How a 130-Year-Old Montana Fair Modernized Its Ticketing

For 132 years, the Ravalli County Fair & Rodeo has been a Hamilton, Montana tradition.

The first fair was held by Marcus Daly, founder of Hamilton and owner of Anaconda Copper Mining Company.

Daly saw the Bitteroot Valley’s lush green grass and higher altitude as perfect for breeding and training thoroughbreds. So, he built Bitterroot Stock Farm, a 22,000-acre ranch and premier horse breeding facility. There, his prize-winning thoroughbred, Tammany, lived like a king in his own castle.

Through his inaugural Bitterroot Valley Fair in 1893, Daly brought together his passion for his livestock, his business interests, and his town. Over the decades, the fair grew and adapted, eventually becoming the Ravalli County Fair and Rodeo that exists today. Now, it stands as one of the region’s most important events. Over the course of five days, tens of thousands of attendees travel from all over for the downtown kickoff parade, rodeos, 4-H livestock show, and vendors.

Like many events with deep roots, a long history can pose a challenge to growth. The fair was instituted before the telephone and electricity were widely adopted, and well before the world saw the first airplane. Not to mention computers, the internet, and social media. The fair adapted to developments as they came, but some processes hadn’t changed in decades. And, it all worked.

Until it didn’t. Which is exactly where the Ravalli County Fair and Rodeo found itself at the close of the 2024 season.

At that point, in-person and online ticket sales used different systems. To figure out attendance, someone had to sit down and do a hand count. Staying on top of appropriately staffing four simultaneous points of entry was an exercise in intuition and experience. Additionally, Ravalli runs largely on seasonal volunteers. Getting everyone access to attendee lists and up and running quickly was not as efficient as it needed to be for such a busy event. Along with the nearly 40,000+ attendees, there are exhibitors, competitors, animals, staff, comps, campers, and more that all needed to be tracked and organized.

Eventgroove was born in Harlowton, and many of our team members live in Montana. Partnering with the Ravalli Fair to overhaul ticketing and attendee management operations is something we’re extra proud of.

The success of the Ravalli Fair and Rodeo’s 2025 upgrade wasn’t only about Eventgroove’s platform—it came from a strong partnership. With multiple gates, tens of thousands of tickets, and many volunteers, a new system had to work for everyone. Implementing change required close coordination.

To make the new system a reality, it took teams willing to put in the work. Building the ticketing platform the fair needed, troubleshooting it, and getting everything ready involved Eventgroove’s dev team, customer service, marketing, and our CEO working hand in hand with the fair staff.

Opening day, when Ravalli’s new system would be put to the test, our team was at the ready to support.

Christy Schram-Duggan manages volunteers at the fair. When something wasn’t working during the event, she called Cynthia on the Eventgroove team. “She was able to help me troubleshoot real-time when we were having issues,” Christy said, “and we got things solved very, very quickly.”

On the last day, Lance, our CEO, drove to Hamilton and worked the gates himself. He staffed the ticket booth, then moved to the gate to observe when the crowd flowed and when it didn’t. Afterwards, he sat down with Christy, fair director Melissa, and CFO Jana for a debrief about what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d want to change heading into 2026.

“We all got to let him know ideas for next year, how things worked, how things didn’t work, and the potential where we could see this go,” Christy said.

Ravalli has spent over 130 years getting better at being itself. For an iconic event like that, great fair and rodeo management software and a terrific partnership are the best way forward.

 you’re organizing a fair, rodeo, or large-scale community event, we’d love to show you what Eventgroove can do. Our platform handles ticketing, gate management, and custom printed event tickets, wristbands, badges, merch, and more — all in one place.