven years old by the dates of the fair.

Excitingly, the mutton bustin’ announcers, who are reprising their roles from last year, will be an announcer from the rodeo and the rodeo clown from the PCRA rodeo, bringing that same energy to the children’s event. The rodeo clown will also reportedly appear in full clown garb, having to perform at the rodeo very soon after.

All individuals working the sheep and assisting with scoring and recordkeeping will once again be volunteers. Many are returning middle and high school students, with father-daughter duo Gail Lindsay and Andrea Smith keeping scores and contestant order. The entire event will be sponsored once again by local business BEX Sunglasses.